Excel and Dead-ends
Excel and Dead-ends
Published: November 17, 2023
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 us are working or heard anything else from our other sources (or at least for those I contacted). October concluded, and we have reached almost a month of no activity. Our other academic tasks, commitments, and work are now accumulating on us. In my circumstance, I am starting to feel the pressure and burnout of everything together, and I fear we will have to rush steps with the risk of creating a subpar output. Moreover, I finally asked my groupmates on November 15 what our plans are moving forward. No new developments occurred.
I now see myself in a dilemma, a crisis. Although what I am experiencing may not mean much to others, as some people may say I am being melodramatic, I care about my academics. I aim to accomplish assignments and create outputs for me to pass and move to the next stage and avoid delays in my college years. I remember my other classmate the other day saying, “Avoid being an irregular student.” We are trying our best, and this may merely be another phase in the investigative process. There will come times when one gets to a dead-end, so one must take initiative and maintain an optimistic outlook. One should learn how to adapt and overcome. So, one must adopt the proper motivation to accomplish the investigative report despite hindering circumstances. Besides the obstacles, we have to remember why we do investigative reports. We want to amplify the voices of the marginalized and show and enlighten the public about the former’s situation. Furthermore, if there is one positive thing to come out this week, it would be learning some functions of Excel sheets.
David Herzog’s chapter “Getting your data in shape” in his book entitled Data Literacy: A User’s Guide showed us how to clean and organize data using Excel and supplementary programs. Similar to Herzog’s guide, our class conducted exercises on analyzing, verifying, organizing, and cleaning data for our convenience, especially when doing investigative reports requiring data. Doing such activities allowed me to recognize, appreciate, and develop skills for reading data that can save time and resources. Moreover, our Excel exercises are essential not for investigative reports only but for any discipline requiring data gathering.
Ultimately, reaching dead-ends is all part and parcel of the investigative process. There will be times when other commitments or lack of motivation prevent new progress in the investigation. One must take the initiative or remember why one is doing it – to amplify voices, show the truth, and let the public know what some of their fellow citizens are going through. Furthermore, it is salient to learn the basics of working with Excel sheets, as it will serve as a guide to effectively analyze, organize, and evaluate data while saving time and energy.
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