Do I need to unfold what happened to us in Baguio? Amidst all chaos and rah rah, I believe a lot of things did happen. The title says it all and frankly, for me, it was like hell. Until now I can’t imagine that I did all those things, you know what I mean? Well you wouldn’t, except if you were a part of the “persecution.” Okay, I know it sounds like I’m overreacting but I know most of us who had been part of the EO feels the same way, right? (haha)
Day zero—run, run, run, walk, walk, run and finally… run again??? “This is terrible, my mom would never let me do this and if she would, she would at least give me water and offer to carry my heavy backpack!!!” these are just some of words that came screaming off my mind while our group was running along EDSA. Basically, what we did all day long was nothing… nothing really changed from the beginning till the day ends. But it was tiring! Running the whole day with an empty stomach? That’s insane!
And then second day came and and I was kind of expecting the same thing, same tiring routine, same faces--but wait! “Why on earth are we going to the market and sell the products we bought from the market… right beside the market?” this question was boggling my mind the whole afternoon, it’s kind of a convoluted problem but get the logic? But as luck as would have it, we reached our quota which was to sell 20 units for two hours. Our shyness perished because of what we did in a public place called Burnham Park where some of us entertained people just to bring in money and the rest sold some drinks around the city. Who would have thought that teenagers who were raised and born with a silver spoon in their mouths like the most of us would degrade ourselves into doing all those dancing, singing, selling and other shameful things right in the middle a mobbed park in Bagiuo? (Its no other than the white group!) We also had to cook what we eat and we hadtuyo, sinigang na sitaw, and finally for our last dinner—salad and buffalo wings! Delicioso, eh? I would say our last stay in Baguio was the best! Since we were deprived from good food, money, cigarette and phone for two days, finally our professors gave it back to us. At that time I felt that it was greatest thing in life. The smokers looked like they won a war against ten countries. Students whose phones were used to be glued in their hands for almost forever (I guess I’m one of them) looked giddy and called people right away. And the greatest feeling of all is when we got all our cash! “Time-to-spend-all-my-money” look was all I can see in everyone’s faces. What satisfaction can we get any more than that?
But looking back I would say that each challenge was used to prepare us for the real world of business by increasing our awareness - skills - resilience. It taught us that you should go out of your comfort zone in order to accomplish something in this world. What happened in Baguio surely caught us all off-guard and none of us expected the things that came facing us so it took us right out of our comfort zones. But consequently, it also pushed ourselves to go further, and try things we never in our life thought of doing. Right after EO I almost felt like I can do anything. What happened in Baguio will surely stay in Baguio.
