Ten Things You May Not Know about AKSIS

Think you know everything there is to know and seen everything there is to see? Let’s see how many of these ten items you know.

1. AKSIS is actually a rehabilitated club. Before I took over, it was called the S-Club — ‘S’ for SocSci — but the changes I introduced practically created a new club from scratch. It was a job I volunteered for as well, and specifically asked my unit head then to allow me to fix it up.

2. In my initial presentation to the SocSci unit for a new name, I only had two: YSCA and Kapatiran. I forget now what YSCA stands for, and later on I discovered that Kapatiran is actually a religious-conservative political party here in the country! I came up with AKSIS completely randomly while thinking of a scientific/mathematical concept that is simple enough while capturing the central theme of change. The unit loved AKSIS the moment I brought it up. I traded the X for KS to give it a more Filipino feel.

3. AKSIS isn’t an acronym, but the all caps make it look cool and awesome. Haha! At one point it became Aksyon Iskolar, but that didn’t really stick and it wasn’t really needed. HOWEVER, there was a time when it wasn’t all-caps! Read on.

4. While the club was officially born on 18 July 2007, I was busy promoting it even in March of that year. I really had my heart into it and made these nifty promotional blog posters using images I just got off deviant art and what not. But these give you a pretty good idea of my initial vision for the club.

But of all the graphics I made for AKSIS, the one I feel most proud of is this:

5. The first AKSIS meeting was on March 9, 2007. The ‘AKSIS babies’ were Batch 2010. They were the youngest members when AKSIS started out. And before the arms were named as AE, AL, and AS, they were simply Programs Committee, Members Committee, and Communications Committee respectively. Here is the first-ever official roster:

6. The one and only AKSIS shirt we have was produced during the term of Criselle David (’09). It made its big debut in the first ever Sigaw. Nonetheless, shirts have become central in our events and fundraising strategies.

7. Our first project ever was Kamalayan in August 24, 2007. It also introduced us to Bantayog ng mga Bayani, a venue we’d return to again and again. We also worked on the program with Maskara, and the idea of collaborating with other clubs has been a big idea since. This tradition continued under Criselle David (Sigaw) and Joker Asis (Tugon).

8. The project I am most personally fulfilled with is the outreach to Sitio Target in December 2007. It is the only AKSIS project I consider myself to have personally worked on as adviser and have since encouraged my team to create and develop their own. I could have always done it again, but I would love for my team to find their own way back to Sitio Target.

9. AKSIS has enchanced my teaching incredibly. I’ve had projects where I handled my classes like organizations (ex. Mock Trials, Amazing Race, ASEAN) and this is something I picked up working with AKSIS.

10. The AKSIS election I was most excited for was the transition from Batch 2010 to 2011. It was the graduation of the ‘baby batch’ of AKSIS and I was excited to see how the generational shift would work out. True to form, Sarah Yangco broke new ground immediately. The shift to 2012 was even bigger. The club’s current leaders come from a generation farther from the club’s beginnings, and are now inspired not so much by the creation of the club but by the examples set by the leaders who have come before.

AFTERWORD

AKSIS has been a tremendous part of my professional life for the past four years and I have never really thought about the day that I would have to let it go. But with a new responsibility placed before me this coming year, I’ll have to trust that the hard work I’ve put into the club will bear fruit. If the recently concluded Blueprints is any indication though, my hard work may already have. I am now looking forward to what’s next for me, and I am not really thinking about the day that I come back to AKSIS as their adviser. I’ve always said that I don’t want AKSIS to be the Sir Martin club. I think we’ve finally succeeded in that.

It’s been an honor, guys. There is still so much we can do together, but I am beginning to feel that there is even more we can do now. For the energy I used to devote to AKSIS, I can use to build up new things. And the passion you have, the passion not even I can take away, can only multiply the more it is used. You have a great new adviser coming up, and an even more epic team. There is literally no limit to what you guys can do.

Now, I am overpowered by a sense of pride for as I look back at the past five years and see how far the club has grown, I can’t help but remember the words I’ve been writing since all of this began –

“Ideas change the world, but people make the difference.”

Thank you, AKSIS. Thank you for helping me believe.

Always,
Sir Martin

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