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Opening doors to upperclassmen for the first time, the School of Computing (SoC) gathers Foxes and features its various student organizations at the recently held General Assembly, spearheaded by the College Student Council (CSC-SoC) at the Peter G. Nepomuceno (PGN) Auditorium on Tuesday, August 6, 2024.

Divided into two batches, morning and afternoon, this year’s assembly aimed to inform and reorient the students from all college years – freshmen through upperclassmen – about what they need to know within the department, as well as introduce them to the faculty staff, council members, and student organizations.

Hosted by Councilors Eina Loux Ruiz and Micah Lapuz, both batches of the assembly commenced with the opening remarks by the SoC Dean, Dr. Marlon Tayag, followed by the discussion on academic framework guidelines by Prof. Chris Almocera, who is also the adviser of the current CSC-SoC.

Video presentations about the mission and vision of the university and laboratory orientation were shown, followed by a special dance performance by the HAU Street Dance Crew, who creatively incorporated the theme for SoC days which is about retro games to their dance.

Subsequently, each of the student organizations unveiled their presentations about their focus and what they have to offer. These organizations include Code Geeks, Cybersecurity Intelligence Alliance (CSIA), League of Outstanding Programmers (LOOP), Multimedia Aficionados for Interested Artists (MAFIA), and the official student publication of SoC, The Access Point (AP). Afterwards, the College Student Council – SoC (CSC-SoC) were introduced on stage, to wrap up the event and to give the students a preview for the upcoming college days via a creative video teaser made by the Alpha Fox’ Multimedia and Creatives Team. 

Throughout the event, attendees and officers have observed problems, including technical difficulties during video presentations and crowd control before and after the assembly.
Futhermore, John Gabriel Perez, President of Code Geeks, emphasized the challenge in accommodating a large number of students at their booth, stating, “Given the number of students, it was challenging for us to manage their registration with our organization. However, by the end of the day, we were able to accommodate them effectively.”

Moreover, Carl Michael Canlas, Vice President – Internal of CSIA, mentioned the late arrival of tables while Allein Dane Maninang, one of the presenters for LOOP, shared that nervousness became a struggle for him in speaking in front of a large audience. 

Despite these obstacles, the event became successful. As stated by Lauren Cruz, Vice President of MAFIA, “Compared sa last year, I feel like mas organized ’yong this year. I think they really did a good job for this year.” Additionally, Nikko Parungao, the Councilor for Human Resources, noted, “The start has been a bit hectic but we were able to handle it. We feel it all come together. It’s pretty satisfying…all the organizations working together…”

As expected, the event became helpful for freshmen, including a first-year Web Development student who quoted, “As a freshman po, marami po akong natutunan like meron po palang mga organization na pwede pong masalihan at saka mga certificate na pwedeng isama sa resume ko.”

Meanwhile, a second-year EMC student sees the inclusion of upperclassmen in the assembly to be fun and impactful. She also added, “Hopefully, it will be smoother [for me] than last ’cause it was my first time last year. It was a bit jumbled but now, since I got used to it, maybe I’ll take it smoother this time.”

The General Assembly is an annual event to kickstart each academic year for Foxes, providing opportunities to connect and collaborate. Although previously exclusive for freshmen, this year’s assembly has marked the start of including upperclassmen as well.

News by: Jun Nathan Santos