MANAGEMENT STUDENTS from three of the best schools in the country convened in Ateneo for one day to build friendship, create networks, and improve their entrepreneurial skills.
Dubbed “ADU: Intersect” the event aims to strengthen relationships between the members of the Ateneo Management Association (AMA), De La Salle University’s (DLSU) Business Management Society (BMS), and University of the Philippine’s (UP) Association of Business Administration Majors (ABAM).
“[Normally], we won’t imagine those three schools working together, but in this activity, they would and their management skills would all combine,” said project head Frances Quiambao.
Themed “Partnership: Imagine what we can do together,” ADU: Intersect served as a venue for the orgs to improve future project collaborations.
The event introduced the Ateneo culture to UP and DLSU students through a campus tour and sit-in classes.
AMA spearheaded the event on January 15.
More than connections
Apart from networking, ADU: Intersect also tested student’s entrepreneurial skills in a fun and competitive way through its amazing race.
The race had five stations—an investment station where students were tasked to double their P50, a selling station where the groups need to sell AMA shirts, and a marketing station where participants were given a peculiar object they need to market creatively.
“What sets us (management orgs) apart is really business management so we tried to [inject] it [in the event] for competency,” another project head, Julie Ortuoste, said.
“We thought it was just some physical activity but then we were wrong. The tasks honed us and our management skills. It was fun,” UP Business Management senior Grace Lagrana said.
Getting to know Ateneo
Project Manager Jove Sinco said that the students attended Humanities and Social Science classes like Theology, Philosophy, Western History, and Spanish because those classes separate Ateneo from other universities.
“The students might get tired of Management-related subjects because they’ve probably taken them up in their respective schools already,” he said.
Worth the difficulty
Ortuoste said AMA had a hard time organizing the event because ABAM members initially declined their invitation. ADU: Intersect was derived from the annual Ateneo-DLSU swap where students from both schools exchange campuses for a day. This is the first time that UP was invited.
The UP students had classes and exams that day and AMA had to write excuse letters for them. She said that AMA and ABAM members compromised with each other’s schedules. DLSU students, on the other hand, don’t have class on Fridays, the day of the event.
However, most UP and DLSU students thought that the difficulty the organizers faced was worth it.
ABAM Vice President Suzie Abela said that after ADU: Intersect she was encouraged to hold something similar for their org.
For DLSU Applied Corporate Management student Adrianne Tan, the event was well organized and the program was strictly followed.
“[Even] if the facilitators had classes, there were those who were able to replace them,” said another DLSU student Robee Enriquez.
Participant Martin Fausto said that he was introduced to a new kind of environment. “Despite the stereotypes regarding La Salle and UP, at the end of the day we’re [all] Management students… when we graduate, we won’t have a choice on who we’re going to work with.”
At the end of the day, Sinco said that above all, a clear understanding of AMA and Ateneo would be the most important learning that he hoped the participants had.
“Maybe a success point for me is that [the participants had] a clear picture as to what AMA is or what Ateneo students are like, especially Management students,” said Singco. “That’s really what [this event is about], to enhance and introduce the image of AMA to other students in Ateneo and outside Ateneo.”
