Junior Year, thank you for all the memories. Hello Senior Year! Soon.

A.Y. 2012-13 has come to an end. Junior Year, Third Year, Year 3 of my España journey has come to an end. Six semesters have come and go, time really flew by very fast. It was like yesterday when we lined up and hoped that we will get accepted into UST, now it's down to one final year as a Thomasian student. But before all of that, here are some of the stories that I would like to share from the second semester of Year 3 of the España journey.

Picking up where I left off the previous semester, I was back competing in quiz bee competitions for the university. I competed in three competitions this semester, all of which happened within a span of a month.

First was the 2nd National League of Tourism Students of the Philippines Skills Olympics Quiz Bee last February 9, 2013, where we went up north to the University of Baguio campus in the "City of Pines" in Baguio City. Our team topped the elimination round, however in the Final Round we were unable to duplicate our feat from the elimination round and we had to settle for 3rd Place. It wasn't only us who competed there, my blockmates Jeanie Tan and Kimberly Tecson won 2nd Place in the Domestic Tour Package Proposal competition, while our fellow batchmate Rolando Sio Jr. won 1st Place in the International Tour Guiding competition. Also competing was another batchmate of ours Lyka dela Cruz who competed in the Domestic Tour guiding competition. At the end of the day, we did not go home empty.

A week later on February 16, 2013, the team was back again to compete at the UP Club for the Environment & Tourism Domestikwhiz 2013 held at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Social Hall in Quezon City. That competition also had a chip on our shoulders as it will be the last time we'll compete as one team. As both of my teammates after the competition will prepare for their graduation. It was a tightly contested quiz bee. We thought we had lost it. However, we got a blessing as we came out as CHAMPIONS! It was the second time we as a team came out as champions. We won the cash prize of P6,000 which the three of us got to share with, medals for all three of us, a trophy we get to send back to España, and a Moonleaf planner for each of us (I would give mine in a raffle afterwards.) It was indeed a great way to cap off our run as one team with a BANG!

Finally on February 28, 2013, we went to the campus of Treston International College in Taguig City as we competed in the 7th National Tourism Students Congress Skills Olympics organized by UFTE/UFTS. It is the biggest competition of the year. This time however, I competed all by myself in the Quiz Bee competition. On that day was the elimination round for some of the competitions. As for me, I was able to get through to the elimination round as I finished second among the 11 who made it through to the final round. That day would turn out great as it wasn't just me who got through to the eliminations, as all of us who competed that day made it through to the eliminations. Then the following day, March 1. We all came back, this time we brought along new faces who will only compete on that day. Then came the Final round of the Quiz Bee. It was a tightly contested battle, but in the end, just like in the eliminations, I settled for a runner-up finish. Aside from that, my blockmates Trudeece Ramos and Katlyne Bundal also won 2nd Place in the International Tour Package proposal, it was also a victory for our class 3T5 as all of us contributed to the success of the proposal in the competition. Then our batchmate Rolando Sio Jr. won 3rd Place in the International Tour Guiding competition. The others who competed were my blockmates Jeanie Tan and Kimberly Tecson in the Domestic Tour Package proposal, Shane Prepotente and Sheila Lao in the Poster Making competition, Trixia Alda who wore the costume designed by Justine Navato in the Kasuotang Pinoy competition and our batchmate Jhie Berbano who competed in the Domestic Tour Guiding competition. 

It was indeed a great way to cap off a great year of competition for all of us, and I'm so happy that all of us at 3T5 made a lot of noise this year through the competitions we competed all year long, and what great way to cap off the year was at the CTHM Awards 2013 held last March 12, when together with my teammates won the Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award as well as medals and certificates for bringing honor to the University and the College. Not only that, our class 3T5 took home the Outstanding Homeroom Class Award for the Travel Management Department as well as the Outstanding Class President Award for our class president Kimberly Tecson.

Photos © Karl Carandang

So for the last time, I'll thank my senior teammates Ate Kriskyn Cabrera and Ate Marian Buenaventura. Being a part of this team has been a great honor and privilege. I'm happy we've achieved a lot of great things as one team. Congratulations as well on your graduation from the University. We'll find time to hang out soon. Maybe this summer will do. You two may be signing off now with a BANG! We'll continue what the three of us started together!

Also I would like to thank our mentors from the Dean Ma'am Tioc, our chairperson (one-time class adviser) Sir Win and our secretary (also a one-time class adviser) Sir G for all the opportunity to represent the university in competitions this year. I couldn't have asked more. I would also like to thank our coaches this semester, Ma'am Jane and Ma'am Tin for being there for us throughout the preparations until the competitions themselves. But let me not forget our previous coaches in Ma'am Connie, Ma'am Amy and Ma'am Joreen (who is now in De La Salle Lipa). I hope to come back next year better than ever and once again bring glory to the university.

When I'm not in competitions, I had to go through the every day life of a Thomasian Travel Management Student. Our seniors always say that 3rd Year, 2nd Semester is the "most difficult" semester for a Travel Management student. Indeed it lived up to it's word. From formulating a Business Plan/Feasibility Study in our Entreprenurship and Business Planning class which we were to defend in front of a panel of judges, it also gave us a lot of sleepless nights, but Thank God it came out better than expected. Also we had to go through writing booking files in our Galileo class which also comes with a shot at a certificate for the usage of the Galileo software. As well, to our French class which will be the last foreign language course we will take at the university, to our Statistics class with a twist, to our Tour Packaging class where we created an international tour package proposal and we used in competition, to the Tourism English class which was lively and very energetic, to the TTOM class where we went inside the basics of a travel company, and to the never forgiving Tour Planning class. Each subject gave all of us a set of challenges we had to endure over the past 5 months of the second semester. Most of the time, all was well, but of course there were times where we were pushed to our very limits. I'm really hoping with all the hard work that I gave all semester long, it will translate into positive results.

Aside from the school work, there were a couple of events that happened around the campus this semester, one of which was the annual Paskuhan event which happened on December 21, 2012. The day they say the world will come to an end. But we're all standing here at this moment in the year 2013 alive and well. But anyway, during the Paskuhan we all had a great time together with my classmates, batchmates and friends as we spent the entire night having a blast. Also, some of my classmates and batchmates went on an International Tour to Seoul, South Korea. Unfortunately, I was unable to come due to the high costs to make the trip. So while they're away in another country, we still found a way to have some fun for us who got left behind in the Philippines as I threw a pizza party with my blockmates. Then, there was The Search for the Ideal Thomasian Personalities competition in which Mr. and Ms. CTHM came with a first runner-up and fourth runner-up finish respectively. Aside from that, the USTET results came out where the list of prospective Thomasians came out including those who were given a chance to an interview for a shot to get into CTHM. Also, there was the annual student elections both on the university-wide and college level. Finally, yesterday was the Baccalaureate Mass for the graduating students of the university as they passed by the Arch of the Centuries for the last time as Thomasian students. Next year, it will be us who'll be passing by the Arch and sitting on those chairs.

Yeah! So my third year as a Thomasian Travel Management Student has come to an end, and Summer vacation has arrived. It will be my last summer vacation as a student. I have to make this one count! The grades will be out soon, and once summer vacation has ended, it will be the start of Senior Year in my España journey. Thesis and then Practicum. Yeah it will be one busy Senior Year for me. But for now, I'll savor the moment and relax over the hot summer heat. I'll leave with a photo of mine with all the things I was able to achieve this year.

JUNIOR YEAR, thanks for the memories.
HELLO SUMMER!
Soon, HELLO SENIOR YEAR!
all in for the win.
K-Smoove