Melissa Sandoc

The debsoc Experience by Melissa Sandoc


Joining DebSoc was not an idea that just got into my head and instantly pursued. If you’d have told me at the start of this semester that I’d be applying, I wouldn’t have believed you straight away. I knew DebSoc’s reputation, after all, and more than that, I knew my limitations. I am a self-professed nerd. Ok that may have been too harsh, let’s just say grade-conscious, grade-grabbing girl. After all, I don’t have the mental capacities nerds have, I just have sheer will power and driving force that makes me give up my DVD’s, TV programs and books in exchange for endless readings. So if you’d have told me I’d be joining DebSoc, heck, any org, I’d have raised my eyebrows and thought you insane.

Thing is, I did after much deliberation from the council in my head. I signed-up with friends I knew since last year (not that that’s a long time or anything) and braced myself. Dear Lord, here it goes.
I didn’t have any debate experience and was scared to death about looking stupid in front of other people (truth: I still am!) but I told myself to just enjoy and treat the whole process like a ‘learning experience’. Plus I trusted my friends to stay with me! But heck, they haven’t even completed a quarter of the requirements and they both quit! I wanted to poke both of them in the eye.

If I say I’ve never thought about deferring, I’d be lying. Applying for DebSoc is like a whole new subject to study for. The Wednesdays and Saturdays I could have spent studying (erg?) or sleeping (now that more realistic0 keep popping into my head. Will it be worth it in the sense that I actually get into DebSoc? There is that constant fear of failing but then I thought, wouldn’t it be a greater failure if I had given up? Maybe it wasn’t even the physical exhaustion that made me think of quitting. Now that I think about it, it was probably the mental and emotional torture I got (imagines the chains and the whips and the, woops, that never happened, did it? XP). You enter DebSoc thinking you’re pretty good and the little experience you had back in high school would help you but that’s damn wrong. It’s such a humbling experience to get your butt whooped and your whole I’m-an-able-confident person outlook be turned into putty courtesy of the people around you. Forehead-slapping moment wouldn’t even cover it, it’s more of a forehead-slapping-bang-your-head-on-the-floor-then-go-into-fetal-position-in-a-dark-corner moment.

What stopped me fro quitting then? One hard look in the mirror saying, “get over it”. Oh, and a hard slap on the face.
Actually, the people who are keeping me form quitting (aside from the council of elders in my head) are the co-apps that I’ve gotten rather close to and some members, too. Actually, the MAC members are the ones always checking up on me (and everyone else) (aside from Lester who suddenly comes up and asks us those things in random): checking whether we’ve had mental breakdowns yet or if we’re all still breathing., they also supply the latest rounds of gossip (which they usually make up or start themselves). MAC members are usually those we can talk to and be silly with: those that lead the cam-whoring moments, shriek fests and all the commotion (yes Yang, that’s pretty much you. Haha, you even get the spotlight in my blog?!). And why such a group in the prestigious UPDS you might ask? Well, it’s all thanks to alpha male Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero (erg?). He’s usually the start of all the ruckus. I remember when we were on our way to the buddy bidding and he suddenly just showed us pictures he seems to be carrying everywhere; or the time when he pulled me in AS just to ask who the hottest guys among the apps were. BJ is the guy who gives Yang a run for his money. Those two could have their own show just talking about themselves, the gossip about the people around them and the hottest people around, which would probably include them, mind you.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that MAC provides the comic relief in my app-period but they (I’ve had my share of nasty MAC moments) but they certainly make it a lot easier. Nor would I say that I’m staying for the sake of hearing the latest chismis from MAC members or hanging around with them, I’m staying because I want to see how much I can take the mental torture and physical hazards. I’m staying because even though I didn’t have debate experience in high school, I now see what all the fuss is about. I right here and working my butt of with the people I hope to be closer with because right here, right now, this is what the council in my head wants the most.