By Regina Elaine Vendivil

Excursion, a 2-day college webinar organized by the ACO Projects Committee (ACOPC) and Core, Mapulon, and the Office of the President, has concluded as it featured various student speakers from different universities last November 18 to 19, 2021 held via Zoom. 

Excursion aimed to help ASHS students with their preparation for college programs and applications through the talks of ASHS alumni and their discourses about experiences, college life, and application processes to various colleges. 

The webinar highlighted ASHS alumni including Hadrian Bucsit (UP), Raymark Kasilog (UST), Maia Wang (Hokkaido University), Rika Cruz (ADMU), Domi Ybanez (DLSU), and Don Salongsongan (University of British Columbia). 

In an interview with the ACO Vice President Matthew Benedict Almonte, he shared how the ASHS Batch 2022, which has been anxious and confused about college applications, prompted them to organize this event. 

“We wanted to help ASHS students navigate college applications with ease by providing them with accessible materials and resources to do so,” Almonte said.

He also mentioned that the Excursion aimed to shed light on the experience of students in the mentioned universities and provide the students with information not mentioned in the EdEx which mainly focused on admission criteria. 

“Excursion aimed to provide insights not seen in college application details and instructions; hence, the speakers were asked to share about their experiences, adjustments, academics, organizations, study habits, and even their grading systems,” Almonte said.

Additionally, with three organizations and committees participating to organize the project, they were only given less than three weeks to work due to conflicting schedules. 

“Since it is our first time working together and ACOPC has just been introduced to the [ASHS] Sanggunian, there were complications with communication and streamlining of processes,” Almonte stated.

Nonetheless, they were still able to identify and raise the mentioned issues and concerns between the heads and the other team members.

“The Excursion team was able to bounce back and productively and efficiently fulfill their roles, together,” Almonte added.

Photo Source: ASHS Sanggunian