An Afternoon with the Professors
Last February 26, the IHM Special Projects Team held “IHM Meet and Eat” as the team’s last event during Student Life Week. Hosted by Michella Dib, this event was intended to bring together students and professors of the IHM Department for an afternoon of bonding.
The afternoon began with a quick icebreaker by a game of “Guess Who?” where the students attempted to match the baby picture to one of the professors. After that quick warm-up, the facilitators quickly split up the participants into 3 breakout rooms for 10 minutes so each group could get to know each other. While some decided to start with a quick introduction to who they are, other groups played “True or False” where they would give a statement and the group would have to guess. From who has eaten a monkey’s brain to who could lift 90 kilograms in a deadlift, everyone got to learn something from the rest of the group.
After that first ten-minute interval, the rest of the afternoon was conducted as one big group session with the participants continuing to play “True or False” and even more interesting facts were learned about the students and the faculty. With Paris internships to learning how to hula-hoop in quarantine, it was an afternoon filled with laughter and camaraderie between the students and the professors.
Before officially ending the program, the professors and faculty then introduced themselves as not everyone has had the opportunity to be in their class. It was a great pleasure to have the presence of Ms. Bel Castro, Ms. Nikki Banzon, Ms. Aileen Nanca, Ms. Erlene Villamora, Ms. Janine Josef, Ms. Carmita Icasiano, Ms. Dhiya Mansukhani, Chef Suzette Montinola, Arch. Gene Go, and Atty. Raymund Martelino. After that, everyone bid farewell to each other after an engaging event.
With the pandemic cancelling face-to-face classes for nearly a year now, many of the freshmen of Enderun have not had the chance to bond with their peers and professors. Online classes have yet to recreate the feeling of face-to-face interaction and it is understandable that making friends and engaging beyond online class hours has been tough for everyone. But with programs like these, it gives everyone that chance to get to know each other. Part of the best experiences in college come from all the friendships you are able to create and everyone has definitely felt a lack of that with the shift to online learning.
Just like the IHM Special Project Team’s earlier event this week, Merienda Time, this program has served a similar purpose: a set time to interact with others and be a medium to keep all the communities in Enderun close together despite only seeing each other via Zoom, Google Meet, or Discord. And while it will be some time until we can be back on campus to hang out after class like before, online meet-ups like these are necessary to keep us going.
