Last November 29, 2006, I had a chance to go to a place where I would be able to learn about something other than the usual school subjects like Math, Science, and English. This opportunity was brought about by the Career Trips Program of the High School Guidance Department.

      The week before the trip, we were told in class that we could sign up for a career trip of our choice as part of Likas Gilas. I decided to go take a look at the many different trips that would be available. There were plenty of trips to choose from, but the one in animation interested me the most. I don’t really know why but maybe because it was unique from the rest. It was something that I wouldn’t be able to experience normally in school nor in any other place I go unless I would take a part of my time to go study animation. This idea kept me excited until the day of the trip came.

      In the morning of November 29th, we headed for the animation studio in Makati named iAcademy. We were sort of late to the get to the place since we encountered unexpected traffic that hindered us for quite sometime, but once we got there everything went smoothly. We entered a room that showed a slide containing a lot of many different artworks done by the speaker, who is from Disney. It featured works from Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Mulan, the movie our speaker, Mr. Hans Bacher, directed. There were also many different previews of some original works by people who could be studying in iAcademy.

      As soon as slideshow was over, Mr. Bacher began to introduce himself and the many different projects that he handled when he was still working for Disney Animation. Soon enough he started to talk about how gifted the current generation of the people is because of access to the internet that gave away pretty much everything in order to be able to practice drawing properly. He then followed that with a story about his former students whom he initially doubted because the portfolio submitted to him was so bad that he dismissed those students right away. However, two years later, the same students came back and showed him another portfolio that showed so much improvement leaving him with no other choice but to take them in.

      From Mr. Bacher's sharing, I was able to gathered the following ideas:

     •  The current generation is very lucky to have access to many different books, movies and websites that could provide better understanding of many things including how to draw beautifully.

     •  It is not wise to immediately judge something or someone based on initial impressions.

     •  The only thing that we need to do is to actually practice, practice and practice to get better and to achieve something that we want.

     •  One doesn’t always have to start out talented because dedication and hard work can make things happen.

      After he discussed the many different things behind animation, we had an open forum wherein rhe answered questions from the audience.

      Soon enough, we had to get go to school so as not to be late for the career talk that we were going to have in the afternoon. I guess this experience is something that I would really carry with me for quite a long time since this activity was able to give me better insight not only in the world of animation, but in life as well.

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