A Tale of Three Learners
What do Jejomar Binay, Marx Vergel Melencio, and Emery Graham have in common? They are all distance learners in the University of the Philippines Open University. Jejomar Binay graduated with a Diploma in Environment and Natural Resources Management in August 2004. Marx Vergel Melencio and Emery Graham are currently enrolled in UPOU.
Jejomar Binay
Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City spent most of his school life in the University of the Philippines. He studied high school, bachelor in arts, bachelor of law, master of public administration in UP. He also took courses in the School of Urban and Regional Planning. And just recently he graduated from UPOU.
Mayor Binay took the Diploma in Environment and Natural Resources Management (DENRM) program of the Faculty of Management and Development Studies. He decided to enroll in the DENRM program of UPOU because of his continuing quest for knowledge and because he believed in the importance of the environment in his day-to-day life as mayor. According to him, he has learned much from his studies and was able to apply the knowledge he gained from DENRM in introducing programs and policies regarding environment.
Despite his very busy schedule he was able to efficiently manage his time and juggle his various tasks and activities so as to graduate from the course. He said that when he enrolled at UPOU, he was ready to comply with the requirements and to dedicate the necessary time for his academic undertaking.
His memorable experiences in UPOU were undertaking research studies and going over the reading materials. Others might find this dull, but for Mayor Binay, doing these things was among his most memorable and exciting experiences. Most rewarding, he felt, was finishing the program, meeting friends and becoming acquainted with the academic community in Los Ba&ntild;os.
When asked if he would recommend UPOU to his colleagues and friends, he said, "Definitely, especially to government officials, particularly the LGUs."
Marx Vergel Melencio
Being visually impaired is not a hindrance for the 24 year old, self-employed, computer enthusiast, metal band member, Marx Vergel Melencio of Quezon City as he pursues an Associate in Arts (AA) program in UPOU. He enrolled in UPOU because of its convenient learning systems which make use of modern technological innovations such as the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE), and of web-based research and learning integration through the internet. These innovations according to him allow UPOU to provide unrestricted access to quality education by the handicapped, even by the visually impaired.
Only on his first year as a distance learner, Marx considers his first few weeks upon enrollment in the AA program as his most memorable and rewarding experience yet. He explained, "This is because I just got out of the hospital a couple of months earlier and was just starting to cope with the pressure of losing something I considered I could never live without, and was thinking of ways and means of reading, using the computer, and doing things that I normally did before my accident - all without the guide of vision and the sense of sight. This is when I researched for software that was specifically designed to provide unrestricted computer and internet access to the blind, and came up with a powerful screen reading software named Jaws 5.0 by FreedomScientific. "
With mp3 players, scanners, soundcards and speakers, Marx uses Jaws to read, edit and create digital text documents for his studies in the AA program and for his own personal purposes. He even quipped, "ever since I was a kid, I've always been a voracious reader. But technically, I am now a voracious listener."
Indeed, for Marx, enrolling in the AA program gives him ample time and energy to simultaneously manage his business, take care of his family, write papers which he hopes to publish, improve his computer skills, actively participate and perform in his metal band, continue his pursuit of a college degree.
Hence, he says he would definitely recommend the UPOU to his friends, acquaintances, people in the same or similar situations he is in, and to those who want to continue their studies or further their education. He also expressed his sincerest gratitude to all the people who helped and are continuing to help design and improve UPOU's learning systems to provide quality education to all and for all.
Emery Graham
Emery Graham is the City of Wilmington, Delaware's Economic Development Research Planner. Right now, he is enrolled in UPOU's Master of Professional Studies in Development Communication program. He is one of UPOU's overseas students. He's been professionally and academically involved in all phases of development work for more than twenty-five years. He has taught secondary school among marginalized people in urban and rural America, financed and built low-income housing, and also implemented health and social services programs.
When asked why he chose UPOU out of all the universities in the world, he said that UPOU's offerings were most attractive to him. He chose UPOU because of the Development Communications curriculum content, the convenience of the distance learning format, and the excellent tuition rates. Graham also added that he never imagined that the field of Development Communications would present the synthesis of theory and practice that would prove to be relevant to his practical development challenges.
The readily available information on development communication, application forms, course descriptions, course offering schedules and the reasonable price of tuition fees are his reasons for enrolling in UPOU. His most memorable and rewarding experience as a UPOU student is reading the discussion board comments from his fellow students and the revelations he gets on the similarities in their social and cultural perspectives. He also uses the discussion board as a tool to express himself clearly and from the heart. He said that he receives some really good feedback and shares a variety of perspectives with his classmates.
Graham is now encouraging his friends and relations in the U.S. to take a look at UPOU's offerings. He considers UPOU one of the best educational institutions in the world. His words of advice to anyone who wants to finish a postgraduate degree are "work hard to overcome the doubts and misgivings generated by fatigue and challenge."
In short…
Mayor Binay, Marx Melencio, and Emery Graham prove to one and all that UPOU remains true to its mandate of providing educational opportunities to individuals who are unable to attend traditional modes of education. Thus, whether you are tied up for 24 hours in public service, or miles and miles away from the Philippines, or are visually impaired, you can expect equal opportunities for learning at the UPOU and acquire the UP System's quality education. (PH Diaz (FMDS), A. Alip (FEd), M. Jarmin (FICS), and J. Serrano (FMDS))