One of the most awaited university events finally took place during Phase One of JSEC Challenge 2019-2020 last November 11-15, 2019. Students, faculty, along with their friends and families, flocked over the Red Brick Road of Ateneo de Manila University to experience what each food stall had to offer. The dishes ranged from varieties of Chinese cuisine, Japanese, Indian, Thai, and even Filipino household staples. It was an event that showed both the customers’ bustle and the stall participants’ hustle in giving people the best dishes they had to offer.
JSEC Challenge is not as simple as serving food to customers and keeping track of sales. The process involves a lot more steps for the event to be properly executed. While the participating food stalls run their stalls for a week, secretariat representatives roam around during their shifts to catch violations, which may either be major or minor. Some of the violations include eating inside the stall, not wearing a hairnet or airpron, wearing accessories, and so on. There are also judges who visit to critique the food that the stalls serve.
Certain stalls also give special promos for the customers, especially on the last day. They usually discount the prices of their meals, and even go beyond by doing gimmicks. One particular gimmick that a certain stall did was give a Php 10.00 discount to everyone who had “Pat” in their names because their stall name is Mang Pat’s. How cool is that?
There is also a so-called JSELECT Booth wherein members of the Loyola Schools community (students, faculty, and other personnel) get to vote for the stall they want to support. The votes, along with the judges score and accumulation of violations, determine the top five out of the 23 stalls who get to be part of JSEC in the next school year.
Despite all odds and uncertainties that come with participating in the JSEC Challenge, the participants did not fail to show their grit throughout the entire process. From manning the cashier booth, cooking the actual dishes, to promoting for more customers to try their products, the students’ dedication to drive their stalls towards success was beyond commendable.
The students braved through every hurdle to make the entire event possible. It showed how sacrifice and hard work are important in the pursuit of achieving goals. Those students stood above and beyond all that, in the hopes of winning a slot at the JGSOM Student Enterprise Center (JSEC).
Deserving stalls will get the chance to claim this opportunity once the results are released in the second week of December. Now that’s definitely something to look forward to!
If you missed out on JSEC Challenge Phase One or simply missed the wide range of cuisines offered, you’re in luck! JSEC Challenge has two more phases that will be held on two separate weeks: Phase 2 on February 10-14, 2020 and Phase 3 on March 30 – April 3, 2020.
Be sure to drop by and experience JSEC Challenge for yourself. We can’t wait to see you there!
Written and submitted by: Cheska Galang and Patricia Hari-Ong
