A Saint Louis University Alumna shares her experiences as a student and
graduate of BA Communications
Her name is Mrs. Ada Sibayan-Bédard. She was a student at Saint Louis University, Baguio City, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. (Class of 2010). She is delighted to have studied Communications, but what she learned from the university wasn’t enough; she is convinced that nobody learns everything in school since it’s not the real world.
Mrs. Bédard began to gain the real-world experience during her junior year — on a broadcast project with her groupmates when they interviewed people and gathered stories. But then again, it was just a stint of the real world. She got a better grasp of the real world after her graduation.
She considers it a blessing that she did not experience job search stress as a fresh graduate; after her internship at Sky Cable, she was asked to work for them after she graduated.
However, after graduation, she decided to stay with her grandparents in La Union. She is very close to them, especially with her grandfather. Whenever she was stressed, she would visit them.
After five months of unemployment, she finally decided to go back to Baguio to look for a job. She applied for ABS-CBN’s regional network group in Baguio and became a multimedia journalist and also a host of Naimbag nga Morning Kapamilya, the regional morning show of ABS-CBN Baguio.
In her time atABS CBN, Mrs. Bédard learned a lot. As a news writer, she wrote a lot of stories, but not everyone was happy for her nor appreciated her stories; there were haters and bashers, which she says cannot be controlled and is part of being a journalist. Despite the challenges she faced, she stood strong and firm. She continued to do what she loves — writing. She may no longer be a journalist, but she still has the heart of one. It was disheartening for her to see the network shut down.
At some point, her mother, who is a citizen in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, petitioned her to move there, so she immigrated in 2015. Of course, living in a new country posed some challenges, such as culture shock and foreign language. Quebec is a bilingual province, and most companies require their employees to speak and write French, so she needed to learn the language
to be able to adapt and survive.
Other than the language, the local's different style of working was also a challenge — they don’t teach you how to do things, you will need to learn everything on your own, how to be autonomous and be a team player.
She is now married for 3 years and is working as a Senior Digital Specialist for Fednav, a dry bulk shipping company involved in transporting over 30 million tonnes of bulk cargo and breakbulk cargo worldwide.
I personally enjoyed getting to know Mrs. Bédard. She has a great personality, and I am very proud of her for always choosing to
do what makes her happy.
You can check out her YouTube channel here:
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