skysenshi.com

Date: April 4, 2009
Panelists:
Prof. Elvert dela Cruz Banares (author of MAPROD proposal format)
Prof: Robert Besana (Panel Chair and SoMA Director)
Ms. Agnes de Vera
Ms. Criselda Dumlao
Photos by: Elvert dela Cruz Banares

I was actually a nervous wreck. The day before, half of Ms. Agnes’ class was disapproved. The following morning, half of Ms. Cris’s class was also disapproved. Which got me even more nervous because we all know that the concentration of kids in Cris’s class (from the original ABMA71 and ABMA73 sections) were the batch pride. Plus all their proposals during the mock defense were really good, just in need of a little tweaking. There was one girl there whose proposal really impressed me during the mock defense (it was an interactive installation exhibit that had water in it), but I didn’t see any of that during the actual defense.

So you can imagine that I was on the verge of…something…by the time my kids were about to present. So many things could go wrong. Shobert could suddenly change medium. Red’s mouth might go waaaay ahead of himself (like he did during his GAMAUT1 defense). Carlolo might go MIA. Joya might forget his works like he frequently does when he leaves his idea book at home (and I haven’t given him the final say on his proposal). Ferds…well.

As I expected, half of my class was disapproved too…although I was sorta happy with the outcome. Red, who was able to control his motormouth, April and Mauwi had the highest approval rating in the entire batch of defenders. It was a video game project. My heart sang when I heard Elvert say: “In my entire 12 years of teaching — and I have handled 4 game theses, all solo — this is the first time that I actually believe that this project deserves a team.”

Shobert did not change medium and in fact incorporated the suggestions I gave him the day before the defense. He was also one of the highest in the entire batch (if not the second highest). His primary medium is music. Yoshi!

As with the things that went wrong… Carlolo indeed went MIA, but his group’s project was approved with the panelists giving them a condition to take Carlolo out of the team. Joya did leave his works at home. So did Caducio. And Ferds…the nice part about it is that he was mature enough to come to me and tell me that it was all his fault and that he knew exactly where he went wrong. He was making no excuses this time, and I appreciate him for that. I know Ferds’s heart is in the right place, I just hope he can be guided towards making his dream work. In all fairness to his project, he at least had a story. Hahahahaha!

*Sigh*

Nevertheless…I’m proud of you, kids. It may not be Golden DMAA material, like I’ve had with my CSB kids, but we’re going to get there. I’d also like to thank the panelists — Elvert, Cris and Agnes — for helping Robert and me uphold the new standards and bringing it to greater heights. May we always enforce the same discipline in pursuit of excellence.