If your barkadas were video game characters
January 10, 2019 | Tech
Be it the sem’s thesis defense or a hiking trip filled with adventure, the members of the barkada need to fill different roles to thrive and move mountains. In an out-of-town trip, for example, there’s one who plans everything from scheds to rooms, there’s the photographer, and then there’s the people-person who’ll make sure you’re always safe and in good company
For fun and to better discuss the common roles in a typical Filipino barkada, we gamified the concept and here’s what we have come up with.

Main attribute: Intelligence
Special skills: Summon Einstein, Sarcasm, and Grammar-bashing
Weakness: Socializing
Behind every beautifully-written group paper is the wizard, who organizes everything from the introductions to the bibliographies. Siya ang utak ng barkadahan. He collates the members’ insights and forges it into a Nobel Prize-winning piece.

Main attribute: Vitality
Special skill: Coffee-making and Comforting
Weakness: Math and physics
The Priest has the capacity to lift up the barkada’s spirits at the lowest of times. Her role is most important after barilin ng boss niyo yung campaign na pinag-puyatan niyo. She’ll always hear you out kahit tungkol pa yan sa sakit-sa-ulo mong chihuahua or sa nakakalunod na adulting.

Main attribute: Agility
Special skill: Facebook stalking
Weakness: Classmate na madaming follow-up question
‘Yung mag-si-CR lang daw, pero uuwi na pala. Magaling um-exit ang mga ‘to. In high school, sila ‘yung mga nag-ca-cutting. But you need him in the group ‘cos his quick wits can save you from a question your group is unprepared for.

Main attribute: Creativity
Special skill: Diskarteng malupit
Weakness: Long, boring seminars
He likes to go by the book, but he also likes to break the rules to produce creative outputs and solutions. He’s into riddles and challenges that could test his diskarte. You can rely on him when you can’t find the answers in text books or internet forums. Resourcefulness = 100.

Main attribute: Strength
Special skill: Optimism
Weakness: Anything paranormal
The warrior pushes the team to do extraordinary feats. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to pull off week-long all nighters for that Android app your client needs. Wala ang salitang “urong” sa kanilang bokabularyo but that changes when your group goes ghost hunting at Corregidor.