Feature: Hobbies to take up, from UPIS’ very own

3/06/2020 08:05:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments

HOBBIES. All types of hobbies for different people are displayed. Photo Credit: https://leverageedu.com/blog/never-give-up-on-your-hobbies/

How many times have you been asked what your hobbies are? And how many times have you not known what to say?

If you can relate to this, maybe it’s time you invest in a hobby. Hobbies are great: they help you express yourself, they reduce your stress, and they’re activities you have fun doing. Too often though, in all the hubbub, we forget to explore new things.

Look through some of the hobbies and interests below to get a few ideas of what you could try out. With insight from fellow UPIS students who have been exploring various extra-curriculars, who knows? Maybe you could end up choosing one or two of these interests.

Make some music

LEAD. Diego Sunga plays lead guitar onstage with expertise at ALUNIG (Battle of the Bands 2019). Photo Credit: Noemi Pearl Hechanova (Facebook profile)

We all love listening to music, so why not take it a step further and make some music of our own? Diego Sunga, lead guitarist of bands Prizmo and Out of Time, has been dedicated to playing guitar for about five years now.

For Diego, the benefits of playing guitar are that it takes his mind off of stressful things. He also feels a sense of accomplishment whenever he finds he can play or do things he couldn’t before.

He learned to play by asking for help from his father and referring to YouTube videos. Eventually, he saw that he improved. Now, he tries his best to practice regularly, too, but he always remembers to prioritize important work to be done. He’s consistently been on the Principal’s List while putting on great performances, which goes to show how important time management is.

Diego leaves this advice for novices in guitar-playing: “So if you want to learn an instrument, I would advise you to study not just how to play songs but also what the building blocks of those songs are AKA music theory. It would help you be more creative and you'd be on a path of making your own songs which is hopefully your goal…”

Dance your heart out

STRIKE A POSE. Rain Tiangco performs with both grace and playfulness at her dance school’s recital. Photo Credit: CMM (Official FB page) Center for Movement and Music, Philippines (Facebook page)

Can’t stop tapping your feet when you hear a beat? Maybe dancing is for you. Rain Tiangco has been dancing since she was two and a half years old. She specializes in ballet and jazz, she was part of the UPIS Pep Squad for three years, and recently, she’s also been exploring the genre of hip-hop.

Her heart’s found a passion in dancing; the act itself just makes her happy. “‘Pag sumasayaw mismo, sumasaya ako. Parang napapangiti lang talaga ako,” she says. It helps with her fitness, flexibility, memorization, and discipline, too. She sometimes looks to clear her mind and distance herself for a while from problems she experiences.

She balances her schoolwork and dancing by thinking about what she can and can’t sacrifice for the day. She also does her best to work hard and fast; working as a writer and Literary Editor for the Media Center has taught her how to do these.

Aside from that you shouldn’t be afraid to dance and to work hard, she adds as wise words of advice the following: “Mahalaga rin ang confidence. Pwede mo itong idevelop nang paunti-unti, ako nga hanggang ngayon nahihiya pa rin. Pero ‘pag nasa stage na ako, nawawala na yung kaba and I really just give my best. Isipin mo, once mo lang maipapakita sa audience yung galing mo kaya kapag nandoon ka na, give your all!”

She also recommends that you be open to different genres, so you can find what suits you best.

Get your creative juices flowing

HARMONY. An artistic touch gets added to Magan Basilio’s 6-year-old ukulele. Photo Credit: Magan Basilio (Instagram profile)

If you haven’t been able to take your eyes off the works of Monet or Picasso, try getting those pens and paintbrushes out. Magan Basilio, creator of Craftylena (an online personalized notebook shop) and other artworks, has loved art for a very long time. She tries to explore and experiment with as many art forms as she can, but she says a part of her heart is especially reserved for watercolor and acrylic painting.

She started with watercolor back in the 7th grade. As for acrylic painting, she’s been doing it for about two years. Her creative process is very…well, creative! It’s dependent on her emotions; she focuses more on expressing them through art rather than thinking her art through. Whenever she’s creating something for a client or a commission, though, she always thinks of her client’s wants.

You could also say that art is what brings her peace of mind. “Art has become more than just a hobby for me. It’s kind of like a way of taking care of myself. It sounds weird but I think art really provides two of the most important things I need to live a happy life: an outlet for my creativity and a way of expressing my emotions,” she says.

To be able to do what she loves doing, she finishes her schoolwork early. Creating art acts as a way for her to rest after all her requirements and busy school days.

For beginners, Magan says to not hesitate to experiment with various mediums and art styles. Originality and self-expression should also be things to consider in making your art.

Work on your green thumb

NATURE LOVER. Diana explores the beauty of the environment at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Photo Credit: Diana Romero (Instagram profile)

Why not do something good for your body, soul, and planet? Diana Romero has set a wonderful example for what you can do with your free time. She has been gardening for almost four years now, since 2016. She takes care of tropical plants, trees in pots, plants that grow more easily like cacti and bougainvillea, and even herbs and vegetables.

Diana sticks to more natural processes and lets the plants grow on their own. She plans the arrangements according to how much water and sunlight the plants need, waters the plants daily, and only cuts them when needed or when she wants to propagate them (use the parent plants to make more of the plant species grow).

Aside from the plants providing her with clean air, she finds the activity helps with other, non-physical things. “Gardening relaxes me after a day in school. It also grounds me and connects me to nature when things don't feel right.”

Like most people with their hobbies, Diana prioritizes her academics, “unless my plants are already drooping”, she says. She waters her plants every day; this acts as a break from requirements. On other days when she doesn’t have too many things on her to-do list, she spends at least 30 minutes in her garden tending to the plants.

Diana advises beginners that low-maintenance plants are a good place to start—examples of these are cacti and tropical plants. Also, where other people might tell you to keep your plants indoors first, she suggests your plants be outside, where the set-up is better for the plants and easier for you. You just have to make sure the plants get enough water, and to not be discouraged if your garden doesn’t turn out as well as you’d hoped at first. She says most people, including her, had to earn their green thumbs.

Bike to get around

216. Zav Reyes cycles as fast as he can at the Subic Bay International Triathlon 2019. Photo Credit: Minette Maganto

Maybe you’re more of an athlete, like Zav Reyes. Zav has been biking, or cycling, since he was four years old, when his parents bought him a bicycle. He gets the chance to do his hobby whenever he participates in triathlons.

Zav has his parents to thank for his hobby, as they were the ones to teach him step by step how to bike. Eventually, when he learned how to bike, they took his training wheels out. The rest, as they say, is history.

He finds that when he bikes, he gets to exercise while also doing something he thoroughly enjoys. It’s also a great experience for him to be able to get to new and different places and see different sights.

Zav is part of the UPIS Varsity Swimming Team, and as part of their training, they have schedules for biking. Whenever he doesn’t have training for this is when he chooses to accomplish his requirements for school. He gets the best of both worlds, getting time for both biking and schoolwork.

For those who want to start biking, Zav simply tells you to have fun and enjoy it. Of course, he also reminds us to wear protective gear to avoid injury.

Satisfy your sweet tooth

Maybe you’re into sweet treats and want to share your confections with others. If so, you’re like Jammy Mapa, co-founder of Cam&Jam Bakes. When she has the time, she usually bakes different types of cookies with her sister, Claire Mapa, and these cookies are sometimes sold through their business.

It all began after Grade 9, when Jammy’s Practical Arts class revolved around baking. Her sister and partner also thoroughly enjoys baking, so she would get the chance to join her. These were how she got into the activity.

Before she bakes, she first checks if she has any requirements due; she prioritizes schoolwork over baking, which is more of just a hobby for her. Of course, she also looks through the recipes of what she’ll be baking to see if they’re possible to make with what she has on hand.

An interesting benefit of baking for Jammy is that it helps her with keeping her focus and stress management. “Baking helps me focus more, because you really have to be precise in measuring the ingredients to make sure it turns out right. It also helps me cope with stress because it’s kind of a break from school-related stress,” Jammy explains.

As for any advice she has for beginners, she says it’s all about practice. “Practice lang! Even I’m not that good at it; if you really want to be good at something, you just have to do it a lot.”

Crack the code to coding

PASS THE PASSION ON. Christian Sarabia snaps a picture with students after teaching them how to code at HIRAYA (Alternative Classroom Learning Experience 2020). Photo Credit: Christian Sarabia (Twitter profile)

If you’re tech-savvy and interested in making something out of nothing, consider coding. One summer day, Christian Sarabia decided to get a head start on his future by coding and taking an online course on Python (a programming language). That was the start of how his many projects, including PrinterBot and his group’s Grade 11 thesis (an automated attendance system), came to be.

A cool thing about coding is how you can do exactly what you want and code whatever you find fun, interesting, or relevant. Christian has made bots to help manage his printing business, send him news, and even send him memes.

As for the actual coding, he mostly does it by setting a goal, asking the proper questions, and working towards the goal step by step. Because of the internet, this is all a lot easier to do; we can look up how to work through each step.

A benefit of this hobby for him is that he’s gotten used to thinking in a more organized way. Something he can apply in leadership, too, is that he’s learned to look for possible issues that could happen in a situation, kind of like a computer. Aside from those, coding is both a useful skill and something he simply loves to do.

Christian usually codes whenever his schedule clears up. Like all of us though, he has been guilty of using his hobby to procrastinate. He reminds us to set limits for our hobbies during those times, since we’ll eventually get some free time for what we want to do.

To get into coding, he suggests attending good workshops or teaming up with a friend so you can try it together. He says, “It's really a hands-on hobby where you have to actively create. An idea pops up in your mind and suddenly, you find yourself 3 hours in trying to learn how to make loops and recursions in your code. It just kicks in, the more you know about coding, the more you realize what you can do with it, the more you will want to do more with it.”

He also recommends getting into online classes, like those from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or Harvard. They offer short videos on concepts in programming that you can watch in your free time.

Make movie magic happen

MEMORIES. One of Angie’s videos captures her fun experiences with her friends perfectly. Photo Credit: Angie Albao

Are you fascinated with the shots and scenes in movies, or how emotions can be so perfectly portrayed in videos? Maybe you should try making videos that make you feel the same way. Angie Albao started making videos in the 9th grade for school projects, but she didn’t stop there.

Around the last quarter of the 9th grade, she started creating videos that weren’t for school. “The constant exposure [from projects] made me realize I really enjoyed directing but also editing and even shooting the footage in general,” she says. She shared her new videos with just her friends at first, and after a while, posted them publicly.

She mostly makes aesthetic videos and film edits. Currently though, plans for a short film are in the works.

Different videos require different processes. Angie’s aesthetic videos usually come from when something just catches her eye. Since it’s based more on impulse, she makes sure the battery and storage of her phone or camera are ready for filming. Her other videos require more planning: she tries to imagine the feel she wants the video to have and emotions the video should invoke. From there, she figures out the material and content of the video and how it should be edited and such.

For college, Angie’s on her way to either Broadcast Communication or Film. Making videos helps her with honing her skills that will help her in these courses, like making content. It’s also a bit of a pick-me-up for her. She says, “...it gives me an outlet, like when I’m restless or bored, I start making videos and it helps me feel better.”

She normally chooses to make videos during breaks or days with no classes. If the time ever comes when she does make a video during school days, she puts schoolwork first and pushes her video-making to times she doesn’t have much to do.

For any of us who want to start making videos now but are worried about the equipment, Angie says that, at the start, you really can just work with your phone and an mobile app for editing. That was how she did it. You only need to practice, and you’ll get better eventually.

A bit of practical advice Angie offers too is that while you should be open to making different types of videos, you’ll want to zero in on what you like making the most. She says that flexibility is good, but focusing on one thing you’re really good at will be useful for you and might even offer opportunities to you.

And that’s the end of it! Did you find anything that piqued your interest?

Those were just a few of the things you can do with your free time—eight out of countless other hobbies that could be for you. The key is to keep trying new things, manage your time wisely, and have fun. Don’t overthink it—your hobby is for you and your enjoyment.

And remember, you can always come back to this article to try out a new activity.

Good luck with finding your hobby!

References (and Interesting Reads to Remind You to Take Some Time for Yourself):

https://online.kettering.edu/news/2019/04/15/why-hobbies-are-important

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/smarter-living/the-case-for-hobbies-ideas.html
//by Pamela Marquez