De Leon: Week 3 at Peace Works

1. List down all the tasks that you performed during this period. Describe each in detail.

April 27, 2009
9:00 AM
I called the office of the General Services Division to settle the schedule of interview with the head of maintenance and landscaping division. I talked to Engr. Wenceslao and had it scheduled at 1:30 in the afternoon. I also made a follow-up call to the city tourism office and got no positive update regarding the information that I seek.

April 27, 2009
1:20 PM
We started the interview on time. I got there minutes before the schedule and still had the chance to review my questions and chitchat with Engr. Wenceslao. We ended at two in the afternoon and I went back to school to check with the research center if there are local studies regarding benefits of recreation or participation of Zamboangueños to the local communities through public spots. Unfortunately, there was none.

The entire afternoon, I tried to get in touch with the tourism office and was asked to give follow-up calls. Still, at the end of the day they gave me nothing but false hopes.

That afternoon too, I contacted the band leader of Comic Relief through my brother. I got Zack’s number (the leader) and set an appointment with him. Fortunately, he was on his way to the studio, near the school and he told me that we can just meet that very day. So, I went to the recording studio and asked him when we can have the interview with the other members of the band. We exchanged numbers and agreed that he’ll just confirm the time, but most probably in the evening the next day.

April 27, 2009
5:00 PM
I was with my friend and we decided to hang-out at Boulevard as we commonly do when we have time. At the same time, it was a good thing because it is related to the story that I am writing. I tried talking to some people and ask them about going to the place, their reasons and how often they do. Some would hesitate to give answers, others don’t respond, while others just give very brief response. But most of them, would give the same common answers. There, I saw some friends, met some tourists from Baguio and Cebu. And encountered different kinds of people, professionals, young ones, families, lovers, Muslims, Christians, mixed.


April 28, 2009
5:00 PM
I had nothing to do. No scheduled appointments, no interviews. So I decided to go to Jardin Maria Clara with my friend, and just hang-out and see if there is anything that I can get to contribute to my story. We went home with some photos that I took. Then, I was expecting that the interview with Comic Relief will pursue at 8:00 in the evening but Zack informed me that they have other engagements that night. I was lucky that he was kind enough; he even brought a copy of the band’s history in our house. We agreed to have the interview the following day, Wednesday at 8:00 in the evening.


April 29, 2009
8:00 PM
At MadMedia Works Studio, I met with four of the band members and had the interview. We started at around 8:30 and ended past ten. When I arrived home, I reviewed my notes and got other necessary information from the recorded interview.

April 30, 2009
11:00 AM
I started writing down the article about the local bands. I had so many information and it took me a long time to select the information that I need. I ended at around six in the evening, with breaks of course. And finally, I finished writing the story.


May 2, 2009
I was not able to write the story on the public parks immediately because I was confused and lost on how I will do the story. Aside from the informal interviews I had with some people with not so very useful information, I only have the information from Engr. Wenceslao and the online information I got. Then I tried to make the story out of the only resources that I had.



2. Describe new skills you learned, or skills you improved upon as a result of these tasks. Be specific.

* Back to basics – INFORMATION SELECTION. The article regarding the local bands was something I thought at first would be easy to do. I told myself that I am very familiar with the topic. Thus, it would be an easy thing after the interview. However, the one and a half hour interview was full of much information that I was so confused which ones to include in my story. Then I got back to my notes, the guide questions that I need in completing the story and the angle that I need to emphasize. It was still not that easy but it helped a lot.

* The previous interviews I had were mostly one on one interview. The one I had with the band was a different case. There were four of them, four loud and humorous boys who give different answers for every question and sometimes even go beyond the topic that I raised. HANDLING AN INTERVIEW is really a tough task. I thought that talking with people that I already know for a long time is easier. But doing an interview with friends of my brother who I have been seeing since I was in high school was a BIG CHALLENGE. While someone is talking, the other one is singing or playing guitar or hitting the drums or talking with the others. I understand that they were very comfortable with the situation because it was me, Mark’s sister, whom they were talking to. And every time they get carried away and share things that go beyond the question that I ask, I see to it that I redirect them to the right track without leaving them with a bad feeling.

* SAVING TIME in terms of transcribing interviews was one thing that I realized was very important. I have been used to listening to the entire interview before going on with my story. Listening to the entire interview actually gives you the privilege to review all the information that you have. But jotting down the most important notes during the interview and just listening to those parts saves a LOT OF TIME. This worked for me when I was doing the feature on the city’s public parks. It was just a thirty-minute interview and I had the chance to really write down the most important things while Engr. Wenceslao was talking and it did not take me a long time to review my interview file because I had already listed the necessary information that I need.



3. Other thoughts regarding the OJT experience.

This week seems to be a not so good week for me. The delayed feature on the public parks was not anymore that easy to do. I don’t understand why, but it took me a very long time to finalize my story and maybe it is also because I felt that I had no enough resources to make up a good feature on the topic. But I still tried, although it was already submitted late.

Regarding the other story, at first I really thought that it would be bias if I would write a story that focuses on the Band Comic Relief because my bother is one of the band members. But then I thought that I would write not in the cause of promoting the band.