NSPC '08

I opened my eyes and greeted the day with an undefined disposition. I was filled with doubt, confusion, happiness, fear and excitement. That was the day I’ve been looking forward to. February 17, 2008.

Golda, Mark, Ma’am Rose, Ma’am Glenda and I met at the Plaza Luz that morning, piled up our bags in the crosswind and settled ourselves on our seats. This was the start of a week-long bumpy yet exciting ride we were about to engage in. The beginning of our journey for the NSPC ’08 in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.

Day 0- First Encounters?!

It took us six long hours to reach the food basket of the south. Upon our arrival, we registered and settled ourselves in Room 14 at Koronadal City Elementary School 1. Exhausted and feeling pretty sticky after the land trip, I opened the faucet and guess what I saw?! BROWN water. Seriously, do they expect us to bathe on that kind of water?! Hhhmmm... tsk tsk. Good thing it turned clear after a few minutes. After having a nap, we all went to KCC mall for dinner. Well, may mall naman pala dun. Contrary to what we thought before we got there. We ate at the food court and were a bit shocked on the serving. Hindi namin maubos!!! Haha. ‘twas closing time by then so we walked straight to the quarters stopping by the fruit stands. As we got there, we scanned our programs and took note of our schedules, welcomed our room mates and that ended our ‘0^th’ day of the NSPC.

Day 1- Welcome!

Got up early and had our breakfast at Jollibee KCC. Since the parade was gonna start at 2pm, we had all the time to shop and roam around the mall ‘til noon. We had our lunch at Chowking where each of us bought a fortune cookie. Mine read, “Take heart. Life is full of interesting surprises” Like, Wow! What surprises naman kaya??!! Hahaha. We bought red hats embroidered with NSPC to match our vests for the parade and went off. After taking pictures of the street dancers and being lost for some time, we finally made our way to our delegation at the Protech Center. I volunteered to hold our regional banner with April Virata. It was a pretty long and exhausting walk around the city to the South Cotabato Sports Complex. On our way to the gate, surprisingly, a car carrying Sec. Jesli Lapus and Sam Conception passed at the other side of the road!!! That really made me jump and let go of the banner!! Hahaha. I took a picture of Sam as he smiled at me. that really made my day. Hahaha. Anyway, the Opening program and cultural show was really great! Not to mention na it started with a very strong rain. But it stopped a few minutes later before the cultural show. The field demonstration which was really nakakabilib!! The program ended with a beautiful fireworks display. At the quarters, we had a welcome program that night. And after a long wait, Mangaon na jud!!! Lechon!! Hahaha. But lo, we had to practice broadcasting and save the food for later! Duh. Hahaha. ‘twas right before bed time when we ended and ate our food.

Day 2- Contest Proper

This was it. The day where my effortless practices shall be measured in terms of efficacy. Hahaha. That morning, we went to the Notre Dame Siena HS dept. To pass out the time while waiting for the session I registered in, I joined Golda in the photojournalism sessions since it was open to all. I was pretty bored because I didn’t have knowledge on such a field. Hehe. I got in the next room and sat next to a tall anonymous guy for the broadcasting session. The lecture took us an hour and I say, it really did help a lot. Right after, I approached Mr. Borje, the lecturer, for some pointers and clarifications. I was in deep shock when a woman in purple (she was the one in charge of the sessions) interrupted our conversation and told me na I was not suppose to ask the lecturer any questions because the session has already ended. Duh?! Like did she even hear the part when he said that he’d be happy to entertain our questions even after the lecture?! The nerve of that woman! Arrogance I should say. She ruined my day.

Had lunch and slept for about two hours. We went at the friendship circle in fitmart mall to get our tokens and I was left at the holding room for my feature writing contest. At first, all the feature writers were quiet but as we were arranged, the facilitators from the host school began jamming with us. That triggered some of the participants to show their true colors! Hahaha. In a blink of an eye, most of us were roaming around the room introducing each other and asking cellphone numbers and email adds. ‘twas a quiet good way to reduce the tension though. We even had a group picture! Haha. It was really a great experience to make friends with co-student journalists from other regions especially your rivals. After more than an hour at the holding room, finally, it was time for our contest. The room was cool and I sat at the 4^th seat in front. We were asked to write an informative feature about consumerism. ‘CONSUMERISM?!,’ I said to myself, “I’m doomed!” I don’t have any knowledge on the topic so it was pretty hard for me to make a convincing article. I didn’t even have enough time to finish! Nosebleed!!! Hhhmmm… My hopes were torn into pieces. My chance of winning by then was narrowed down to broadcasting. Huhuhu. At 6pm, after the contest, I searched for someone from region nine to accompany me to the quarters but no one was there. Good thing I made friends with one of the facilitators, Ernest, who was willing to help me. I rode the jeep by myself and hastily prepared my costume for the Awarding ceremony for the most outstanding journalist which was supposed to be at 7pm.

Not wanting to be the center of attention because of being late, I ate my dinner quickly and dressed myself up. As soon as they arrived, my adviser helped me out with my hair and make.up. It was already 7:30 when I got to the venue, the South Cotabato gym and Cultural Center. I was asked to sit at the second row near the aisle with the MOJ from the other regions seated beside me. One was kuya benralph, NSEG president, who approached me right before the program started. I even noticed some awardees playing with the rubiks cube. I was quite insecure with my subanen costume and light make.up since all of them were obviously super prepared with long filipinianas and suits. But it turned out just fine since the one from CAR wore an ifugao costume. Ultimately, it was a grand once in a lifetime event I was happy to be a part of. I received a very nice trophy, a certificate and a medallion. Maam valde also gave me chocolates! We took a lot of pictures after the program including those with the supervisors, the region heads, some other people and other outstanding journalists like kuya benralph from reg. 11 and kuya reymart of CAR. I had the best night of my life!!!

Day 3- Unleash the Voice!

I got up early that morning getting ready for the whole day competitions. At about 9am, we went to the gym for the tagisan ng talino. Wilmer, Aleya, Josephine and Stephanie were me teammates. We were obviously not ready for the competition since we have not reviewed any books or in current events. But the contest turned out just fine since some other teams also got the same total score as our making it less obvious. Haha. There was even a question in the difficult round where only our team got the right answer, scoop.

After having lunch at the canteen, we rushed to the ND siena high school for the orientation and script writing. We were a bit confused as the over-all incharge of the activity explained to us why we had a laptop as one of our requirements in the competition. It was quite unnecessary. We were escorted to our rooms and immediately wrote the script and divided our labor as soon as we opened the envelope. We also set-up and opened the laptop. But to our surprise, the chairman of the committee of the competitions (itago na lang natin sa pangalang ChelseaProtech Center for the broadcasting proper. We waited patiently for our turn and practiced. We were supposed to be the 9^th group to present but they did not separate the English and Filipino medium on drawing the lots so we ended up being the 5^th performer. As our number was called, we approached the table and tested the microphones for about a minute to make sure that it suited our voices. To our surprise, ‘Chelsea’ approached us and asked “do you really have to keep on saying mic test? You are wasting our time and time is what we are observing here” Duh!!! Strike three!!! I super hate that woman. But well, we didn’t let her affect our competition. We did our best and I could confidently say that we had a big chance of winning. Haha. Finally, we had a time to relax and take some pictures at the back stage. While the others were performing, Gener and I bought souvenirs outside the hall. We both bought 3 shirts each. One printed with editor-in-chief. Gener really had the guts to have his shirt printed with eic though he was not. Baga!! Hahaha. Saon na lang ang juvan. Hehehe. We went back to the quarters and my adviser told me that I was to attend the Mayor’s night at the Gym. sapagkat talaga naming papatayin nya kami sa sindak) got inside or room and scolded us for opening the laptop. “…kanina ko pa to napapansin ang grupong ito. IKAW, kanina pa kita napapansin sa orientation pa lang. ang titigas ng ulo. You should follow your instructions or you’ll be disqualified” she told us, or specifically, she told ME! duh. We were all teary eyed and had no choice but to quietly follow her, turn off the laptop and continue writing. After a few minutes, she checked on us again and said something to our proctor. I tried to ask her a question but she blocked me off. I told her that I just wanted to clarify something so she allowed me to speak at last. She then apologized for how she acted towards us and said that she just wanted this to be systematic. DUH!! I still HATE her!!! We continued our work and the pressure increased as 3pm was fast approaching. We had no choice but to write each part of the script separately and bind them all together to save time. We had a very hard time encoding the script at the laptop so we just decided not to finish it and just pass the USB. It was just when we were asked to go out of the room when we had the time to practice our parts. A van brought us to the

I changed my clothes and tried to be presentable. I went with our two supervisors, mam valde and mam lumbay, to the venue. We signed our names and witnessed breathtaking numbers which feature some mindanaoan dances like the singkil. I didn’t expect that dinner would be served there but what good timing! I didn’t get the chance to have dinner at the quarters because my schedule was so tight. Hahaha. The food was delicious. Right after the program, the supervisors of region 9 decided to go some place to have fun. Since I was with our two supervisors, they had no choice but to bring me with them. Gosh! Was that a weird experience. I was the only teen there. I had no choice but to listen to their singing and watch them dance since my phone was dead. I just drank cali and ate nuts and fries to pass the time. It was just when they noticed that I was a bit sleepy already that they decided to go home. It was 11:30pm when I entered the room. Everyone was asleep.

Day 4- The Glory's all mine!!!

Super looking forward to this day. Early morning, everything I was thinking of was the NSEG elections. I didn’t expect that we would be having plans to go to lake sebu. I chose the elections and ended up alone at the venue. Almost everyone from our region went there! I stood alone with the other students who were gonna attend the elections. I was relieved when kuya benralph approached me. My loneliness suddenly parted. We talked and I had the courage to sit with the other journalists. I even met the other ex-oficios of the NSEG, Ate Michelle, Feliz and Bjorn. After a long wait and a lil chat with my new old friends, we then proceeded to the actual venue. The way we introduced ourselves was really fun! The students at the back row needed to memorize all the names or they’ll suffer the consequences!!! I wouldn’t forget my alias, “marvelous michelle”.. hahaha. A few had their talent portions and conquered their shyness. I think it took us an hour to introduce ourselves until the actual elections. HooWow!! I was really determined to scoop a high position but was quite worried about handling such. So, instead of following my plan for running as president, I decided to nominate Felizfrom Region 11 considering that she was also a past officer.. and Yeah.. it worked, she won! And I was really firing up… This was my moment to be heard. Like, what’s the use of skipping a trip to lake sebu if I won’t get the most of the elections?! Hhhmmm… I then raised my hands and PROUDLY NOMINATED MYSELF as the Vice President for Mindanao.I had rivals but my guts won the elections for me. Right after my action, a lot of my co-journalists were awakened. They started asking for the position for themselves… I was quite an example! Hahaha. It was already noontime when we ended. We had our group picture and bore smiles on our faces as we walked out of the venue, uncertain of what’s in store for us that afternoon. The Awarding Ceremonies.

This was our time to function as the new officers. We searched for regional representatives for the oath-taking ceremonies. And after that, we were glued to our seats, our hearts beating like drums in a rock concert, our hands and knees shaking as if we had this contagious disease, and our minds ready to blow up. This was the moment everyone’s been looking forward to. The ultimate goal. Will I be one of those lucky student journalist who will be proclaimed the best in the country and receive one of those large trophies and one of a kind medals?! I can’t wait. Thus, the winners for the Broadcasting was announced. And to my shock, I was again proclaimed, “3^rd BEST ANCHOR”… I was overjoyed!!! I never expected to win considering the technicalities. And it all came to place… “2^nd BEST SCRIPT”,”3^rd BEST IN INFOMERCIAL” “3^rd BEST RADIO BROADCASTING TEAM”… all for Region 9… as the leader, I was really proud of our work.. I couldn’t bare the joy. A big smile was splurged across my face throughout the whole program. I was contented. I might not have won in my individual category, but I have served my purpose for the region. We lifted up its banner on high. And that’s my biggest achievement.

Right after the awarding, we then took oath and met for the last time to discuss some matters. We, the NSEG officers, were treated for merienda by our adviser, maam millet. It was our time to bond and enjoy our last moments together. Each of us ate toasted mammon and coke (except for kuya benralph who ordered chippy.. hahaha). Sadness filled my heart as we parted. But the friendship I earned even for just a day will surely last eternally.

After a whole day all alone, I was reunited with my classmates and advisers. To celebrate, maam durano’s friend treated us for dinner at Lantaw- a restaurant on top of a hill, overlooking the whole city. It was enchanting. Right after dinner, we then went around the city and back to our quarters.

Day 5- Goodbye fruit basket of the south!!

Just like an article which has its intro, body, and conclusion, every event also has its end- and this is it.

>chiq^^