Here is my short reflection on personal learnings in campus journalism:
It was the year 2005. It was my first presscon experience in Zamboanga, going up against the best campus journalists of the city. The city had many amazing schools, both public and private, with some of the participants about to become household names in the city’s journalism and cultural scenes, though no one would know it at the time.
That was 19 years ago. Almost two decades, no?
I was green back then. In fact, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that I won third place in feature writing and seventh place in sports writing back in the day. The former didn’t even have a title, while I had to get a crash course on sports writing on the day of the conference itself!
Then, there was good food and delicious snacks. Not bad for P1000; it was a hefty registration fee back in the day. Luckily, the school paid for it, though even they admitted that it was rather expensive (the school was already known for its science and math curriculum within the city and beyond).
There was air conditioning. It felt like heaven at the time. Then, I went to RSPC, not once, but twice.
Never got to the NSPC. I wanted to travel to other places, but such is life. I would get my chance later on in life.
Then in 2015, I started my second life in campus journalism as a school paper adviser/coach at a private school in the heart of Manila; guess which SDO it is hahahaha!
There was no program, no nothing. Walang-wala, as in. I had to start it all from scratch and it took some, no, not some – a lot of convincing and proof of concepts to get the school’s management to support the plan.
The fruits didn’t take long to come: My students were able to get placings in their first year. The succeeding year was a total disaster though.
However, the years 2017 to 2019 saw my students go from strength to strength. The school paper even got recognized in 2018 within the city!
Then came the pandemic. We all know what happened.
Still, I am grateful for all the experiences I had.
Without campus journalism, I would have never discovered my abilities and strengths. Without the pursuit of writing for a school paper, I would never have started the long road for improvement towards the writer and the person that I am today.
Yes, I never got into a full-time journalistic career, but I still carried all the lessons that campus journalism taught me back in the day. This includes things such as the importance of integrity, perseverance, and determination, as well as the necessity of developing critical thinking and synthesis. Of course, learning writing skills was always a great thing to have.
I was able to make new friends and acquaintances and saw how beautiful, colorful, and diverse life could be. Yes, my full transformation as a person happened at a university some 10,000 kilometers away from the Philippines, but the first steps started with a presscon.
When I look back at those days, I can’t help but tell myself: I’ve come a long way.
If you enjoyed reading this reflection on personal learnings in campus journalism, please follow the Facebook and YouTube handles here – stay safe and healthy!
PS: Read this guide here to find a place to publish your work in the Philippines! It might prove useful for you!
