By Geomar Lubaton (http://ramgee.i.ph)
The CS Graduation Dinner was held last April 20, 2005 at Balay Kalinaw in UP Diliman from 6:30 to 10:00 PM. One hour before the event, everything was going smoothly. The Grad Party Volcorps were almost finished setting up the place, giving the necessary forms to the early birds.
After waiting for the crowd to get bigger, Dino Lacdan and Geomar Lubaton, the event’s hosts, had the people settle down to get the party started. The event was started by an opening speech by the past Department Chair Dr. Ronald Tuñgol then was followed by a game called “Modified Human Photograph”. In this game, the grad students were asked to group into threes to test their creativity and acting skills by depicting scenes like “nasuntok ng lasing sa may McDo” and “nagka-kram sa thesis.”
Next was the much awaited dinner! Thanks to the gourmet skills of Michael Lee, an HRIM student in College of Saint Benilde (CSB), a delectable buffet of peppery stuffed pork roulade and fried chicken with béchamel sauce appeased approximately 80 hungry tummies of the people who attended that night. The food was good for 100 persons but there were few leftovers.
Mr. Ryzaldi Acmad Moti, Chief Operating Officer of 25by8, an e-solutions company, shared a talk on the quality of UP CS graduates, and gave them survival tips after graduation. Ms. Joyce Avestro, president of the Department of Computer Science Alumni Association (DCSAA), introduced the Association to the graduates and swore them in as the newest batch. She also announced Georgino Adriano and Ma. Christina Olpoc as the elected Batch Representatives. They will be in charge of contacting their batchmates in upcoming events such as alumni homecomings.
Awards and Recognitions were given to the cum laudes and magna cum laudes of the batch. Finalists in the Undergraduate Research Competition e-NoDes and AMASSIS (see related news article) were also recognized.
The highlight of the evening was the tribute for the graduates. Sighs and laughter filled the room as the screen flashed photos of their freshmen year, their barkada photographs, thesis presentations, and more. It reminded them of their stay in UP with all its ups and downs, and the challenges they are to meet as they welcome the real world. Ms. Joyce Avestro surprised everyone as she bid them goodbye with a musical number.
The party was officially ended by words from Dr. Susan Pancho-Festin at around 10 pm and the to-be-graduates were off to their own gimmicks and get togethers.
