Written by Tina Cisneros

On November 19, 2021, the Organizational Communication Society held its first General Assembly for the current academic year at Zoom. Modeled after the Philippine TV reality competition Survivor Philippines, the event served as an avenue for OrCom students to relax and bond with fellow OrCom majors after two grueling months filled with academic responsibilities.

Isla OrCom 2021 was hosted by juniors AJ Avecilla and Charlette Inao. The night started with the Adlaw, Alon, Bulan, and Tala tribes entering their respective breakout rooms to acquaint themselves with one another and to practice their chants before its performance. Following that were the opening remarks from Gelle Esposo, OrComSoc’s president.

Organizers prepared several unique and entertaining games for the fun gathering. The first game demonstrated the capability of the tribes’ representatives to do tongue twisters with a twist; they had to choose one word from the list that would then determine the manner as to how they will read the given passage. Afterward, the tribes once again went into breakout rooms for the minigames. These games tested the players’ abilities: one, to lip-read the word uttered by their team member with a muted microphone, as if shouting into the void, and two, to spot survival kit items from a Find Waldo-like photo. The third game, Solve the Unsolved, challenged the teams’ critical thinking and deduction skills as they had to identify the person behind the murder using only the limited incriminating pieces of evidence provided. The last game was Truth or Dare; each chosen player had to answer the truth or act on the dare given by the competing team in only 30 seconds.

In between games were intermission numbers from two talented UP Morg members. Eugene Cutillar sang a heartfelt rendition of Adele’s Million Years Ago while Godwyn Villanueva showcased his guitar-playing skills.

After the games had concluded, the winners were recognized and awarded. The Adlaw tribe won the Tongue Twister game; the Alon tribe won the teamwork minigames. The Bulan tribe were hailed victors for Solve the Unsolved while the Tala tribe beat all in Truth or Dare. Declared also as the best tribe was the Tala tribe.

Jasmine Santos, JVP for Events, then gave her inspiring closing remarks. The event ended with the photo-ops of the event’s attendees.

Featured Image by Jia Jarin