by Angela Lauryne F. Javier
Cartoon by: Kimberly Cruz and Karla Agapito
As an attempt to expose the Grade 8 students of MIS to career options and opportunities, our Guidance Office organized an industry tour that took place on the 30th of January. All of the facilities that we visited were located Subic, Zambales. The trip to Subic alone took about 4 hours which is why we went off at exactly 4:45 am.
We visited two destinations before lunch. The first destination was the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA) where we were briefed about different things such as the various ways of monitoring the weather, how they communicate with aircrafts that are about to land and take off, and the kinds of codes that they use when communicating. They also gave us more information about PAGASA’s weather monitoring systems. On the way to SBIA, we were able to catch a glimpse of PAGASA’s Doppler radar that we later learned more about in the briefing. Our second destination was the Subic Bay International Terminal where they taught us the procedure of transporting imported goods and to-be exported products. After every briefing, we were given permission to take pictures of the place so most of us took countless photos.
After lunch, we visited two more facilities located in the Subic Bay Port. First, we entered a building that resembled an old warehouse where we were briefed about the different machines that they used to work with different kinds of metal. We were only given a quick tour around the warehouse. Then, we boarded a ship just a few meters outside the warehouse. The vessel was named PRC Amazing Grace, the Philippine’s first and largest humanitarian vessel. Every one of us eyed the ship with full curiosity. We explored the whole ship. The vessel really sparked everyone’s interest including my own and I couldn’t help myself but ask a lot of questions about the ship that by the time our tour around the vessel ended, I already have countless facts about the ship listed down.
Our Industry tour was concluded when we took off from Duty Free where we spent the rest of our time buying goods and eating at the fast food restaurants in the area. By the end of our tour, we took home broader knowledge about our possible course options that will help us choose our K to 12 tracks. We also took home memories of our moments with our batch mates that we will cherish for years to come.