Once again serving one of Ateneo Gabay's sector, the Atenean scholars, the Gabay Marketing Ensemble (GAME) Team under the Office of the Externals Vice President (OEVP) released the Ateneo Scholars' Card last January 24-28, 2023 at the Kostka Extension. The project was led by the organization's Externals Vice President, Harvey Felipe, and Deputies for Marketing Relations Lara Cristi and Alliah Custodio.

With the aim of aiding Atenean scholars, the Ateneo Scholars' Card, simply called SCard, is a project partnership with multiple companies and businesses around Katipunan. Through the Scholars' Card, scholars can avail promos, discounts, perks, and privileges from the organization's partner establishments. In return, the partner establishments are entitled to receive marketing benefits crafted by the OEVP and the Deputies for Marketing Relations.

The GAME Team started their preparations last semester with their excursion where they roamed around Katipunan in search of possible partners. The companies were then contacted with a Marketing Proposal. Once the proposal is accepted, the Memorandum of Agreement is crafted to formalize the agreement. The GAME Team started preparing early in hopes of maximizing the benefits that scholars can get from the Scholars' Card, especially now that we are on our second semester of having onsite classes.

When asked about the process of partnering with businesses for the project, Christian Ang answered, "It was a challenging yet rewarding experience for me. One of the things we did was have onsite excursions, where we had to look around for physical stalls and stores and ask them to partner with us. This was the first time for me, and reminded me of salespeople who had to jump from store to store to promote their products or market their companies." It was an insightful experience on external relations and reaching out to others, according to Ang.

This year's Scholars' Card boasts a total of 18 partners, namely: Obento Express, TGS Fastfoods, School Bus Clothing, Chunky Chicks, Oh My Jeong Korean Corndog, Yoshimeatsu Katipunan, Serendipite, The Studio 89 Residences, Eat!, Chicken Chingu PH, Papel na Liempo, Papa K's, Moonleaf Loyola Heights, Pan de Amerikana, Brickfire, Kuya Korea, Geonbae UPTC, and Uncle Pop's. The SCard primer containing the complete list of partner establishments, as well as the available perks and privileges can be accessed through this link: https://bit.ly/2223SCardPrimer.

"I hope that the SCard project and the benefits it provides to the scholars will allow them to sample a wider variety of foods and restaurants and that the SCard will give them opportunities to indulge themselves more and not refrain from eating delicious," Jan Cardenas stated, emphasizing that scholars also deserve good things in their lives. Cardenas also hopes that the project will give scholars chances to enjoy the perks of partner establishments, especially after a stressful day.

"Kung dati hanggang AMPC o Iggy's Food Hub lang yung pwede kong kainan, ngayong may SCard na ako mas marami na akong food stalls na pwede kong mapuntahan lalo na't marami silang discounts na inooffer. Masaya akong nabigyan ang Atenean scholars ng mas maraming options plus nakatulong pa sa pagtitipid ang SCard," Krisha Cagunot happily expressed.

At the end of the release period, a total of 1,014 scholars claimed their Scholars' Card. The Ateneo Scholars' Card would not be possible without the Externals Vice President, Deputies for Marketing Relations, and members of GAME Team, consisting of Christian Ang, Macwen Argallon, Edward Beluso, Krisha Cagunot, Jan Cardnes, Yra Corciga, and Paolo Opena.