The TNC graduate class of 2017!
A viral video of students in togas in a TNC internet shop made rounds all over Facebook last Wednesday, April 5.
The video shows students of the Technological Institute of the Philippines having their own ceremony at the Cubao branch of the internet shop chain. Complete with a capella graduation march and a makeshift mousepad diploma, the Mechanical Engineering graduates reenact their own graduation ceremony.
Arlo Diaz, one of the proud gamers in the video, told EsportsINQ that they made the video after they received their togas, which were distributed to them earlier that day. Diaz also said that their actual graduation won’t be until April 10. They had only initially planned to take a photo while they were playing, but then ended up with the playful video. “The initial plan was to take picture.. ng nakatoga kami while nag lalaro, napag tripan nalang din namin na mag video.” Diaz said. (The initial plan was to take a picture of us wearing our togas while playing, then it eventually led to us making a video.)
As of 4PM April 7, the two videos have garnered over 800,000 views, 7,000 likes, and 7,000 shares.
Gerald Rafael, one of the students in the video, also tweeted the aforementioned photo of them playing in their togas.
Graduate na kami sa @TNCProTeam
Maraming salamat sa 6pm promos!Sa wakas!
Natapos na namin ang pagpapanggap sa eskwela! 🎓☝😂🍺🍻pic.twitter.com/gQEPMgJ50G— Gerald Rafael (@OMGeeerald) April 5, 2017
Proving the world wrong
Ever since the rise of gaming in the late 2000s, the whole culture seems to have a bad reputation from the people looking in. Gamers are seen as “lazy,” “antisocial,” and “losers,” among other things. Even today, despite the numerous opportunities, a career in the gaming industry is still seen as unviable and unstable.
But among the community, gamers know that isn’t true. And these TIP boys are proving people wrong. EsportsINQ reached out to some of the gamers in the viral video for some comments. When asked about what they want to tell people who see gamers negatively, Diaz said:
“Di namen sila masi sise kung ganon tingin nila samen, kasi di naman nila alam ginagawa namen, kapag di kami nag lalaro e… di nila alam nag iinom din kami, haha…. Nasa atake nalang sa buhay yan, dapat alam mo priorities mo… Study hard, Play harder”
(We can’t blame them if that’s how they see us, because they don’t know what we do when we’re not playing. They don’t know we drink too (jokingly). It all comes down to your own strategy in life. You should know your priorities. Study hard, play harder.)
Major tournament prize pools reach tens of millions of dollars. One of the most popular Twitch streamers made around $100,000 in 2014. But of course, gamers also know that that kind of money isn’t easy to come by. They have to work just as, if not harder than most people, and dedicate hours and hours into practicing and getting better at their own craft. They also have to deal with the pressure of being students, and having other jobs, and the stigma of being a gamer. And these TIP boys just show that with the right dedication, you can achieve anything you set your heart out to. Diaz also mentioned that some of them are already licensed mechanical engineers, passing the board exam last March.
Gamers sacrifice time and money into being successful in this field, and as the saying goes, they reap what they sow.
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