Master of Ceremonies

On Dec. 4, 2008, I was invited by NEC Foundation Inc. (NECFI) to be the Master of Ceremonies of the scholarship awarding ceremony. I was just notified on December 2 by Sarah, NECFI's ever loyal staff. I accepted the challenge so that I would have at least in my entire life to have an exposure to such event.

It was my first time to be an emcee ever :-) Just to let you know, I was once a scholar of NECFI from 1994-1996, that was, during my 4th and 5th year in college taking up BSECE at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM). The NECFI scholarship then was adveritised in People's Journal in 1993, to which I applied. At first, I was quite hesitant to apply for such scholarship knowing that the ad was nationwide in scope. But still due to my can-do attitude in life, I applied and threw punches in the air. I submitted the necessary requirements including my grades from early years of college, essays, high school extra curricular activities, among others. Luckily for me, I was an honor student and at the same time Math contestant during my high school days. These achievements helped me a lot in clinching the coveted scholarship award. In 1994, I was awarded with NECFI scholarship. At that time, I needed financial support very badly. Tuition fees, project fees, monthly allowances and other school expenses were all shouldered by NECFI just for me to study well and maintain an average of 2.00 every semester. After I graduated from college, I worked with NEC for three years (as a sign of my gratitude) then later moved to Nokia Networks, now Nokia Siemens Networks (after Nokia and Siemens merged together)

In the awarding ceremony, the guests were VIP's which included Dr. Emerlinda Roman (UP President), a well-known figure in the academe. With her were some officers and members of NECFI Board of Trustees, to name a few, Mr. Angelo Timoteo De Rivera (NECFI Chairman and Commissioner, CICT) and Edgardo Atanacio (NECFI Executive Director and UP Professor).
NECFI office is currently located in UP Diliman. The awardees in the ceremony were from various schools all throughout the Philippines.

No matter how tense I was since it was my first time to be an emcee, I managed to crack jokes during the ceremony including the joke that my alma mater is really a Pamantasan ng mga Luko-luko sa Maynila (PLM) hehehe

Indeed, what an experience!