Eris Platito

Fun and Frustrations of a Freshman by Eris Platito

I first encountered BJ's name in a tarpaulin hanging in front of the faculty center. It was my first day in the university and I was about to go to my Kas1 class when I saw the tarpaulin congratulating him for winning in a debate competition. I was really impressed and that's when my interest in joining DebSoc began. I was a high school debater and there's nothing wrong if I continue debating in college, besides if ever I get to join DebSoc I will not just be any debater...I will be a UP debater. When I first saw BJ on the orientation, I can't believe that it was his name on the tarpaulin. I imagined him as a geeky guy who always has to speak about intellectual matters but he is actually the wacky but very concerned and helpful Vice President for MAC of DebSoc. I felt really intimidated to him at the start, well I was intimidated by all the members. I thought that he would be snobish and won't talk to any applicants at all. As my tambay days went on, I get to talk to BJ often and that's my intimidation to him and to almost all members disappeared. Even if I get to talk to BJ a lot, I never realized how great his concern for the applicants. One time he suddenly talked to me and my partner about our performance. My partner and I confessed how much we're having a hard time in the application period. When we have finished, he gave us advice on what to do and he suddenly called for a debate. He told us that he wants to adjudicate us to see how we are doing with our debates. After the debate, he even trained us on how to organize our speech and how we could substantiate our arguments and so on and so forth. I remember that we finished late from that training but BJ never cared at all, he's contented that he had done his part. I am really thankful to BJ for being always there for the apps. Even if we know that Levi and Paolo are his favorites, he still care enough for all of us. I am not afraid to tell BJ everything that I feel about DebSoc. I'm confident enough that he does not judge but actually understands our situation.

Besides BJ, I am also thankful to the MAC members. They are the ones that we always see around. They are the ones who always try to help us with the application period. Whether they are just warm to the applicants because it is their job or it is innate to them, I am still very thankful. Their constant checking on us make the application period a lot easier. As I ponder on this MAC requirement, I realized that it is mostly MAC members that I became very close to. Their presence really made my application period fun and really interesting.

My application period was such an adventure. At the start I thought that debating in college was as simple as it was in my high school debating days. I realized that there is a world of difference between the two. I always felt that my debates were awful. In most of my debates, I got 4th. The adjudicator always has the most to say about my speech...lack of substantiation, farfetched arguments, rehash, wrong definition and so much more. The only thing they always appreciate in my speech is my manner. It gave me the impression that I am good enough in acting out a good delivery of my speech but dumb enough to think of valuable arguments. It made me feel that whenever I stand in front of the adjudicators, they are thinking that I am the dumbest applicant of DebSoc ever. Along with my frustrations on my debate, I also have my acads. Most of the time, I am so tired when I get home that I don't finish all my readings in SS2 and Eng12 anymore. I am so stressed whenever I have to study on my test in one of my classes and also have to matterload for the coming graded debate. Sometimes, I am wondering if I gave myself so much to worry knowing that I am only a freshie but at the end of the day, I would just dismiss that thought. Even if the application period really stressed me, I don't take it against anybody. I don't take it even to myself. I know that whenever I want something, I have to work hard for it. In joining DebSoc, I have to experience this all.

Even if all my debates were awful and I felt that my classes are already affected, I did not defer. Even if I was only an inch away from defering, I did not defer. Simply because whenever I look back on the application period, whenever I look back on everything that I've done, I just cannot give up at once. I am not the kind of person who just gives up. Besides, I always have a great time whenever I am with my co-applicants. I became really close to most of them and I will surely miss so much fun if I defer. I love going to Econ Caf and chat with members and applicants. I also enjoyed learning a lot from debating. Besides learning the basic debating, I also learned a lot of new style of speaking. It makes me laugh whenever I think that I cannot finish my speech without saying, “ladies and gentlemen”, “at the end of the day”, “we question” and so many phrases that I get used to when I became a DebSoc applicant.

I know that I did not give such a wonderful performance on the application period but it was the most that I can give. I am happy enough that I have given my best, the rest now lies on the hands of DebSoc. Still, the application period was the most fun and also most frustrating days of my freshman year.

Jovan Celda

It's All in the "Angas" by Jovan Celda

What prompted me from applying to the UPD Debate Society was my passion for debating. I debated once in high school and our team won, though everyone in the audience thought that we’ll lose. Well in fairness, there were those who thought that our team would win – and those were my ever-loyal classmates. We were all classmates since our First Year in high school and that explains their loyalty to me. I thought my “debating experience” – if you’ll call that a legitimate experience - would suffice and make it easy for me to pass the application process of UPDS. But I was wrong. Shining as bright as the sun was the fact that I won’t be able to get in that easy. What I had in high school was not enough.

I can’t possibly do it alone. And here comes the ever-supportive MAC to aid me in the whole application process of UPDS. There’s BJ. I must admit that I’m afraid of BJ. I know he’ll read this – might as well be honest and let him know I’m afraid of him. I’m afraid not only because he holds the dice that would decide whether I’m in or out – but because he has this way of making my bones shiver. I don’t know if that’s just his way, if he’s just being tact but sometimes his way of asking me certain questions is as if he’s expecting an answer that I do not want to say. I know I’m being honest with my answers but it’s as if he’s doubting what I’m saying and that really makes me scared. BJ can be brutally frank and that scares the living shit out of me. In fairness to BJ, I understand that he really wants us to work our asses off for us to get in. He just really wants us to work real hard. Maybe his way of pressuring us is also his way of inspiring us. I’m not saying he’s not friendly. He’s just really brutally frank. If I could equate BJ with any phrase, it would be “cruel honesty.” I’m not saying that I do not like him. I can be brutally frank also and having BJ talk to me is like giving me a dose of my own medicine.

MAC is the committee that makes me feel I’m in good hands. Like my high school classmates, they’re very supportive – very supportive to the point that I don’t know if they’re just trying to make me feel alright or if they’re just avoiding to tell me that I suck in debating. Just kidding. They’re nice people. Though they’re not our buddies, they train us and give us constructive criticisms that may help us in our future debates. MAC also has the distinction of making me do things I never thought I could possibly do. The activities they organized made me feel really competitive to the point that I’ll strip just to win a game. The “infamous” Seven Deadly Questions made me know myself even more. The ranking whether I’m exclusively heterosexual or exclusively homosexual gave me a point to ponder. For a while, I doubted whether I’m ultimately straight or if I have a tendency to be a “swinger”. But for clarifications, I really am positive that I’m straight.

I feel proud that I applied for UPDS. Thoughts of deferring have constantly came into my mind. I’ve considered deferring for many times. What hinders me from doing so is my buddy. She’s very supportive. She’s the big sister I never had. I’m not good in debating but she makes me feel that I have the potentials to make it big someday. No, she’s not feeding my mind with crazy thoughts. She’s just boosting my morale and that makes me feel good about myself at the end of the day. I once told a MAC member that my buddy fee is the one that hinders me from deferring. Truth is, it’s only my buddy – not the fee.

The whole UPDS Application Process has made me know myself more. It has made me a better person – I must say. One very important lesson I have learned is that the last person who should denigrate me is myself. Others may doubt me but I shouldn’t doubt myself. My buddy wrote in my sigsheet, “It’s all in the angas!”. I’m more maangas now - the positive angas that is. I believe in myself more now than I used to before. My buddy did it for me.UPD DebSoc did it for me.