By Eunhice Corpuz 

When the mind understands new concepts, the desire to share them naturally follows. Following that logic, Far Eastern University (FEU) Psychology Society (PsychSoc) brought back its quiz bee competition, now known as ‘PaPSYCHLaban,’ in Thy Happy Halls last February 7. 

Psychology Tamaraws (PsychTams) from different year levels forged their way through the competition as they fiercely conquered each query. Back in high school, quiz bees are one of the few contests that most students try and experience joining. This time, the clash is a stepping stone, paving the way for future opportunities to be part of something bigger.

Coming back amid adversities

As the PaPSYCHLaban quiz bee competitions commenced, it opened a chance for Psychology students to represent the University at the 38th Psychological Association of the Philippines-Junior Affiliates (PAPJA) Convention, which will take place on March 29 this year, after years of hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, PsychSoc Director for Content and Marketing and second-year student Keith Benedict Latosa revealed that they decided to revive the quiz bee contest when the organization learned PAPJA would have its comeback this year.

“Nung nalaman namin na magkakaroon ng PAPJA this year, the organization [PsychSoc] and [Psychology] department decided that this year will be our comeback year sa entablado ng inter-school quiz bee competition,” Latosa said. 

Initially, the competition was only intended for third-year and graduating classes as a way to select potential representatives for the 38th PAPJA, but the organizers later decided to introduce a separate division for lower year levels to train and acclimate them to the event itself.

“We also wanted first- and second-year students to experience what it's like to compete in a quiz bee, so we had a Year 1-2 division where it served as a training ground for the younger level students in future quiz bee competitions like this one and PAPJA, “ the director added. 

Aside from Latosa, two other proponents were involved in planning and implementing the event.

One of the proponents is the PsychSoc Secretary and third-year Psychology student Kayezelle Velasco mentioned that this competition was the trickiest event she has handled for the organization. 

“Every event, I believe hindi naman mawawala ang mga struggles, pero as for someone who has been heading events for years sa PsychSoc, ito na siguro ‘yung isa sa pinaka mahirap na event na na-organize namin dito (this is maybe the most difficult event we have organized),” Velasco remarked. 

According to the PsychSoc Secretary, this quiz bee competition was the most challenging event she had planned because of the many complexities involved, including verifying the validity of the questions to be asked. 

“This is the first time kasi na nag-organize kami ng competition, particularly a quiz bee, kaya ibang-iba ito sa lahat ng events na na-handle namin. Marami kasing complexities na need i-consider dito to ensure the credibility of the contest,” she added. 

Completing the triad, PsychSoc Treasurer Christian Lawrence Munsayac shared that budget was one of the issues they encountered during their preparation.

“Isa sa pinaka naging problema namin ay ang budget. May mga bagay kaming hindi kayang mabili, tulad ng whiteboard, kaya we opted to use folders na mas mura (One of our main problems was budget. There are things we can’t buy, like whiteboard, which is why we opted to use folders that are more affordable),” Munsayac remarked. 

From manifestation to reciprocation

Amid the uncertainties, assurance paved the way to reciprocate the proponents’ effort, resulting in a successful event and producing a line-up of winners among the PsychTams community.

Second-year PsychTam Nicole Laureen Aspiras, a winner in the Freshman-and-Sophomore brackets, shared that she joined the competition to test her passion for psychology. 

“Pure interest, experience, and fate. I have liked psychology for a long time, so I thought maybe I could use this opportunity to test myself,” she expressed. 

Aspiras revealed that she let a coin toss decide whether or not she would join the competition.

“Maybe a dumb thing to do, but that coin toss led me here, and so I [would] like to continue with my little gimmick,” Aspiras jested.

When asked how she prepared for the competition, she described how she strictly followed an early sleeping schedule and studied cover-to-cover worth of materials. 

“The first thing I arranged was I fixed my sleeping schedule! For a week before the event, I slept around 10 p.m. and always prioritized my sleep. Aside from that, I studied the two materials cover-to-cover and used Gizmo to recall terminologies every day until the day of the event,” she disclosed.

It was her first time joining the competition, and winning fulfilled the luck from her toss coin gimmick. This manifestation resonated with the Junior-and-Senior bracket winner, Krizlyn Cruz, a third-year student.

Similar to Aspiras, Cruz has a strong interest in psychology and a desire to expand her knowledge in the field. She mentioned that her goal is to join PAPJA and to engage with the Psychology communities beyond the green-and-gold oasis.

“Aim kong sumali sa PAPJA talaga para naman makita ko rin ‘yung community of Psychology students from other universities from all over the Philippines,” she said. 

For Cruz, joining this contest gave her the opportunity to reinforce and understand by heart all the knowledge that comprises the field. 

“Kapag pinu-push ko kasi talaga na aralin ‘yung iba’t ibang concepts of psychology, it helps me talagang isapuso ‘yung mga napag-aralan namin (When I push myself to study the various concepts of psychology, it helps me to truly by heart what we’ve studied),” Cruz asserted.

Together with Cruz, upperclassmen Abraham Deogracias, Mary Grace Zaldarriaga, and Assunta Sunga will join the PAPJA as they placed from second to fourth, respectively. 

Meanwhile, former PAPJA contestant and FEU alumnus, Tristan Stafford Ross, gave his insight on the level of difficulty from his time to the present competition. 

“I think [the] same level of difficulty lang naman. Iba lang talaga ‘yung mismo [tanong], but I remember some of the questions din, parang narinig ko na before. But it’s still just as hard for me, kasi sinusubukan ko rin sumagot,” Ross commented. 

In line with this, full-time faculty and adviser of PsychSoc James Dominic Flores stated that the questions of the match inspired the contestants to be competitive. 

“I think the questions did inspire them to be competitive. But I would rather attribute their competitiveness to their desire for their excellence,” the adviser said.

Following its reinstatement, the triad of proponents are hopeful that this quiz bee will be a continuous project, for it would revamp the spirits of psychology students and dive into the theories of understanding the cognitive side of life.

In the branch of psychology, when the brain starts to maximize the concepts it digests, it produces a reaction by refining them. The quiz bee competition attracts PsychTams to learn more about the beauty of this field and stimulates a dormant neuron to realize one’s own potential. 

(Photo by Thea Danielle Morin/FEU Advocate)