Advocates of healthy nutritional lifestyles deliver their opinions and present their perspectives in various creative forms to attract as much attention as possible.
They could be in the form of dance numbers, while other groups perform in theatres in plays, some attempt to evoke human emotions through music, art, and film.
It goes on without saying that health is a complicated matter. It’s fairly obvious that health is of paramount importance yet people rarely observe proper diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle, possibly thinking that they are immune to such hazards.
The objective of most health advocates is to heighten public awareness of the dangers of ignorance. That is also the intended purpose of Asian College of Technology’s annual Nutrition Month Jingle Competition.
It was the 27th of July 2012 and the afternoon was hot and dry. That day’s afternoon was a culminating event for a month dedicated to well-being and nutrition, formally known was the Nutrition Month.
ACT’s Lobby was occupied by a number of students, give or take a hundred and fifty. All awaiting the main event of the program: the Jingle Competition.
Practice began weeks ago when the competition was announced, provoking students to replace or alter their schedules to ones that involve intensive trainings and practices for the intersection-level competition which in turn, would determine that particular level’s representative in the inter-levels.
Practices were hard and rigorous. And it was not without difficulties. The most common obstacles were lack of cooperation and more importantly, conflict of schedules.
“During practices, we would regularly face problems such as lack of cooperation from members of the group and conflicting schedules,” Robin Cabonita, a second year student would later say during an interview.
But no matter what ordeals they might’ve faced, the basic principle of the competition still applies: the winners win through killer results. Not killer efforts.
Today, the winners of the intersections will now compete against each other.
Skipping to the main event, the competitors drew lots to determine the order of presentations.
The seniors drew first place. Their performance was marked by its regality. The royal announcer introduces the royal couple.
Then a royal carriage in the form of a Mitsubishi Adventure arrived at the scene. The doors opened and out came the king and queen.
There was much after that, the main body of performers emerged from the back of the hall and delivered their act.
They were followed by the freshmen whose presentation could be described as melodic and simple yet elegant. Their opening scene involved a janitor who was intrigued by mannequins.
“It was a good rendition,” John Nero, a fourth-year student said in an interview. They were followed closely by the Sophies, who themselves performed an impressive dance about nutrition and all.
The last competitors to take the stage were the Juniors.
Four competitors have presented and four have been judged, yet in the eyes of the typical optimist, they are all equal in creativity.
The whole event isn’t about winning but about the message that is delivered and the effectiveness of their efforts to be certain that their delivery had not been in vain. Nevertheless, creativity has to be accounted for and recognized.
It is surprising how the order of presentations is also the ranking of the winners. First place goes to the seniors, second to the freshmen, third to the sophies, and fourth to the juniors.
The competitions were only a festive celebration dedicated to a more serious matter which we disregard and hold in low importance in our day-to-day activities: health.
These performances are not just meant to be enjoyed but rather understood. Beliefs have become tradition.
Have we really absorbed the contents of those events? Were they in vain?
- Jared Cagas
(DSPC 2011,2012 Feature Writing, 1st Place)
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