Hi and Goodbye :)

               Journalism was not so familiar to me until the age of 11. I studied in Talamban Elementary School since I was in Kinder-1 and it was the same school which introduced journalism to me. It was my first time and the memories were quite worth keeping. I was able to meet different people. Although Friendster ate all of my photos back then, I can still recall the fun and sadness I experienced because of journalism.

When you say journalism, people always think of writing news or sports news, but I wasn’t into writing. During Grade 6, in mid-August, our English teacher announced that a Division Schools Press Conference or DSPC was happening soon. I didn’t know what that was all about back then. Later that night after hearing what our teacher announced, I asked my brother who had experience in journalism. He explained it very well to me and encouraged me to join the training our school offered. After three days, the training began. Our teacher introduced many fields of journalism like news writing, sports writing, feature writing and editorial writing. I liked news writing but my brother suggested that I should do some photo journalism and editorial cartooning and our teacher agreed with him. Since then, I often spent half of my school days taking pictures of children and places in our school and spent my nights at home practicing cartoon-drawing.

               It was second week of October when DSPC was held. It took place in Labangon Elementary School. It was a very spacious school with a vast grass ground located at its centre. It was, I think, a three-day event. The photo-taking part of the photojournalism category was in the first day. In the second day, we needed to choose six pictures, write captions about them and paste them into a black cartolina presentably. After submitting the cartolina, I proceeded to the venue for the cartooning which was just the next classroom. I was so nervous back then when I saw the very diverse styles of the other contestants. The third day was allotted for the awarding of winners. The winners in DSCP can proceed to Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC). Fortunately, I was able to proceed in RSCP with still the same categories.

               RSPC took place in Subangdaku Elementary School. I couldn’t remember well but I think it was a five-day event, held from October 31 until November 4. The first day was intended for the parade. All regions in Visayas had their representatives. It was so hot and I was walking so thirsty. Photojournalism’s photo-taking part was in the third day and that day was so remarkable to me. I realized that, even if emerged in competition, there are still people who are willing to help. I got a problem with the film I was using (because we were required to use the old cameras) because it was not storing any of my photos. Two contestants, from Bohol I guess, helped me fixed my film. It turned out that I flipped the film wrongly. The next day came and the same process of presenting the photos occurred but again, I had a problem. I was not able to bring a regular pair of scissors and instead, brought a pair of craft scissors. Borrowing from other contestants was prohibited so I got stuck in using the curvy blades which resulted into crappy shapes. It took me so long to finish because I was repeating cutting and cutting. There was only ten minutes left when I started pasting everything. All went rush to me. Little did I know that I was running late for the cartooning. The room was quite far so I had to run as fast as I could. I was able to arrive before the time officially started. Then the last day came and everyone was once again gathered in a very huge gymnasium in Mandaue. During the announcement of winners, my coach got disappointed because no one from our school was mentioned yet. Suddenly, she called my name and slapped me on the shoulders. I wasn’t expecting that my name would be called. I couldn’t forget how my lips shivered as the photographers took photos on stage. I only won in one category, but I was very thankful to God and my brother. Then I was able to proceed to National Schools Press Conference (NSPC).

               NSPC was a seven-day event held in Naga, Bicol. It was my first time to ride an airplane. My mother went with me because she wanted me to be safe. It saddens me until now that I still haven’t repaid her goodness and patience to me during those times. Anyway (off with the drama hahaaha), being in Bicol and able to see Mayon volcano was very memorable to me. Also, the travel to Naga was remarkable too. The bus we rode to our apartelle got lost for almost 4 hours. From morning until night, we were riding a bus for almost 12 hours. The driver was really, really lost, so we decided to just stay in another apartelle. The next morning, we went to the venue of the contest and looked for another room to stay because the other one was too crowded. We ended up staying in a hotel, a comfy one. The day of my category came and I was very, very, very nervous. We were not able to meet the judge, unlike in the DSPC and RSPC where the judges told us what their styles are. That got me more nervous and at the same time mad because I thought it was injustice. Then I observed that the proctors in the room were very biased. Whenever someone from Visayas region asks a question, they don’t answer it, but when someone from their region asks, they even come to the student and answer the question face-to-face. I was a victim of the biased system. I asked if we were allowed to use markers to trace our drawings, then the proctor just murmured something and didn’t answer me clearly. I asked again and she said yes. During the drawing period, a proctor happened to pass by me. She then asked me why I used markers. I exclaimed that they permitted us to use markers, but she said they didn’t. So I had to draw all over again. There was no much time left for me to draw everything as nice as I could. I had bad tracing marks and even misspelled the word mamamahayag. I left the room so disappointed. I told my mother and coach but they said it’s alright and it was not my fault. I spent the following days exploring Bicol. The sixth day was the announcement of winners, and I guess, only one student from the Visayas won and the most number of winners went to NCR region and Bicol region. We were all expecting the results. The next day was intended for a field trip. We went to Camarines Sur Waterpark and at that time, it was still under construction but at the same time open for viewing. Our next stop was a mountain across Mt. Mayon.

The roads to the mountain were very scary. They were all curvy and got steeper everytime. When we got on top, it was very windy but at the same time, sunny. Food there was so expensive that it makes you feel guilty while eating it. The thing that made me so amazed was that we were able to see the very tip of the volcano giving off smoke. It was scary and beautiful. After this, we went to Cagsawa to see the ‘sunken’ church and to stare at Mayon’s perfect cone. While on the way there, you can see the houses destroyed when the volcano erupted. Stones were very large and so black in color. The site was quite commercialized. They had entrance fees, stores which sell souvenirs in expensive prices and locals who take a ‘creative’ picture of you for 50 pesos. When we got inside, you can really see a perfect cone. The large stones enticed people to climb on them. I tried and it was very slippery. Our disappointment was replaced with enjoyment. We were tired but at the same time very happy.

               These were my unforgettable memories brought by journalism. I had a rollercoaster of feelings. I went nervous, happy, sad, mad, disappointed and amazed. Journalism also taught me moral lessons which I value until today. Even if I’m not so good at it, I love it because it let me experience new things. There is only one thing I regretted the most and that is when I uploaded all the photos to Friendster.