By Kristine Anjela Pablo, Ma. Emilia Nicole Bertulfo, and John Vincent Cruz

Another academic term has ended—blood, sweat, and tears were purged from students through the journey for greatness. With the second edition of the Tamaraw Media (TAM) Awards, an annual event of the Far Eastern University (FEU) Communication Society (CommSoc), and FEU Department of Communication (DepComm), outstanding works from Communication students will be recognized on May 29 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the FEU Main Auditorium.

This year's theme banners what it is like to work in the field, "Embracing the New Media Frontiers."

Like any other path, the preparation also took a rough road, organizing and seeing to the core that each requirement is brought to the respective offices until it reached the historical auditorium. 

To recognize their dedication and hard work, the nomination process and selection of winners was handled by the DepComm faculty members. 

The students from the said department shall submit their critical and exemplary midterm or final output in their respective professional courses, including its grade. 

Specific details about the nominees’ submitted outputs, such as their titles, team members, and grade were encoded in the Excel spreadsheet. 

Consequently, a group of faculty members assigned to this common course shall deliberate on what output went above and beyond in their submission. 

Aside from its mission to acknowledge notable works from the students, the event is also a memoir of integrating learned theories in their courses as fourth-year Communication students from their Special Projects class will spearhead the project initiation, launching, and assessment.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, TAM Awards Project Head Trisha Salen shared how the project heads braved the challenges in the overall production stages—from the deliberation process to the preparation of the required documents.

“We have allocated three project managers to ensure that each member of the production class is included in the ideation process and assigned to a committee that is relevant to their skills, while also ensuring that we work closely with created committees. This reinforced the group's balance of power and made duties easier to complete,” she shared. 

Salen also highlighted that the inspiration behind the event embodies how Tamaraws are known to be brave. Indeed, the aspiring media practitioners were fearless despite emerging challenges in the industry. 

Upon entering the event, all participating students from DepComm are strictly expected to follow the mandated dress code of modern semi-formal wear with color scheme options varying from brown, black, beige, and white.  

More than just the celebration, it also shows how students grow in their domain as this year's TAM Awards also features new awards such as the Special Citations, and Outstanding Communication Seniors.

After the halt brought by the COVID-19 restrictions, the second edition of the TAM Awards hopes to bring a greater number of guests and winners as it is only right to recognize them for their quality outputs. 

One fruitful and productive academic year has come to fruition. But these Communication students are more than ready to conquer and embrace the new media frontiers, as attested by their outstanding outputs throughout the year. 

The trail may be difficult, but these Communication students proved they could step out of the ordinary, showing a remarkable yield. The second TAM Awards is just the beginning of harking talents in the growing and advancing new media.