here's my interview article. it's actually three pages looooong...and the limit was supposed to be only 500 words! hehe! I guess I got away this time...this is dedicated to all my batchmates who think there is no life after 5th year....

The Road Most Taken
Take an inside look at the lives of those who didn’t make it…

“How is life without the Master’s?”

Three graduates of AB Humanities with a Specialization in Communication, who firmly requested that they remain unidentified, laughed with much gusto.

The iron lamp posts’ soft amber glow, the smooth R&B music and the incessant chatter of the adjacent tables in Sta. Lucia East’s Brick Road perfectly meshed with the EDSA holiday spirit.
It was a meeting of friends to catch up on each one’s progress along the road of life. An afternoon of escape from the pressures of their respective careers. Yes, they have actually have careers.

Bubbles, Buttercup and Mojo Jojo (as they wish to be called) proudly say that they are doing all right…even if they didn’t make it.

Charting the path
The exclusive appeal of the UA&P Institute of Communication, with its commitment to grooming its best of the best applicants, has placed their students’ way, way up there. Through the years, the second year Comm aspirants, truly believed with great conviction that it would be such a privilege, an honor to be in the ranks of the chosen few beautiful, intelligent, articulate and fashionable people of Comm.

“Second year pa lang…just getting into Comm, parang ‘Wow!’ kami gusto namin talaga mapunta sa Comm. (Ever since second year, we really wanted to get into Comm) ” quips Mojo Jojo, with a hint of nostalgia.

Buttercup adds, “Yung desire mo, unang una kasi magsa-start yan, your desire to get into IMC. Pag-IMC student ka na, your desire to get into 5th year. There are stages eh…Feeling mo dahil stages siya, pag hindi mo nakuha yung last stage incomplete ka. (It starts when you desire to get into IMC. Once you’re an IMC student, you desire to get into the 5th year. There are stages and if you don’t get to the last stage, you feel that you’d be incomplete.)”

Professors, the three friends recall, had instilled in them the gung-ho 5th year fever. Each of the 60 Comm students were so driven to reach that final stage, knowing that written in their diploma is the better sounding degree: Mater of Arts in Communication with a Major in Integrated Marketing Communications, plus an assurance of landing a job in a more than decent company, including bigwig multinational advertising agencies and corporations.

Wrestling with destiny
Grades weren’t just numbers for them; it was their blood, sweat and tears: their heart and soul. With the get-up-and-go attitude to reach 5th year, their lives took 360 degree turns, forgetting everything else. No social life. No extra-curricular activities. Their heads buried deep in the mountains and mountains of readings.

Bubbles shakes her head and says “Wala talagang other stuff…“Bestfriend mo yung librarian! (No time for other stuff…the librarian is your bestfriend!)”

“I never stayed in the library for 3 years.” Mojo Jojo declares, “Pagdating ng 4th year, nasa library ako the whole year…4th year talaga, as in wala akong alam na nangyayari sa school. (When I was in 4th year, I was in the library the whole year…During 4th year, I was oblivious to all university activities.)”

“If you want to get into 5th year, you study”, Buttercup stresses, “doubly hard.”

Then, Buttercup looks from side to side and asks, “Did we really work for it?”
“We did.”
“I did.” Bubbles grumbles.

Facing the Crossroads
The three friends faced the similar fork in the road in their journey through UA&P Comm; they all nearly made it. They were only point zero something shy from the 2.0 GWA 5th year cut-off grade.

But each had his own way of coping with the not so surprising news…

This was Buttercup’s take on it:
“Did I regret it na talagang major na iniyakan ko sha? (Did I regret it that I cried my eyes out?) No. Did I regret it kasi alam kong kakayanin ko kung gugustuhin ko? (Did I regret it because I knew I could make it only if I really wanted it?) Yes. Did I regret the lost opportunity to get into a good company? Maybe a bit. ”

Mojo Jojo had his sob story:
“Parang bumagsak lahat ng dreams ko. (All my dreams fell apart.) Na sh*t bakit ganun? (Why?!?) Bakit ako bumagsak? (Why did I fail?) What’s next for me? Kasi natapos agad eh, naka-plan yung buhay ko, naka-plan yung utak ko na for another year mag-aaral ulit ako. (It was over just like that. I mapped out my life and I set my mind that I would be studying for another year.) Hindi pa ako ready na after May, after April, ga-graduate na ko ng June, and the next few months I’ll be in the real world…Hindi pa ko ready for the real world. Pwede pa ko for another year to study. (I wasn’t ready that after May, after April, I would be graduating in June. And after a few months I’d already be in the real world. I wasn’t ready for the real world. I was ready for another year in school.)”

Bubbles was actually hoping:
“Even without the list, we already computed our grades. When you get your grades, compute mo na and then you realize na it’s 2 point something. 2 point zero something pa rin. Baka may chance pa….you wait for the list and hope that may chance…it makes it harder….I really wanted to get in. I wanted to study. I’m such a nerd…Akala mo malalakad mo pa kasi super, super small margin. (You’d think that you could still sneak in because it was a super, super small margin)”

End of the road?
“So now, what exactly are you guys up to? How happy are you?”

Mojo Jojo, currently working as an account manager in a small local agency, then animatedly babbles on how he has fulfilled his dream to work in the advertising industry, how he has successfully launched a product last year and will be introducing another new one this weekend, how he is being trained by the agency’s big bosses, and how he got to buy the slickest cellular phone model with his own salary (which he considers at par with his counterparts in the multinational agencies).

As for Bubbles, she continued her work, freelancing for a multinational advertising agency. She now does advertising and promotions for some clients in media and entertainment. Her Comm experiences has helped her appreciate her work some more.

Buttercup has also made her own dream: to work in client side, a reality. She recently got a position in a large local corporation, after a much deserved break from the stress of Comm life. Though she hates her office mates and considers her calculator her new bestfriend, she expects to surely excel in the field. She is eternally grateful for the rigorous training Comm has given her: “Sanay akong todo doing everything from scratch to finish. (I’m used to doing everything from scratch to finish.)”

They all flashed their pearly whites smugly, looked at each other and chuckled with genuine satisfaction.

These graduates of AB Humanities with a Specialization in Communication actually made it.

“Kaya pride na rin ng mga nag-graduate ng 4th year yung na nakahanap sila ng magandang work. (Finding a good job is one thing 4th year graduates are truly proud of.)” Mojo Jojo further explains.

Looking Ahead…
Learning from the past, they gladly wanted to pass on these 3 survival tips to the graduating batch of Comm students, whom they feel are at the brink of a nervous breakdown…

Survival Tip # 1:
“Give everything you best so you won’t have any regrets. What matters is yung effort mo. Live each day without regrets.”

Survival Tip # 2:
“Hope for the best; expect the worst.”

Survival Tip # 3:
“Magplano ka na. (Start planning.)If you’re nearing the end of the school term and you don’t know your status, magplano ka na (Start planning.)…to make the blow easier for the aspirants, you make other plans…have something to look forward to.”

They also wanted to share reality tidbits from the corporate world to serve as a wake up call:

Reality Tidbit # 1:
“What you practice in the real world is so much different.”

Reality Tidbit # 2:
“It’s just a piece of paper if you look at it.”

Finally, Reality Tidbit # 3:
“If you’re doing what you like, it doesn’t matter what degree you’re holding.”