From STEM to Multimedia Arts: A Choice Made with Passion and Resilience
From STEM to Multimedia Arts: A Choice Made with Passion and Resilience
21 March 2024
We are the sum of our experiences, including the decisions in pivotal moments. “I’m going to be completely honest. It wasn’t my first choice,” admits Jose Romualdo F. Babao, reflecting on his decision to pursue Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Arts at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. “My first choice was actually from a different school in a completely different field.” Coming from a background deeply rooted in the STEM field, his transition to arts was unconventional, but fate had other plans.
The magna cum laude graduate shares, “on January 2020, I got a text message saying, ‘Congratulations, we are pleased to offer you The Benildean Excellence in Scholastics and Talent (BEST) Scholarship.’ That’s when I felt like it was basically God handing me this program, this college, on a silver platter.” Embracing this unexpected opportunity, he took a leap of faith that would challenge and shape him in ways he never imagined.
Balancing academics extracurriculars, and navigating through the challenges posed by the pandemic can be overwhelming. “Being a Benildean scholar is not easy, especially with my kind of scholarship. We have a maintaining grade,” Babao acknowledges. “Being a student leader is also not easy because you have to think about your events, your organizations, your members, all the possible problems that could occur during your projects.”
In addition, transitioning from the structured world of STEM to the realm of arts was challenging. “Honestly, when I was in senior high, I was kind of contemplating if I wanted to go to arts and design track,” Babao reflects. “But at that time, I also thought I only had experiences more relevant to the STEM field.” However, his work ethic, cultivated from his STEM background, was the anchor amidst the transition.
The School of New Media Arts envisions its academic programs AB Animation, AB Film, AB Photography, and AB Multimedia Arts as vanguards in creating digital content relevant to people and society. Guided by prominent faculty industry mentors and supported by the college’s most up-to-date equipment, software tools, and technology, the students experience innovative curricular approaches that enable them to create and explore the field through various media applications and platforms.
“A very specific barrier I had was the pandemic and the online setup,” he shares. However, he utilized the online platform to engage with his community and spearhead initiatives to make a positive impact. “My advocacies are inclusivity, gender equality, and LGBTQ rights,” he asserts. “I feel like this is a very important thing for me to uphold so that queer children, young queer people don’t have to experience some of the things that I personally experienced and other older queer people have experienced throughout their lives.”
His commitment to giving back to the community earned him the Br. Andrew Gonzalez FSC Leadership Award. “Just like what I said during the panel defense, it doesn’t really completely matter if I get the award or not,” Babao reflects. “The real prize to me is the changes and the effect and all the passion that we were able to bring out in our projects, in my organizations.”
He believes that the College has given him the tools to be successful in his chosen field. “Definitely, in terms of technical skills, I feel like Benilde and the program I’m in has given me such a wide range of skills that I feel like I can use in the industry.” Babao adds, “Not only that, but I feel like in terms of soft skills with my experiences in organizations, interpersonal communication, working with other people, and different backgrounds, all those combined would make a really good professional.”
The first of its kind in the country, the Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Arts program prepares a new generation of storytellers with a flair for visual language and the ability to enhance the communication experience. It combines core communication, interface design, and programming skills for various user-driven applications such as digital and print media, web content and layout, mobile content, interactive games and content, and exhibit installations.
He has this message for the next generation: “Being able to study in a school that supports their passion, like, for example, me, my passion for multimedia arts, it’s a privilege that they shouldn’t take for granted.”
For more information on Benilde’s undergraduate programs, contact us at (63) 2 8230 5100 local 1801 or admissions@benilde.edu.ph. You may also visit our website at www.benilde.edu.ph.
