Students

featured student

Anna Beatrice B. Sancio

CMC Batch 2021 Summa Cum Laude

Anna Beatrice B. Sancio, or known by everyone as Bea, is a student of BA Broadcast Communication who graduated as the Summa Cum Laude of CMC Batch 2021. Like most of the students, Bea also experienced an eventful and exciting college life, before and during the pandemic. Get to know Bea Sancio!

FAVORITE MEMORY IN MASKOM

Maskom is known to be a noisy college, and I have learned to embrace and love how every space is almost always filled with chatter. However, my favorite memory in Maskom is the rare period of time that it is void of that noise: in the morning. I often find myself too early to class (I arrive at around 7 am), and Plaridel Hall is eerily quiet during this time. I relish these slow mornings when I get some peace and solitude while I await the stream of people and noise to trickle in. I fondly remember the multiple times I have been nudged awake by the school janitor—who has just begun his early morning rounds—because I have fallen asleep in the BC Hallway.

FAVORITE BC CLASS

My favorite BC class is BC 180, Political Economy of Broadcasting! I was privileged enough to have the ever-brilliant Ma’am Cherish Brillion as my professor. It was a truly eye-opening course for me. I learned a lot about the intricacies within the political, social, and economic webs that make up the media industry. For my final project, two of my best friends (Athena Alipao and Nina Liu) and I wrote and illustrated a children’s book about the life of a single mother who is also a media worker, in the perspective of her son. I am proud of that output to this date because it felt meaningful to actually apply what we learned through creative storytelling.

BEA'S UP ORGANIZATIONS

I am a part of three organizations: UP Broadcasters’ Guild, the first and only socio-civic organization in College of Mass Communication, UP Advertising Core, the premier student-run advertising agency in UP Diliman, and Tinig ng Plaridel, the official student publication of CMC.

HER FAVORITE MEMORIES

WITH HER ORGANIZATIONS

I only recently became a part of Tinig ng Plaridel (TNP), so all my memories in the publication were unfortunately spent in the online realm. Nevertheless, my favorite moments with TNP are the nights we spend using Google Docs as our “group chat.” In my short time in TNP, I have learned what it takes to be a gutsy, excellent, and compassionate journalist through my co-editors, higher editors, and my staffers.

Meanwhile, I have been a part of the UP Broadcasters’ Guild (BroadGuild) and UP Advertising Core (AdCore) ever since I was a freshman. All the lunch breaks and time in between classes I have spent in our tambayans, catching up with friends and orgmates, will leave a lasting impression on me. Even if the BC hallway and the 4th floor of the BA building are almost like two different worlds, each of these spaces will always feel like home!

BEA'S ACADEMIC LIFE

CHALLENGES SHE ENCOUNTERED

My second year of college, wherein we were required to take our first ever production classes, posed many challenges for me. I knew next to nothing about production, nor was I confident in any of the aspects and technicalities that involved it. I could barely even speak without my voice quivering. I was especially frightened at the prospect of live productions. It took a while for me to overcome my anxiety, but I just found myself gritting my teeth and getting to work as I tackled how to go about each production. The tasks felt less overwhelming in time and I owe this to my great classmates and crewmates. Production is rarely a one-man job and that is what made me appreciate it all the more.

Another challenge was having to balance all my commitments. One of my most difficult semesters was in the first semester of my third year. I had to balance taking 18 units, on top of being UP BroadGuild’s Vice President for Publicity and Promotions Head for University Freshie Month. It felt impossible at first, but I just faced each hurdle day by day. Now, looking back, that semester is perhaps my favorite one.

INTERNSHIP AND THESIS AMID THE PANDEMIC

I interned in an online news outfit with 15 units, so it was difficult to stay on top of my work since I was expected to remain on-call despite having asynchronous and synchronous classes throughout the day. I was also tasked to monitor typhoons Rolly and Ulysses. It was strange to monitor the eye of the storm in the comfort of my own home, but it also made me realize how powerful of a conduit for information social media has become. I also learned how to write online news articles, which proved to be challenging since I was more used to the broadcast news writing style. Nevertheless, it was a fruitful experience. Bearing witness to how theories that were taught in class play out in real life was especially interesting and meaningful.

Having to write my thesis online was also challenging, to say the least. I was at a disadvantage since my audience studies class was cut short at the start of the pandemic, so I felt lacking in my theoretical knowledge, especially in the first semester. I even got an INC for my thesis proposal class, BC 199. I was initially disheartened, but my strong belief in what my thesis set out to do drove me to see it through. My thesis was inspired by an observation that I made over the pandemic: that people have started to avoid reading news online. I began to ask myself, how and why do we avoid news online? Conducting research for my thesis was enjoyable because I am an extrovert at heart. I loved getting to know my participants, even if it was only via Zoom. I gathered over 200 pages of data, so it took awhile for me to organize and make sense of it all. I actually ended up rushing to finish my thesis. I got my second ever INC because of this, which made the prospect of graduating on time even more uncertain. But lo and behold, God’s will and my persistence came through and I managed to submit it and have it approved in a nick of time.

bea's motivation and habits

motivation & inspiration

My family and God would always be my driving forces in life. I would not be who I am without their love and guidance.

It also goes without saying that I owe a lot of who I am to literature, art, films, TV shows, and other content that I consume more often than I care to admit. It is because of these different sources of content that I get to draw varied insights in formulating my own ideas. I am an avid consumer and lover of things; I wake up excited whenever I fall asleep reading, watching, or listening to something new.

DESTRESSING AFTER CLASS

As I mentioned earlier, I am an extrovert, so I often found my stress lifted at the end of every production day, when I would just talk to my crewmates while packing up. I feel extremely tired after production shoots, but I also strangely feel energized once my crewmates-turned-friends would chatter about our mishaps or what we had planned the next day. Spending time with my friends and family (even if it’s time spent just studying without talking to them) is enough to make me feel more at ease.

STUDY HABITS

I have a fair amount of habits! Here are a few of them:

Reminiscent of this list, I like to list down my tasks and break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks.
I have a lot of things on my plate, and I like to schedule them accordingly. More than just plotting down my tasks, I also make sure to carve out time for rest. When I’m not resting or doing org work, I just study more! Studying has weirdly become one of the ways I pass the time.
I love making reviewers via Google Docs (which I share with my classmates).
For classes that require memorization, I like to create handwritten flashcards. Flipping through flashcards gives a different kind of satisfaction that digital notes or reviewers cannot provide.
I allot time to study for major or long exams at least two weeks beforehand! I organize my notes after class within two days as much as possible so it would be easier for me to study for exams since I already have everything compiled.

college mantra

"Don't hope for a life without problems. There's no such thing. Instead, hope for a life full of good problems. You are defined by what you are willing to struggle for."

(Mark Manson, 2016)

message to the bc/bmas students:

Simply put, enjoy! I can confidently say that I have no regrets in my college life because I spent most of my energy thinking of what’s happening at hand. While I do plan ahead, it is more important for me to focus on what’s happening right now, may it be rendering a video output last minute or saying yes to unplanned nights out with friends.

Just say yes to things that you know you will enjoy or that you find interesting, even if it might scare you—from leadership positions to all other kinds of opportunities. But also, don’t forget to rest! In college, you will (perhaps, more importantly) learn how to say no, too. Just make sure to cherish what you end up saying yes to.

Explore and have fun!!

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