Innocent Wild: Inkblots 2012

Just when I thought I'll be stuck at home doing nothing this sem-break, I was lucky enough to be chosen by my editor (hi, Ate Trish! Thanks again!) to represent the literary section of The Flame to Inkblots 2012 - a national campus journalism fellowship hosted by the official student publication of UST, The Varsitarian.

God, it was awesome!

I couldn't exactly put into words how much I've learned and enjoyed the three days of Inkblots. On top of that, we got to meet a lot of personalities in the field of journalism.

On Day 1, we had former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. for the opening remarks. He also discussed the peace process with us. I missed the news writing session with Christian Esguerra, as I had to complete my NSTP requirements. We then had a panel discussion on literature with comical author Eros Atalia, Palanca Award winner Carlomar Daoana, and our dear Sr. Ferdie Lopez. The last speaker of the day was GMA's reporter/news anchor Mariz Umali. God, she's so beautiful! She was also kind enough to allow photo-ops and autographs.

Day 2 was the most fun for me, because we had Photo Journalism, Filipino Journalism (which I missed due to our enrolment), Sports Writing, Cartooning, and Catholic Journalism and Journalism Ethics.

I was blown away by the photos taken by The Associated Press Photographer Aaron Favila. Man, he's so keen on the details! Go Google him - you'll be impressed!

We also had fun in Sports Writing with well-renowned sports writer Quinito Henson! He invited Petron's Arwind Santos and Alex Cabignot over for a mini-press-con, and we had to write a sports article about what we picked up during the conference. What pushed us all to write were the prizes for the 10 best articles - autographed basketballs, jackets, shirts, mobile phones (yes, mobile phones!), and a lot more! Every prize was a sports showcase anybody - even those who don't like sports as much (like me) - would like to win. Of course, I wasn't picked. Haha!

We then had parallel sessions on Layout and Cartooning. I originally signed up for layout, but I really wanted to attend the cartooning sessions, so I sneaked out. We had award-winning editorial cartoonist/children's book illustrator Jess Abrera as our speaker. I have a few words for the man: HE IS SO COOL!!!

I've always wanted to be an artist growing up, but unfortunately, I don't have the skills for it, so I resorted to writing. Anyhow, I still enjoyed the cartooning session. We were taught how to show expressions in our illustrations; the symbols we had to use to show reaction, and everything in between. After the session, we were allowed to have photos taken with Jess and his son Manix. They also signed autographs and drew a bit :)

I didn't stay too long for the last session, Catholic Journalism and Journalism Ethics with Nikolo Baua, Fr. Nick Lalog, and Christian Esguerra, as I was already fetched by my aunt, although I learned a thing or two in the talk.

Day 3 - the last day - kicked off with a Campus Paper Management session with Eldric Paul Peredo. We then had Opinion-Editorial with Marichu Villanueva and Research in Journalism with Felipe Salvosa II. Our last session for Day 3 and the whole of Inkblots 2012 is Feature Writing with Manila Bulletin's Entertainment Associate Editor and The Flame Adviser (yes, I feel the need to state that!) Sr. Nestor Cuartero, wherein we had to write a feature article about the celebrity guest he invited over - BJ "Tolits" Forbes, who will be playing the second Filipino saint, San Pedro Calungsod, in a stage production.

Before the closing remarks, it was very timely that award-winning script writer, Ricky Lee, was in our university at the time and he agreed to deliver a short message to us.

During our last night, we also had a dinner to have some more fun.

I wish I could explain more about Inkblots, but there's just about a million great things about it that I can't afford to write in here right now, so I'll just state some reasons you should join next year's Inkblots.

REASONS YOU SHOULD JOIN INKBLOTS 2013

-It's the 15th Inkblots Campus Journalism Fellowship of UST, and it will surely be bigger and better - with fireworks!

-A lot of universities and colleges all over the country will participate. It's the perfect chance to make new friends or to build your network.

-You'll learn a lot of things beyond the walls of your classroom.

-The food. There are a lot of snack breaks!

-Nobody goes home empty-handed. There are loads of freebies and prizes to be won!

-It's FUN! (Do I have to say more?)

-You'll get to meet a lot of personalities in the field of journalism, and learn from their experiences.

-Celebrities also drop over.

-To fill in your 3 idle sem-break days with info, techniques, and what not!

-Your P1,500 (if that's still the price) will be super sulit!

*This list goes on :)