Do not take more than you can
chew.
But Pacesetter's Editor-in-Chief
Jasmin Lorraine Tan has proven that she can take everything—what with being
the head of Bulacan State University's official student publication, ending up
as the individual highest pointer in the 13th Regional Higher Education Press
Conference (RHEPC) and acting as the Associate Producer for a Sibul short film
entry—on top of being a senior journalism student who is currently writing her
thesis paper.
It is a question then of how can
she handle the amount of works she has every day.
"Sabi ko nga, 'pag nasa
[Pacesetter] office, hanggat may liwanag nag-a-acads (academics) ako tapos pag
dumilim na, do'n ako nag-e-edit hanggang hindi na matulog," the
20-year-old EIC shared to the 3rd year journalism students in an interview.
When the publication is busy over
campus journalism works, she rarely goes home.
"Nung nakaraan, mula
sem-break hanggang January 5, I think, mga Saturday [and] Sunday lang ako nasa
bahay," she recalled.
"Naiintindihan nila
(family). Basta tuwing umaalis ako, sinasabi, 'Mag-iwan ka ng picture
ha,'" she quipped.
But these efforts and sleepless
nights paid off when she won in three categories she participated in during the
RHEPC held last January 15-17: first place each on Sports Writing (English),
DevComm Writing (English) and Opinion Writing (English) categories, naming her
the Individual Highest Pointer.
With the mind-set that they really
should finish as champion this time, Pacesetter ranked number one in the
standing of school publications in Region III after three years of falling
second behind Bataan Peninsula State University.
Tan was not the intended
contender for DevComm and Opinion categories but conflicting schedules made way
for her to take up the spot and drop News Writing and Editorial Writing
categories.
"We have been called the
weakest batch, ang daming tawag sa atin, tapos parang ang daming fall back,
tapos ang daming failures. Tapos nung nag-champion, parang, ito na yun e, ito
na 'yung lahat ng hindi natin itinulog, lahat ng panahon na hindi tayo umuwi,
lahat ng panahon na kailangan mong i-sacrifice yung acads mo and
everything," she said.
The self-proclaimed Sports Writer
was later nicknamed "Monster" for garnering awards in the
competition, a label she could not quite grasp yet.
"Parang hindi ako
makapaniwala na ewan kasi nga dati lagi nga lang akong talo and everything
tapos ngayon... parang, sabi ko nga bawing-bawi yung pagkabigo ko mula
kinder," she stated.
 |
| Tan: "Never think that God's delays are God's denials." |
Tan revealed that she never won
in any of the previous writing contests she joined in her elementary and
secondary years, and she was also not accepted to join the high school
publication even after three tries that she almost lost the drive to write.
But she never gave up.
She believes that her failures
from the past are her biggest motivations.
"Kailangan, kung ano 'yung
effort na ginawa mo sa unang contest, sa kasunod dapat mas malaki, mas mabigat.
Kasi siyempre, hindi ka naman matatalo nang walang dahilan, hindi ka naman
dinaya lang," she imparted.
Tan added, "Basta dapat
'yung sarili mo 'yung ka-compete mo lagi. 'Yung ginawa mo dati, dapat better
yung gagawin mo sa susunod."
Because of her struggles on her
way to success, she thinks the Jasmin now is "definitely stronger"
than the Jasmin before.
"Kung dati hindi ko kinakaya
yung mga problema mag-isa, ngayon wala ka kasing ibang choice kundi kayanin
para do’n sa mga taong umaasa sa'yo," Tan told the juniors.
Now that this cum Laude candidate
is almost at the end of her stay in the university, she expressed feeling sad
and afraid at the same time about leaving Pacesetter behind.
"Nakakalungkot kasi syempre,
family ko na 'yung mga tao dun. Tapos nakakatakot kasi—hindi naman sa wala
akong tiwala sa mga iiwan ko do'n, hindi naman sa gano'n—pero siyempre, paano
'pag inapi-api sila ng mga nasa labas? Kasi ngayon, nandito ako, kahit paano
maproprotektahan ko sila, 'di ba?" Tan said.
She disclosed that she was
planning on taking a rest for a month before looking for work in a broadsheet
or sports magazine.
"Kasi buong school life ko
naman, pagod na pagod na pagod na pagod ako," she joked.
She advised the junior class to
stay only in the course if they really want it.
"Ako kasi, kaya ko rin
nagawang mag-stay dito na kahit na nahihirapan ako na sabay 'yung campus
journalism at being journalism student kasi gusto ko talaga ‘yung ginagawa ko.
Gusto ko talaga ng nagsusulat, nag-iinterview, everything," the EIC
imparted. "So kung hindi mo talaga gusto 'yung ginagawa mo, doon ka na
lang, doon sa gusto mo. At least, sa huli hindi ka magsisisi, naghirap ka
man."
Lastly, Tan thanked her
professors.
"Kung hindi kami hinayaan
nila Sir (Dino Balabo) dati na nasa field kami...Siguro mas hindi ko makakaya
'yung mga works as campus journalist kasi siyempre wala namang ibang magtuturo
sa inyo, kayo-kayo lang," she said.
"At least natuto akong
maging independent, dumiskarte sa sarili na kahit walang magtuturo sa'yo
exactly kung paano 'yung gagawin mo." ###
No comments:
Post a Comment