Hello! I am Roxannie, or you can call me Rox for short. I am taking a BS Information Systems program and am currently a third-year student. Although I am interested in learning about technology now, back then, I took the HUMSS strand in senior high school, which is why the Humanities is still a valued place in my heart, and talking about things like culture is still something I am drawn to. It is as if I am yearning to understand more the intersection of these things. Now, talking about Philippine pop culture, I love broadly. I love listening to modern OPM music, going to coffee shops for milk tea (especially matcha flavor), reading memes and hugot lines, watching tiktok videos, and going for outdoor activities such as hiking, which is growing in popularity as a way to relax and decompress. I may not be that attuned and participative to popular trends since my attention is spent on other things. Still, I enjoy observing them and seeing how pop culture can bring people together to share the same spaces, art, and expressions.

A communication theory that applies here and to me in terms of how I use it is the Uses and Gratification Theory, which refers to people using media to gratify their needs and get satisfaction. When it comes to music, I do it to satisfy my need for expression and company. Music has a way of making you feel less alone and a little bit of freedom from heavy thoughts. It also binds you to other people. Hence, the gratification of needs is met and also involves social and psychological needs that media, in this case music, fulfilled. Indeed, music is a powerful expression of culture that impacts important aspects of our individual lives and shared spaces as a community.