“Experience is still the best teacher”...
After 2 years of facing my gadgets for online learning, it’s about time to face reality and apply all the lessons that we’ve learned in online classes. From the recommendations made through the essays, presented videos, and opinions from recitations, it’s now time to perform it for our Junior Practicum with Baguio City Tourism and Special Events Office (CTSEO).
Initially, it felt different because it was the first time for us, classmates, to meet physically. During our first day of internship, we were all nervous and excited because we will be meeting a lot of VIPs, politicians, and businessmen who are well-known in the City of Baguio. It may be a premonition moment but we were inspired by our practicum host, Ma’am Rachelle Anne Montoya, Tourism Officer II and a proud alumna of the University of Baguio. In one of her statements, she said that, “No matter how hard it is, if you’re willing to climb the ladder for your success, the universe will just give it to you”. This statement of hers impacted me and inspired me to do my best in every task. It motivated me to go beyond my limits as well as work excellently and effectively by doing more of what is expected.
My on-the-job training with the CTSEO exposed me to the service industry where I was able to experience being a member of the head committee for different events in the city such as Filipino-American Friendship Day, Fete De La Musique 2020, and Cordillera Day. Not only this, but I also witnessed first-hand the Oath-taking of the newly elected government officials of Baguio City. In addition, I was also given the opportunity to meet our officials from the different parts of our country and people who are well-known in our industry.
Being assigned as the close-in assistant of Engr. Aloysius C. Mapalo, the Supervising Tourism Operations Officer, is such a great privilege because I was able to witness how the head of the tourism office works. Moreover, one great experience that has been remarkable to me was when we went to Manila to meet our Sister City in Guam. We were there to represent Baguio along with our very own Mayor Benjamin Magalong. I can say that it was one of the most spectacular moments during my internship simply because I went out of Baguio amidst the pandemic carrying the name of the University of Baguio lace across my neck.
In the middle of our junior practicum journey, there were times that I wanted to stop, give up, and let go. But what I realized was that, if we want to prosper in life, we must always continue to move forward. We should do our best to overcome every challenge — crying if needed is okay, but remember that at the end of the journey, the crowning glory is waiting for us. Eventually, we will get through the time when we can say that all our efforts have finally paid off, and we can finally say that we won all the battles — “WE MADE IT HAPPEN”.
Moreover, I realized that challenges are just temporary. However, the decisions we made to overcome those challenges leave a remarkable experience in our life. The lessons learned can also be shared with others. Thus, always remember that if we hold on to what is right, the universe per se will pave its way to make our goal happen. And, we can finally sing along with Taylor Swift’s beautiful lyrics, “Time will come for us to finally win”.
In addition, to hear comments such as: “Carl is highly dependable and competitive”; “He has the skills essential to run an event” and; “He can deal with pressure and deliver outputs with accuracy”, from our practicum host and other Tourism Officers made me want to learn more things and improve for my wonderful aspirations.
Hence, I want to emphasize that my junior practicum journey is undeniably a remarkable experience as it reminds me of why I chose the tourism industry — not only for the sake of traveling but also meeting new people and learning from their experiences, learning new cultures and witnessing the beauty of the world.
Taking all of these into account, I want to give credits to the School of International Hospitality and Tourism Management for allowing me to experience this beautiful journey. It amazingly gave me the chance to grow and gain a lot of knowledge about my understanding of the real essence of Tourism and how the service industry works. With all the knowledge I gained from this remarkable experience, I can say that now, there’s so much I already know that I can apply in this industry. Through this Junior OJT, I had the best tourism and hospitality-related experiences…. experiences that became my best teachers!
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