Starting the Semester right with 'Start Off: Road To Uno'

Y2K is an era of new beginnings. During the last days of 1999, everyone’s excitement of the millennium was replaced with worry due to a global scare that every computer network around the world would crash due to a coding problem called the Y2K bug. However, as soon as the clock struck 12, impending disaster was averted and so, it was the year 2000 and everyone was happy.

Eventually, the word Y2K became associated with butterfly clips, bedazzled phones, and upbeat music. To sum it up, Y2K screams new and fun, a theme that is very much fitting for our first event in this new academic year. Held last September 3, START OFF: ROAD TO UNO is an academic booster targeted to give a refresher course to the New Freshmen of the University of the Philippines Los Banos and, of course, to introduce them into the college life they’ve been looking forward to.

The morning session commenced as hosts Patrisha Dizon and PJ Pugoy welcomed the participants. Sports and Socials Committee (SSC) Head Mary Ann Llaguno led a short opening prayer and Executive-in-Charge Paula Mojica gave her opening remarks. After that, to get everyone into the zone, Mary Ann, together with an SSC co-member Jane Rodriguez led an icebreaker entitled “Zoom in, zoom out”. Many of our attendees actively participated in the game and the two facilitators took turns conversing with the freshies.

Revisiting functions and limits, Dr. Shiela S. Demegillo, an Assistant Professor from our very own Mathematics Division led the morning session’s lecture. Dr. Demegillo is a UPLB BS Math and MS MATH alumnus. She finished her Ph.D. in Math in UP Diliman and taught in various universities such as University of the East (UE) - Manila, Far Eastern University Institute of Technology (FEU Tech) and Adamson University.

The fun continued in the afternoon session, where hosts Lian Malacoco and Carlo Cuevas began by reminiscing about their freshie moments as math majors. Another fun icebreaker called “Name the Song” was led by Mary Ann and Jane. Many attendees have participated in the activity and shared their thoughts and expectations as incoming UPLB freshmen.

The afternoon session was all about differentiation, and Dr. Neil Jerome A. Egarguin, an Associate Professor, also from MathDiv, led the review. Also a UPLB BS Math and MS Math alumnus, Dr. Egarguin obtained his PhD degree in University of Houston last 2021. His research interests include mathematical modeling and control of acoustics and electromagnetic waves, numerical methods and analysis, real analysis, graph theory and mathematics education. He has also received several international publication awards and has authored a number of journal articles in the fields mentioned.

Both morning and afternoon sessions had Q&A portions and very exciting Kahoot assessments to see how well the participants were able to recall and digest the lessons. There were also raffle draws to make things more interesting and rewarding. All in all, there were 70+ and 65+ attendees during the morning and afternoon sessions, respectively. Before the event came to an end, the woman of the hour, Event Head Joana Patrisha Maquiller gave her closing remarks

Start Off: Road To Uno might be over but the event wouldn't be as bedazzling nor as fun if it wasn't for everyone who helped make this event such a success. With that, SAM-UP would like to express their gratitude to the participants who chose to spend their day with us to get a glimpse of the mathematical journey they will soon embark on, to the guest lecturers who shared their time, knowledge and effort in helping and guiding our freshies, to the Event Team who conceptualized, planned, and strived to turn this academic booster into a reality, and lastly, to the volunteers who assisted the Team in facilitating this event. Entering college can be as scary as the Y2K bug. Will I get an Uno? Will I be able to maintain my good grades? Will I ever survive this degree program? These are some questions that are not easy to answer, for there may be a lot of things that we are unsure of. But that is usually how it is at the start. Eventually, we will see how beautiful new beginnings are and that it gets better when we realize that we are not alone on this road.

#RoadToUno