#OrComSoc

[portfolio-ni-rizza]

With love, from someone who struggled to switch degrees | UPM

Kids, if someone ever asks you what college is like, tell them it’s like an amusement park.

Now, a lot of people think that life, in general, is one giant, frankly overrated, roller coaster with its ups anddowns and all that cliché, but that’s too narrow of a trope. See, a roller coaster is one ride. You can ride it anynumber of times if you’re patient (or brave, stupid, etc.) enough, but at the end of the day, it’s still the same thing as it had been from the very beginning. Now while a roller coaster seems like a sound metaphor for life if you don’t believe in reincarnation, the same thing can’t really be said for college.

An amusement park is a dozen different rides, a dozen different attractions, and a dozen different things toexperience for the first time. But while there are people who can ride a roller coaster from start to end and think of it as the Ride of their Dreams, let’s face it; true love doesn’t come the first time around for majority of us.

Sometimes you have to go through nine TV seasons in nine long years to find The One.

And sometimes, you have to hop of the roller coaster and comb through the entire park just to find that one ride.

See, degree programs are a lot like carnival rides. In the beginning, you’re on the roller coaster. And you’reexcited. You’re trying something new for the first time. You’re meeting fresh faces for the first time. You bond over mutual first-time-ness, and it’s a wonderful new friendship forged on a wonderful new adventure. Youhave a whole new world ahead of you, and it’s as terrifying as it is thrilling, but you’re not alone. And it’s okay. It’s perfect.

But then suddenly, it isn’t.

You look ahead, and suddenly you couldn’t see anything ahead of you. You don’t know what’s in store for you. You begin having these second guesses if you have made the ride choice in this ride. Uncertainty rears its goshawful head, and suddenly, it’s not a roller coaster anymore. It’s a racing, raging Contraption of Doom.

And the worst part is, you’re the only one that thinks so. No one else is having the same problems as you.

So you get off.

In a stunt that puts Agent 007 to shame, you shimmy out of your car, you pull out your parachute, and you jump off. You know it’s a hit or miss, but you do it anyway. Because you couldn’t stay on that ride any longer. Because it’s no longer a ride–an attraction set out for your enjoyment; for you to have fun. It’s a torture chamber onwheels that leaves you scarred in places that can never be seen by the naked eye, can never be felt by the bare touch.

See, I wish it was just my inner Shakespeare talking with all this melodrama. But the thing is, a lot of peopledon’t realize that being in the wrong, figurative place can really destroy a person. Being in the Wrong DegreeProgram is when you give it your best, when you give it your all, when you do every (legal) thing you can, but itstill isn’t enough. You still get that DRP. You still get that 5. You still get that failure.

The ride isn’t even half way to the end, but you’re already crashing and burning. So you take that leap of faith and leave. But then you find out that it’s not the end of the tragedy.

Sometimes, people are lucky enough to escape the Raging Contraption of Doom on the first shot. Others aren’t. Your parachute snags. Your foot catches on the car. Your units are not enough for the Office of University Registrar to even pass on to the department where you want to transfer. It’s one thing or the other, but thebottom line is, you’re stuck.

So you take things slow. If you couldn’t go in one fell swoop, then you slowly, but surely unbuckle yourself from the roller coaster.

You start taking classes related to your chosen program. You cram all your general education courses. Youattend all these classes where you literally do not know anyone, and you’re the only one different. You’re the only one who doesn’t belong. You’re the only one who hasn’t been on the Ferris wheel since the beginning; the only one who do not share mutual first-time-ness.

You’re all alone. And you still have one foot on the roller coaster.You’re floating.

A lot of people don’t give “floating” students credit. They should. It’s not easy to be trapped in akimbo; to not becompletely one thing, but never exactly the other. You’re no longer Computer Science, but you’re definitely not Organizational Communication. You don’t hang out with your friends from the roller coaster any more, but youdon’t have anyone from the Ferris wheel to play with either.

It’s lonely.

That’s the frightening thing about shifting, I think. Even when you have shifted. Even if you are on the Ferris wheel now. Even if you are finally in Organizational Communication. You never truly, truly belong. You will never know the feeling of spending your entire college life with these people. You weren’t there from the beginning.They have memories you will never be part of; only given vague, untouchable glimpses of. And sure, they may be your friends now, but there will always be that impassable barrier that will always, always be there no matte what you do.

But it doesn’t have to be all there is to shifting. It’s a whole new degree program; a whole new ride. Sure, your friends already have a past, but the ride goes on; reaches new heights. There are vantages they haven’t been to; vantages you will be there with them now. There will be rough moments, but you’re no longer alone. You havethem, much as they have you. And it’s still an amusement park, it’s still a ride, and even though it’s terrifying sometimes, even if it’s tumultuous and shaky, it’s still fun. It’s still wonderful.

It’s still an adventure.

[diestructible]

TAMA BA YON EXECOMM AKO NG YFC TEKA LANG PO WAIT WAIT PANO YUNG ORCOMSOC KO TEKA LANG HA

[kuwagongsingkit]

My first time ever at a ya know... which was the venue for the launching of Philip Morris' Internship Program. Thank you, #OrComSoc and PMI, for this culture-shocking (and "burgis") yet indeed for-keeps experience. 😂 #batangicedtealangtlg #indeednotakewlkid haha P.S. Interpersonal and Intercultural Comm theories and concepts played at my mind the whole time I was there because I was in the situation where those can be observed and practiced. Oh, #OrCom!

[underthesoftsheets]

Muscle tees brought to you by #OrcomSoc! #BeyondAwesome 🆙🆒😍😍😍

[jeldirecto]

Little Lulu Treasure #1 - The Coalescence Posters

Little Lulu Treasures I was cleaning my files in Little Lulu (my college laptop, a 10-inch MSI netbook) when I ran into little treasures that made me smile. Old photos, letters, funny college projects. Guess all these can be posted in a blog series.

--

For the first treasure, we have the Coalescence poster. Coalescence was one of the biggest initiatives of my org, the Organizational Communication Society, in my term. Since we knew that there is also the Organizational Communication program in DLSU, we decided to team up with their org, the Team Communication, to prepare a meet-up session. So after all those preparation, we finally had that much awaited two-day seminar with culminating activity, all for the OrCom undergrads! 

It was pretty cool working with a different org from a different school. Despite the differences in org culture, we united and worked together. Really proud we pulled it off!

[giannicdao]

[theedaciouswaif-blog]

UP Manila's OrCom Week

Funnel Cakes will be one of the food concessionaires at the upcoming event called the "OrCom Week"  held by the official organization of the BA Organizational Communication program at the University of the Philippines MANILA. 

      We are more than excited to be a part of their 5-day food fair which will be on the 24th until the 28th of September! Yipee!!  Our carnival-themed cart together with the rest of the food stalls will be positioned at the heart of the College of Arts and Sciences located at Padre Faura, Manila (next to the Department of Justice building). Big cheers to all UP Manila students! See you there! 

                Kyra <3

[ericaroberta]

OUT with the OLD, IN with the NEW

Nah. It's not that we're that old, but just 2 semesters ahead! haha! Anyway, we had our OrComSoc turnover dinner at The Borough yesternight. It's the Silver Batch for OrComSoc come AY 2012-2013, and I bet these girls + boy are more than ready to handle the posts.

Here's Gaile, our next VP for External Affairs, and Ceejae, our Silver President.

I'm gonna miss all the adventures we've had during the past 2 years :(

__________________________

Photo courtesy of Ria Landingin

[orcomsoc-blog]

OrCommunity, are you ready for THE SILVER BATCH?

OrComSoc is now accepting applications for Ay 2012-2013 Executive Committee. Contact Ria Landingin @ 09174795124

WE DARE YOU TO TAKE THE SEAT.

[yoopeemanila-blog]

UPGRADE YOUR PRIDE, UPDATE YOUR STYLE!

The P10-tickets are back! 

Get a chance to win P1500 worth of Diliman Republic items and other awesome prizes!

Buy your tickets from any OrComSoc Execom member or any JE applicant.

Contact Ceejae @ 0927-495-7907 for more details.

[rawrfay]

For an inSStense 2011-2012 ♥

[teamcomm-blog]

[jeldirecto]

"How would you describe the whole OrCom experience in college?"

I attended the OrCom Night 2010 last night because I was invited to judge. Though even though I was not really invited, I think I would really drop by.

Of course, it's OrComSoc. (NO WINKS. I'M DEAD SERIOUS. :P)

So while the emcees were killing time because they were waiting for the grades to be computed, they asked the judges some pretty good questions. I forget what they asked the other judges but here's what they asked me.

"How would you describe the whole OrCom experience in college?"

Which they eventually changed to this: "Describe your whole OrCom experience in one word."

So I said:

"Awesome. My four-year stay in UP Manila as an Organizational Communication student is nothing but awesome."

But it still didn't describe it.

"Or complete?"

But it still damn didn't.

Oh will I let my good mother course down? I've had the best experience in acads, extra curr (org) and extra extra curr (party) life being in this degree program and I described it as that totally failure of "word production".

Oh I so couldn't let such shit.

So I went like this:

I think it's really difficult to describe it in one word. Let me describe it with this: My whole OrCom experience has totally been awesome and complete in such way that it felt like I was living my life... in college. Everything felt natural. I didn't really feel that I was studying because the total learning experience was fun. I liked it a lot and it didn't feel like I was loaded with readings and stuff to read that I disliked. It's the best experience ever.

And then I was contented.

Oh yes, that's how it felt.