MUN for a Practicum

When I was taking up my course in International Studies, the Practicum or On-The-Job Training (OJT) that we had was Model United Nations (MUN). For those of you who might not know what MUN is, it a simulation of the United Nations conference organized by the UN itself, so that students can practice becoming state diplomats. Sounds awesome?
Well the glitter ends there. I really do not know why this should even be considered as an "OJT". I really cannot find any practicality in it.

Anyway, I will continue on.

After I graduated, whenever I applied to a company, the interviewer will always ask you about your OJT experience (like all other fresh graduates). Whenever I tell them about my practicum, I always see my interviewer suppressing a slight laughter. There was even one interviewer who did not know what MUN is and when I explained to him what it was, I just cannot forget the look on his face afterward. He smiled at me with his eyes full of pity and disbelief. I can still remember his reaction up to this day. I remember that the job I was applying for at that time was an admin assistant that deals with office type work.

The look on his face can be for the following reasons:

1. I am applying for a corporate job. My course was totally unrelated to business and my chances of getting into the corporate world is slim.

2. And then, my practicum was MUN. How is that going to help me in my job in the future should I end up working as a admin assistant? How pitiful.

3. The only job available to you might be for foreign affairs or government jobs. But how many openings are there for government jobs and how many people pass the Foreign Service Exam out of the multitude of IS graduates and takers out there.

Oh God, I can only say that MUN as a practicum is so totally far fetched from the reality out there. You are already being trained as a diplomat, when there is hardly even a job opening for a diplomat for fresh graduates. International Studies as a course is too idealistic, impractical and unrealistic. Granted, that a few of my college mates ended up working for an embassy. Most of them ended up working there for only months. But how stable of a job is that? How many embassies are actually offering regularization to new employees. In fact, how many embassies out there actually have job openings?

You know what the saddest part is? The saddest part is that MUN is held in the United States and that you have to pay for it just to participate in it. The school did not give any financial support to the students. All the expenses, from the airfare, to the hotel accomodation up to the fee for the conference itself are all shouldered by the students and their parents. Isn't OJT or Practicum supposed to earn you some money? In the end, the IS students ended up expending tons of money for a practicum that will not even be useful for their careers in the end. How sad... I want to cry.

Pooh and Pokwang jokes about AMA Computer College

I was riding an airconed bus this afternoon, and the show that was playing on the DVD player was Pooh and Pokwang's stage show in America. One of the jokes there was about the schools that some of the show's presenters had graduated from. Pooh and Pokwang gave funny names of non-existent schools. However, one of their guests gave this joke:



"Di ba, sinabi nila na kapag ang paaralan pinangalan sa bayani pampubliko ito, tapos kapag pinangalan sa santo, ito naman ay pampribado. Pero wala kayo sa school ko. Mas mataas pa to sa bayani at santo. Ano pangalan ng school kamo: AMA Computer College. AMA, ibig sabhin si Lord na yon... Ang course ko BS CS... as in BS in Counter Strike major in Dota. ... (more followed)..."



The joke was funny but then I stopped laughing because I realized, dito nga pala sa school na ito ako napilitang mag-aral. Oh well, like all the graduates of that bullshit school, I am also subjected to this kind of humiliation all the time. If I am proud of that school, I would have felt outraged by this joke. But the truth is, I myself really feel resentful of that bullshit AMA school and all its subsidiaries. I thought to myself, well, at least, when people hear this joke, fewer and fewer students will enroll in this school (which is a good thing for innocent students). These jokes serve as a subtle warning to those unsuspecting people to avoid this school at all costs. While it hurts, I cannot really be angry to those people who crack up these kinds of jokes.

There is at least one person I am angry at for me having to endure these kinds of humiliation everyday. My father. I would not have ended up in that god-forsaken school had he been logical and generous enough. Well, its a long story... I will give a complete detail about this story in another post. Well, bye for now.

International Studies... was it a total waste of time.

I just realized that I have never earned even a single dime from taking up my first course in College (IS). It has never given me any job whatsoever and probably never will. So, was it a total waste of my time?

Most of my other classmates ended up being call center agents. It would have been better for them to have taken up courses like Marketing, Sales or English Literature, as those courses would have helped them more in becoming better agents. Some ended up in totally different fields of profession that are not even remotely connected to Political Science or the social sciences.

Granted, there were a few, who ended up in the IS related jobs, like researchers, congress staffs etc. A few ended up taking up law. But, how many are they? What percentage of the total IS graduates do they represent? Out of 90+ IS graduates in 2002, how many ended up in those kinds of jobs? 6, 7? 10? Really?! If this is the case, then in my opinion, the IS department (or any political science department for that matter) should not be taking in more than 30 new students per year.

If I would be able to turn back time, I would have taken up an IT course from the very beginning instead.