Arvin Sicat
by Gemma Esteban
“Kung hindi mo sisimulan sa sarili mo ang pagiging kritikal sa mga bagay-bagay, sino pa ang tutulong sa’yo?”
(If you will not start being critical yourself, who’s going to help you?)
These are the words Arvin Sicat strives to live by as he faces the struggles that come with everyday life inside and outside the university. After three years of being honed in the College of Mass Communication, he came to realize and value the practice of basing his thoughts and actions on the objective analysis of facts surrounding him.
To Arvin, having the chance to come face-to-face with journalism is life-changing. He has never forgotten and, in fact, still finds surreal taking BJ 101, an elective that introduces students to broadcast journalism. Being able to actually do things he had only seen on television and heard on the radio growing up felt beyond incredible for him.
Prior to his UP life, Arvin already worked as editor-in-chief in their school paper during elementary and high school. He decided to join the UP Journalism Club in college to further develop his potential. Moreover, he wanted to refresh the knowledge he has acquired on writing especially because Broadcast Journalism is his intended track.
Five years from now, Arvin hopes to find himself in the News and Current Affairs or in the Creatives department of a TV network. Fueled by passion, he says he’s fine with whatever job as long as it has something to do with writing and applying the things he learned in Maskom.
In the meanwhile, Arvin is focused on taking small steps as a third year Broadcast Communication student. He wants freshmen embarking on the same journey to prepare themselves for a ride that could change their lives as it has changed his.
His message to his fellow future journalists? “Dapat maging firm sa sinumpaang tungkulin bilang journalist at kritikal sa paga-analyze ng mga issues,” he said.
As part of the promotions of the Campus Journalism Workshop UP Diliman, members of the UP Journalism Club (UPJC) wrote personality sketches about each other, highlighting the skills participants can learn from the workshop.
Gemma Esteban is a third year journalism student at the UP College of Mass Communication. She likes to talk to people a lot, which makes her a perfect part of UPJC’s Membership Committee.