Gabay Araw 2023
The three-phase student grooming and orientation has been successfully conducted during the two-week Gabay Araw 2023 on September 4-15 spearheaded by the Office of Students Affairs (OSA). The first week ran from September 4-8 and consisted of ID picture-taking for the new students, while the second week ran from September 11-15 which consisted of a series of orientations and a campus tour.
The new students’ excitement to be part of the DRIVEN community was observed during the first phase of the Gabay Araw when they were scheduled for ID picture-taking. New haircuts and clean faces occupied the campus as the freshmen and transferees strolled from the student center to the computer laboratory to complete the first phase.
Text reminders regarding their schedules were sent by Ms. Eunice Quibrantos of OSA and Mr. Ezekiel Acosta of the Guidance Services Unit (GSU) a week before the activity. However, even with the text messages, many students rushed on the first day. Their number trickled down as the days went by.
Moreover, the second and third phase of the Gabay Araw held on the second week was full of learning as students across all year levels and departments were oriented with the faculty, staff, rules, and common practices that they need to know before they start the new academic year at Midway Colleges.
This was done in two batches a day, depending on their year level and department. The programs were divided into schedules to fully accommodate the volume of students and to monitor the conducting of the Gabay-Araw.
The first day of the second week of Gabay Araw, September 11, was scheduled for the high school students, both junior and senior, to complete their ID picture-taking, orientation, and campus tour; the rest of the week was scheduled for the orientation and org application of the college students, both new and old. The second and third phases of the Gabay Araw were filled with enthusiasm as the high school students and new college students received their welcome kits.
The Gabay-Araw orientation was started with an opening prayer, singing of the national anthem, welcome remarks from their respective department heads. Then it was followed by the statement of purpose, mission, vision, goals & core values, and presentation of school officials & department heads spearheaded by the Head of OSA, Sir Robie Mar A. Dayto.
The Admissions & Enrollment was presented by Ms. Anita R. Cabalce to inform the students what other programs Midway Colleges were offering along with other formal process like withdrawal and shifting to other programs. The Tuition Fee & Payment Schedules were discussed by Ms. Rosalie T. Chua to remind the students to always bring their student passbook and ID when paying their tuition fee along with some reminders on the cut-off dates. The program then was followed by the discussion of Academic Policies & Learning Modalities, and introduction of the faculty and instructors by their respective department heads.
The second half of the program were started by a little warm-up of jumping jacks before starting the discussion of Student Affairs & Services discussed by the Head of OSA, Sir Robie Mar A. Dayto where NROTC officers helped in demonstrating the proper student decorum and discipline. It was also noted in this part of the program the schedule of uniform, allowed bag, proper haircut and haircut inspection dates. The next part of discussion was headed by Ms. Ma. Luisa Belen Ascue of Administrative Department to discuss the Health & Safety Services where they tackled the services offered of the Sickbay and rules about parking in the school grounds. The next discussion was about the Learning Management System where it was discussed the most used applications under Microsoft and its benefits. The last discussion was The Library Policies and Resources discussed by the Chief Librarian, Ms. Arlyn Bayeng.
The whole program fostered connection-building between the students, their peers, and future instructors, bringing diverse personalities and backgrounds closer to a single community. This will, indeed, mark their first day of becoming DRIVEN throughout their academic lives. May this Gabay-Araw 2023 give light to students of Midway Colleges Inc.