In this series of blog postings, we feature our alumni as they talk about their experience being in the program as well as their unforgettable moments as former XU DevCom students.

Why did you choose DevCom?

Actually, DevCom was not my first choice but since the course that I wanted was not offered in the university I went to, I took up DevCom and later found myself Ioving it more than my first choice of course. The saying everything happens for a reason, made sense with choosing DevCom.

Tell us about your experience with the program.

My experience in DevCom was colorful. A lot of people would say that our course is simple, I totally disagree.

In DevCom, I need to battle with a lot of deadlines for passing articles, storyline, and scripts and to be more disciplined especially in managing my time. I need to think outside the box in creating layout and designs and in capturing stories. In DevCom, I became more objective in gathering data and to be keen with the details. I learned to be more conscious and open minded with other people’s culture when we had our immersion and on-the-job-training in an Indigenous Community which I would say is a life changing experience.

In Devcom, I was able to unleash my potentials in several areas I never knew I would be immersing myself with. For one, I transformed into an actor during our theater play “Juan Tamban”– a platform to opening the eyes of our audience with the social reality. Hand-in hand with being a catalyst of social awareness I also got to connect the importance of my course in rural development especially in agriculture and with that I was able to learn food technology, basic animal and crop science, community development together with other courses like Biology, Chemistry and Physics all in the name of working for the good of communities I would be serving in the future.

I can’t imagine I was able to finish the course given all the many requirements. There even came a point when you will tire out but at the end of the day you would still choose to do things over and over again because your heart says that it’s all worth it and because you know that what you are doing is for a greater cause.

What’s most heartwarming about my experience in DevCom is the support of the DevCom faculty and staff. You feel the weight and pressure of your work but they eventually overpowered by the presence of people in the faculty who are always there to guide us in our journey. They have this shared effort and care to harnessing our potentialities to the fullest.

DevCom really is more than a community, it is a family. A family who will bring out the best in you as a person.

What is your current Job?

I am a happy and passionate Provincial Field Coordinator in Eastern Samar serving the people under the wing of the Office of the Vice President ANGAT BUHAY Program.

Are you using what you learned in college?

In all aspects of my job I am applying everything I learned in college. From the write-ups, layouts to managing projects and all deliverables assigned to me. I am thankful to that part of project management which is log frame because it helped me a lot with my first work. Facilitation is very helpful especially in meetings and dialogues. To fully connect with the people, you need to understand and integrate yourself with how they live and their constant hopes and struggles. I learned in our immersion to be culture sensitive that if conflict arises among farmer organizations that I handle I can manage such situations because it was part and one of my favorite subjects in DevCom -Communication Management in Organization.

For me being a graduate of DevCom means being in solidarity with the community, using effective communication strategies and guiding people to realize their own needs to combat social injustices in order to attain development. One of the best lessons I learned from the class “Change does not happen in one night it is a process” and change happens at the level of self-interest which was strongly affirmed during the implementation of the projects that I handled. I always use the Knowledge Skills/Practices Attitude (KSA) on my pre-assessment on project implementation taught by Maam Rechelle. With these tools I was able to understand the root cause of the gaps and address it at their level. More than learning technical skills like writing stories, lay out IEC, and capturing stories, what I value and still I have in my heart are the principles and values of an effective development communicator.

Would you recommend studying DevCom?

DevCom is a versatile course and I would really recommend this especially to those who has interest in development related work using effective communication tools to serve the frontiers of the society.