Journo Journey

To Refresh and Beyond Published: December 1, 2023 UP Diliman Academic Oval, July 27, 2020. (Courtesy: Patrick Roque) After approximately eight weeks of theoretical instructions and activities, our group and I are about to go beyond the fence of lessons into another set of challenges. Our report earlier this week concluded with fruitful insights from our professor and substantial dataset and mapping exercises for future reference. Aside from new lessons, we still have to enrich ourselves with more activities on data in our class. Furthermore, after acquiring new knowledge, it is time to resume our investigative process and shed light on the concerns surrounding UP Pook Arboretum. We must consider every past lecture we covered, especially the investigative process itself, from its conceptualization to publication. In my case, I have to remind myself (at times) of what I wrote in my past logs as a form of motivation and recollection of my experiences. Besides encountering challenges as ...

  Moving Forward Published: November 24, 2023 "The Disorganized" (Courtesy: Mervin Manaois) Our week was productive as we planned our future regarding our brief data report and investigation. We had no progress from our investigative report on the PGH Diliman’s construction at UP Pook Arboretum last time. As we move forward, we are deducing what our next steps are amid all other academic tasks attempting to hinder us. From our impending group report next week, I realized the prominence of conducting data evaluation and analysis. I then realized the significance of reminding oneself to prioritize things in life, academics, and special projects, in our case – our investigation. Furthermore, moving forward amid all other hardships we may encounter, it is essential to maintain a positive mindset and never give up hope. The forthcoming report given to us by our professor is an introduction to what we may face in our investigative report. We first conceptualized what our story an...

Excel and Dead-ends Published: November 17, 2023 Sample Excel Exercise Sheet (Courtesy: Mervin Manaois) Time has passed, and we have yet to progress with our investigation on the construction of PGH Diliman at the UP Pook Arboretum. As I feared, we reached a dead-end because of the lack of motivation and a tsunami of other academic and extracurricular commitments. One thing I realize now is that time management is precious. In line with time management is organization. Our recent discussion and workshop on the basics of data organization involves working with Excel sheets. In the investigative process, I saw our workshop as a helpful and impactful guide to saving time and manual labor when analyzing and evaluating data. Our recent progress came from the NCR Regional Director Loreta Malaluan, stating that she sent our inquiry on the PGH Diliman construction to their Planning and Design Division “for action” last October 25. After her reply, our investigative process stood still. None of...

  Number Mason Published: November 10, 2023 Cryptic Numbers (Courtesy: Pattern Crew) Sarah Cohen’s “What’s a Number?” reminded me that numbers are prominent. They consist of complex meanings behind the shroud of being a mere symbol; it represents various beings – living or non-living. As Cohen stated, numbers help paint accurate portraits of society while others do not. Unfortunately, the numerical values we occasionally see are double-edged swords, depending on how people use them. Some individuals may use numbers to fit a narrative, polarize, give an illusion, blow things out of proportion, or accidentally give wrong calculations. Furthermore, despite the negative aspects of mathematical objects, they give realizations to people that such values provide depth to particular things in society. First and foremost, presenting numbers must be minimal to avoid overwhelming viewers. Too many figures but fewer texts may confuse or lead the audience to misinterpret the information. I re...