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    • ALUMNI DIRECTORY


    © UP Debate Society

    Alumni Postcards

    Full name: Bong Alfaro Manurung
    Current Address: South Jakarta, Indonesia

    Hi! This is Bong Alfaro (now Manurung) UPDS alumni from Batch 1993.

    The last time I met up with Debsoc was during an event in 2003 - I can't remember what exactly.

    I'm currently finishing my Master of Laws degree with the Uni of London.

    When I was in UPDS, I was ... errrrr ... let's see. Pinakamakulit mag-remind sa teammates ko na kailangan na naming mag-case build. OC about arguments and research. Mahilig mag-overnight kapag may Pi Sigma debates. As a coach, pinaka maikli ang pasensya.

    I really miss the high of debating - that feeling you get when you walk away from a room knowing you've earned the respect of your colleagues. The fishballs at the FC or the post office. The impromptu debates at the FC car park or the AS Lobby. The discussions about Hegel, Plato and Socrates. The debate-til-you-drop-or-until-the-security-guards-shoo-us-away sessions. Bonding with my teammates.

    I think the current UPDS is making bigger strides than we ever imagined when we first started the Society.

    Dear Debsoc,
    Be proud - of our school (whom we always represent), of our country (which we will always be associated with), and of our UPDS tradition. Embrace both the privileges and the responsibilities of being a debater.

    Accept you will always be more expressive, critical, logical than most of your peers - but at the same time, don't go around thinking this makes your peers less or yourself more superior.

    Know that innate skills can only take you so far. You are not God's chosen one, and the fortunes of your team or UPD are not made by your fair hand alone. Any victory is borne by a combintation of excellent team work, team discipline, team dedication, and skill. Respect your team mates. Be professional during competitions and training sessions. Know when to criticise and when to praise.

    Enjoy your time as a debater. Relish it, make friends with everyone (even your most bitter school rivals).

    When you finally graduate, take time to ask after the resident UPDS members. Be supportive.
    XOXO,

    Bong

    Full name: Evette Pauleen Tan
    Current Address: Chicago

    Hi! This is Evette, UPDS alumni from Batch 07.

    The last time I met up with Debsoc was during hmm, well, it's definitely NOT the Alumni Send-off.

    I'm currently trying to register for classes. It's harder than UP, homaygulay, would you believe? My adviser is MIA, and I don't have an ID, and all I got was a shot. (My poor arm. I still have my Bugs Bunny band-aid on, waz.) In my free time I baby-sit my cousin's kids (two boys, six and three, and a girl, nearly two and sassy) and I'm learning to play Yuu-Gi-Oh cards. Yes. It's very productive work.

    I think the current UPDS is bibo.

    Dear Debsoc,
    Okay lang magka-issue, pero sana naman wag kayong magka-subscription. Hinay-hinay lang--excellence is achievable. See you soon! – Evette

    Full name: Poch Ceballos
    Current Address: Quezon City, Philippines

    Hi! This is Poch, UPDS alumni from Batch '02.

    I'm currently feeding people as a busboy/food-server/driver/CEO, CFO, COO, CIO and even occasionally, image model of Poch's Food Innove Corp.

    When I was in UPDS, I was the driver/hotel service manager/banquet venue provider.

    I really miss... Argh, andami! UPDS's old tambayan (though at this point i gather, any tambayan will do), the caterpillars therein, Tomo Kai's tambayan, Tomo Kai Members getting mad at us, Candle-lit take-out dinners, bonding, angst sessions (of which there were a lot) in our tambayan, DS parties, debate tournaments, along with their dinners, social events and tours, training sessions: their trials and tribulations, Chocolate Kiss, Katag, Beach House, friends: real, imagined and otherwise... The wit, intelligence, sarcasm, eloquence and excellence possessed only by the members of the one debate society that matters. I miss UPDS.

    I think the current UPDS is great.

    Dear Debsoc,
    Argue passionately, believing that your arguments will make the world a better place. That these arguments somehow will end famine, abuse, poverty and oppression. And then some.
    Win believing that you deserve to every time.
    Ditto, when you lose.

    Learn from each other. It's harder learning from people beneath you.
    Love each other. Think that DS friends are as good as they come. They are.
    Make your mark. Make it so indelible that people will remember your name, long after you've moved on.
    Cherish your time here. Never pass up an opportunity to go to tourneys/teaching trips/drinking sessions/social events/etc. Not even when you have to. Enjoy it. Enjoy each miniscule, fraction of a minute that you spend here. Suck the marrow off of it, and treasure it.

    Make sure that you will... ever in fond reminiscing, never in longing, look back.

    POCH