Bootcamp 11.0: DCS welcomes Batch 2024
Graphics by Stephen Gonda
Last August 7–9, the incoming Department of Computer Science held Bootcamp 11.0: the annual three-day introductory event for freshies, shiftees, and transferees (FSTs). Bootcamp’s 11th year took place at the UP Alumni Engineers Centennial Hall (UP AECH), and takes inspiration from Alice in Wonderland. The event opened with a short speech from this year’s Overall Head, Drei Ragasa.
Day 1
For the first day, FSTs formed 9 teams, named after various characters in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. As their first team-building event, the FSTs created and then presented their respective team cheers.
Alumnus Basti Ortiz then guided FSTs down the rabbit hole of UP Diliman’s BS Computer Science program. Ortiz highlighted how the curriculum focuses on both theory and research, requiring students to apply their knowledge and understand software complexity. He also addressed some common misconceptions and finally clarified the goals of DCS.
The day continued with speakers Miko Surara and Daryll Ko serving some basic Python and Object-Oriented Programming to the FSTs. Relating their topics to the theme: just as one would need weapons to slay a Jabberwock — one would need some basic knowledge of programming to slay their early academic trials in BS Computer Science.
To end the day on a high note, the teams battled it out in a prompt engineering competition hosted by the UP Association of Computer Science Majors (UP CURSOR). In ten alternating rounds, each team had to ideate a prompt in one minute to try to crack the passwords hidden by other teams during attack rounds or hide their own password during defense rounds.
Day 2
Bootcamp’s second day kicked off with a strong sense of camaraderie and humor as the FSTs participated in a Wackathon organized by the UP Center for Student Innovations (UP CSI). In UP CSI’s Wackathon, each group proposed an app with the theme of ending the human race, down the rabbit hole of chaos.
Following the Wackathon, alumna speaker Shannen Tan brought the students back to the real (virtual) world in her talk about the many different rabbit holes and career paths that BS CS graduates have landed in.
Organizers then toured the FSTs around UP AECH, with each stop featuring a description of activities that take place in areas visited. The tour concluded in the Accenture Ideas Exchange Room, which was followed by team-building activities such as teacup presentation. Each group had a day to decorate their teacups, with the design relating to the theme of the Bootcamp 11.0 (Wonderland). The finished cups served as flags to represent their respective teams.
Keeping up camaraderie while drawing Day 2 to a close, the UP Association of Computing Machinery (UP ACM) hosted an interactive game where teams had to generate a very specific word, phrase, or response from ChatGPT. To add an extra layer of challenge, certain words were banned, making it more intriguing to win the game.
Day 3
On Bootcamp 11.0’s final day, Tea Time Trials challenged the nine groups of FSTs with an Amazing Race-like competition filled with various tasks around the department. Special challenges surprised the players, offering opportunities for teams to get ahead of their opponents. These challenges lie in the Frabjous Cheer, where each team quickly created a unique cheer based on their name, and Party Eleganze, where teams designed a coordinated costume around a chosen theme to wear.
In culmination to the event, Batch 2021 representative Paolo De Los Santos led the talk ‘Through the Looking Glass,’ during which he highlighted the importance of self-care and time blocking, sharing to the FSTs tips on surviving their first year in UP Diliman.
Bootcamp 11.0 wrapped up with an awarding ceremony, where each FST group received certificates for their warm three-day participation. Although the event has ended, it marks the beginning of an exciting journey of Batch 2024 at the Department of Computer Science — a true wonderland of opportunities.