The ABCs

Field Trip and Seminars… “Field Trip and…” let’s be honest, whenever we talk or think about it, we somehow disregard or ignore the word Seminars or we simply disregard the essence or the purpose as to why we need to go on a field trip. “Field trip field trip man? Kamahal ba ana?   Asa man ta mangita ug kwarta para anang field trip field trip ninyo? Mangawat?”. Yeah, that was the first thing he blurted out (referring to my father) when he read the letter regarding our upcoming field trip with the reply slip in which we need to choose our preferred FTS model.

Model A = 1 Major Fieldtrip (outside Mindanao) + 1 minor fieldtrip (Mindanao) + 1 seminar (national) + 2 hrs. Interpersonal skills;

Model B = 1 Major Fieldtrip (outside Mindanao) + 2 minor fieldtrip (Mindanao) + 2 seminars (8hrs) (Mindanao) + 2 hrs. Interpersonal skills and

Model C = 3 Minor fieldtrips (Mindanao) + 4 seminars (16hrs) (Mindanao) + 2hrs. Interpersonal skills.

Obviously, Model C is the cheapest of the three. He could have at least chosen C if money is the problem but “Ayaw nag uban ana.” is what he said. I kind of felt down not because I can’t go but because of how unsupportive he was of me. I did not even complain when he sent me here to USeP as oppose to my two older sisters who both had gone to private schools (well, not that I regret going here, on the contrary I am quite thankful). I even explained to him that it’s in our curriculum and that I can’t graduate if don’t take it. And he just sat there with a grumpy look on his face. Well, it’s not like I expected much from him anyway. So I let my mother read it and asked her to choose and fill out the form for me. You know what? After a day or two, she actually asked me what my preferred model would be. Of course, there is no doubt, I will choose Model A. She agreed and filled it up and, yes, my smile widened up to my ears. I did not know but she contacted my sister, who is currently residing in Japan, asked her if she could sponsor me and everything and my sister actually said yes! She’s going to sponsor and shoulder all of the expenses. Thank you my dear evil.. ahem.. good oneesan (older sister in Japanese). I got pretty excited I mean who didn’t? I’m sure everyone got excited about this and is also looking forward to this or am I mistaken? The expenses might get frowned upon but I know it is going to be worth it.

To be perfectly honest I chose A partly because of my own selfish reasons. First I want to ride a plane. Second, Enchanted Kingdom :P. And lastly, I want to travel outside of Mindanao! I’ve never really traveled outside of Mindanao ever in my life and what’s more accurate, and worse, is that I’ve never really been outside of Davao region, ever. Sure, Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental, I’ve been there, but it’s still Davao for crying out loud! Unreasonable, right? Still, there are more reasons as to why I’ve chosen A. I did not decide without even thinking.  I tried comparing and came up that A’s benefits weighed heavier than the other two. Let us talk about Model C first. Field Trip will only be here in Mindanao. If Mindanao would be a country, what place would be its capital? It’s Davao. And we all know that Davao, specifically Davao City, is where most IT companies are rooted here in Mindanao. So basically we are going on a trip to places where we can always visit to if we have the time. Hello? We (or at least I am) are living here since we were born and we could practically learn everything there is to know in Davao anytime we want to. To make it clear, we have all the opportunities to visit companies we might get to visit if we had chosen Model C. It’s not every day we can visit Manila but in Davao, it is. And technically speaking, in terms of technology, Manila has the upper hand compared to Davao (at least for now *smirk). Let’s move on to Model B. Well, I didn’t really know what’s the difference between Model A and B at first, other than A costs a bit higher, but then again another look at it and you will find the answer. Yes, we get to travel outside of Mindanao but are there more? I think not. We get to visit companies (I think) but our seminar/s will be held here locally and the seminar/s is probably the most important part of this subject. In a seminar, we can learn something new and something different. It could be amazing or just meh (depends on the speaker). And for me, in Manila, they could offer more learning and knowledge to us in the field of Information Technology. No offense to those who are here offering seminars and all, we could also learn a lot from you but not as much as in a place where technology is much more progressive (maybe).

I’ve stated a lot points (?) above that made me choose Model A but what was really the, somewhat huge, reason why I chose Model A? Well it’s actually because of the Youth Congress of Information Technology or Y4IT for short. It’s the biggest gathering of Information Technology professionals and students alike in the Philippines. Other schools with IT courses also join the event every year. I just know we could learn a lot there. Even if it’s just a day I have the feeling that this event could motivate me and help me understand more on what IT graduates or specialists does in the industry. I know because last time I joined a gathering/event, which was Graphicon held at Gaisano Mall just last year, the speakers there really moved and motivated me. After the event, I just have the itch to draw something. These kind of events really inspires me and shows or rather gives me a goal that somehow I want to accomplish.