Photo by Cristina Sim
As a returning O-Host, Bea Arboleda (3 BS ME) is back in the spotlight—but to say that she has never left it may be more appropriate. This “glam Queen B ready to start the party” brings the energy wherever she goes: Whether on stage, online, or on everyday adventures.
“I love performing and all things to do with the camera!” she says. “I love acting, vlogging and doing all the fun stuff the world has to offer.”
Some of that fun stuff comes with being a social media influencer, a position that often sets one on an aspirational pedestal. But more than attending events or reviewing products, Bea makes sure to “keep it real 24/7.” A quick look through her YouTube channel shows her balancing the glam with quirky, self-aware charm. Alongside the travel and beauty features are dance challenges, vlogs with her blockmates or boyfriend, and even her game-faced reactions to crowdsourced assumptions about her.
Sassy persona aside, Bea’s approachability translates from screen to stage—as it did in OrSem 2018: Tayâ. To her surprise and fulfillment, freshies would go up to her for campus directions or Ateneo tips. “Some of them would call me ‘Ate Bea’ and I’d say, ‘It’s okay, you don’t have to!’” she shares. “[But] I like that they saw me as someone that they could look up to and then get advice from.”
Freshmen do have a lot to learn from Bea, who understands a thing or two about figuring herself out. Training to be an O-Host, for instance, is a constant process of self-discovery. “Last year, I was a bit more stiff, I guess, because I wasn’t sure,” Bea admits. “Coming into everything as a sophomore, [because] it was all new, I was a bit more careful.”
OrSem Tayâ’s “bombshell Barbie” has since matured into Silay’s “Queen B.” The shift points to an even more confident, expressive Bea: One who has powered through more than a few math tests in the past year, while creatively sharing her life and interests to a growing online audience. “I think I’m still the same ‘extra’ and millennial Bea that I am, but a more evolved and sophisticated version,” she says.
In the same way, there’s definitely time for the freshies to become their best selves. “Sometimes, you have the confidence in you,” Bea adds, “but then you just don’t have it in you to show it to the world yet.” And if her example is anything to go by, college is a great place to start doing so.
