GraduationMagazine 20 22
2 THE GUIDON SENIOR EDITORS 2021-2022
3 EXECUTIVE EDITORS Editor-in-Chief: Tatiana L. Maligro (AB COM ‘22) Associate Editor: Andrea Mikaela B. Llanes (AB COM ‘22) Managing Editor: Beatriz Ysabel C. Reyes (BS ME ‘22) Design Executive Editor: Neil Christian R. Reyes (BS CH-MSE ‘23) SECTION EDITORS Milestones Editor: Azequiel Lexander P. De Luna (BS ME ‘22) Tributes Editor: Andrea Mikaela B. Llanes (AB COM ‘22) Leaders & Advocates Editor: Kathleen Rae U. Yap (AB COM ‘22) Artists & Performers Editor: Allianza O. Pesquera (AB COM ‘22) Geniuses Editor: Kiara Florencia D. Rodriguez (AB POS ‘22) Athletes Editor: Andrea Mikaela B. Llanes (AB COM ‘22) Narratives Editor: Zachary C. Gonzales (AB Dip IR ‘22) Mentors Editor: Martin Angelo C. Ramos (AB COM ‘22) Staff & Administration Editors: Ivan Lewis C. Bueno (AB EC ‘22) and Diana Patricia C. Rivera (BS CH-MSE ‘23) PHOTOS EDITOR Jonathan William C. Talbot (BS CS ‘22) GRAPHIC DESIGN EDITOR Carmela B. Masiglat (BFA ID ‘22) WRITERS Ena Algopera (AB COM ‘22) Billie Asuncion (AB POS ‘22) Neal Beltran (BS CH ‘22) Lou Del Rosario (BS COMTECH ‘22) Wira Dosado (AB COM ‘22) Fran Enriquez (AB COM ‘22) Belle Gregorio (AB COM ‘22) Anicia Guanlao (AB COM ‘22) Angela T. Ibarra (BS CH-MSE ‘23) George D. Kho (AB POS ‘22) Enzo Lagamon (AB POS ‘22) Noelle Lejano (AB COM ‘22) Andrea Mikaela Llanes (AB COM ‘22) Tatiana L. Maligro (AB COM ‘22) Ira Nepomuceno (BS MAC ‘22) Eala Julienne P. Nolasco (AB IS ‘22) Bea Pangandian (AB COM ‘22) Lander Pua (BS HSc ‘22) Martin Ramos (AB COM ‘22) Beatriz C. Reyes (BS ME ‘22) Ra Solomon (AB EC-H ‘22) Genesis Jacinth Tan (BSM AMF ‘23) Kendji D. Tuazon (BS ME ‘22) Kathleen U. Yap (AB COM ‘22) PHOTOGRAPHERS Nathan Bosano (AB PSY ‘22) Jim Dasal (AB COM ‘22) Tatiana L. Maligro (AB COM ‘22) Kevin A. Sibug (BS CS ‘22) Alexis Wang (BFA ID ‘22) LAYOUT DESIGNER Neil R. Reyes (BS CH-MSE ‘23) ILLUSTRATORS Jaycob Bustamante (BS CH-MSE ‘23) Mello Jericho M. Malig (BS MIS ‘22) Carmela B. Masiglat (BFA ID ‘22) Denev Ng (BS ME ‘22) Genesis Jacinth Tan (BSM AMF ‘23) Kyla Nicole Villegas (BS CS ‘22) SPECIAL THANKS TO Eska Photography Studio Daryl D. Sy Stella Arenas Julia Carpio Zach G. Garcia Milestones Office of the Vice President for University and Global Relations Casey Mateo Daryl D. Sy Julia VionnaStellaSoleilPaulinaCarpioSinghNicoletteArenasVillalon Tributes Rica Castillo Ella CoachCabahugAlvin“Jok” Cobar Leaders & Advocates Jb NicoleMatthewKirsAleianaJohnBejarinLazaroDuqueAngelesSoMasagca Artists & Performers Aiden Gattud Pat SheAudreyJuliaGerrickFerminGoSantiagoAdarmeSy Geniuses Abie Bungay Avy AngelMikkoTiffanyFransSalvadorRegalaGolangcoVitugMartinez Athletes Stella Arenas Dana Carreon SJ Belangel LJ AlyssaEJMichaelMirandaUyObañaGo Narratives Stella Arenas Mentors Carmel Abao Arjan JunMiaRemmonAguirreBarbazaCruzCuenca Staff & Administrators Editha OfficeLoyolaOfficeLSOfficeElisaRosalieGenevieveRaquelRoseCherrieSalomeReaElizabethBagtasLucasLoraLlanesMayMontemayorGatchalianTizonLopezMendozaAgbayofAdmissionandAidOfficeofGuidanceandCounselingoftheVicePresidentfortheSchoolsoftheUniversityPresident
After two years of studying madescreens,collaboratingandbehindwefinallyithome.
As you read through the stories of this Graduation Magazine, I hope you are reminded that—despite the pandemic—the Class of 2022 never stopped loving, serving, and hoping for a more just and equitable world beyond the status quo. More importantly, may the stories of our batchmates challenge you to look beyond the Hill that guided us and contribute to nation-building in your own special way. Our Ateneo education has taught us to do better than to simply serve the powerful elite. We were taught to sow the seeds of positive societal change to improve the lives of the voices forced into the margins. Our graduation day is just the beginning of our batch’s pursuit towards a loving world. Hopefully, when we meet again, we will have used our Atenean education to cultivate progress for the greater good. After all, the past may be out of reach—even if we can physically visit it—but the future is always something we can build together.
It’s easy to yearn for the years we could’ve had—or even just a semblance of the “normal” senior year we deserved. After all, the COVID-19 pandemic and the abrupt shift to online learning has seized the typical college experience away from us. However, as we return home to bid our goodbyes and reunite with our batchmates, we need to remember that our college journey is so much more than the growing list of what could have been. Rather, our time in Ateneo has been shaped by a fight towards a more just and equal society. The latter half of our college lives have been tumultuous for the Ateneo community and the Philippines at large. Our country is still recovering from a pandemic that has only exacerbated the deep-rooted societal inequalities and injustice around us. To make matters worse, we are about to go down from the Hill during the first year of the presidential term of a dictator’s son, whose parents have plunged millions into poverty and tortured many Ateneans just like us.
Tatiana L. Maligro Bachelor of Arts in Communication Minor in Development Management Editor-in-Chief, The GUIDON 2021-2022
The Bisaya word kumbati (fight)—which is typically used as words of encouragement (Kumbati lang gihapon or keep fighting)—best captures the essence of our batch’s response to our national situation. Despite the post-election heartbreak and the numerous lapses in pandemic response, our batch rose to the challenge by executing organizational work, lobbying for changes we wanted to see, and even performing small acts of kindness towards others. Our batch’s acts of service— whether it’s through performance, visual arts, academic research, sports, or civic engagement—remind us that these societal shortcomings have not deterred our desire for a better future. We can and will try again.
Congratulations, Batch 2022! Kumbati lang gihapon.
fromMessagethe editor
The various issues highlighted by the pandemic and recent elections have only shown us that we can no longer return to the broken, unjust pre-pandemic world we once knew. During these difficult times, when it is often easier to look after the self alone, the batch’s various engagements have embodied the most important lesson that Ateneo can impart: Anyone, regardless of background and interests, can do something to help.
Since the reopening of the University grounds, New Rizal Library and Matteo Study Hall are once again filled with students finishing requirements or listening to synchronous sessions. Some defended their thesis and met their advisers for the first time while others simply walked around campus to take photos of what we once had. In a way, we were finally able to live the life that we took for granted when we said goodbye to our classmates on that fateful Monday in March 2020, thinking that there would always be tomorrow.
Table contentsof MILESTONES 8 The (inescapably) pioneer batch 10 World class 12 United for welfare 14 New wing of education TRIBUTE 16 Alex Barairo LEADERS & ADVOCATES 20 Jb Bejarin 21 Aleiana Duque 22 John Lazaro 23 Kirsten Angeles 24 Matthew So 25 Nicole Masagca ATHLETES 28 Alyssa Go 29 Dana Carreon 30 EJ Obaña 31 LJ Miranda 32 Michael Uy 33 SJ Belangel GENIUSES 34 Abie Bungay 35 Avy Salvador 36 Frans Regala 37 Tiffany Golangco 38 Mikko Vitug 39 Angel Martinez ARTISTS & PERFORMERS 42 Sabina Manlutac 43 Julia Santiago 44 Gerrick Go 45 Aiden Gattud 46 Alyanna Arches 47 Sherikka Sy NARRATIVES 51 Gabriel Almanzan 52 Bea Estrella 53 Robee Ng 54 Justine Valdez 55 Isabelle Cruz MENTORS 58 Mia Cruz 59 Remmon Barbaza, PhD 60 Arjan Aguirre 61 Dr. Jun Cuenca 62 Michael Coroza 63 Carmel V. Abao, PhD STAFF & ADMINISTRATION 66 Department Secretaries 68 Jose Maria Edito Tirol, PhD 69 LSOGC 70 Dr. Maria Luz C. Vilches, PhD 72 Roberto C. Yap, SJ
We stand on a hill between the earth and sky.
“It is not just about responding to K-12 or the CHED GE, it’s really about making education explicitly connected with Ateneo’s vision of formation,” Associate Dean for the Core Curriculum Benjamin Tolosa states. This newer curriculum, Tolosa mentions, changed the previous core from being introductory to being interdisciplinary ones tied to spheres of social life. Moreover, each program had realigned its own subjects to the learning outcomes of the new core curriculum. With these, the Class of 2022 had undergone an Ateneo education different from previous batches.
SHIFT IN SPACE
As people, we
With the new environment, members and officers like Joaquin had to face issues such as dealing with burnout, disengaged members, and translating projects into the online platform. For Joaquin, one of the major issues during the first years online was also the struggle for mental health.
“Our tagline is ‘Where people come first,’ so as an org that advocates and values mental health […] we also had to consider our members’ welfare and well-being,” Joaquin mentions, are not limited to be going out into the not only with our courses. “
FOUR YEARS have passed for Ateneo’s graduating batch of 2022. Coming from the K-12 program, the freshmen who entered back in 2018 would have little idea of what was in store for them in their college journey.
our majors. We will
The COVID-19 pandemic that hit during the latter half of the batch’s sophomore year changed not only classroom setups but also students’ extracurricular and social dynamics. For outgoing Ateneo Psyche President Joaquin Querido (4 AB PSY), the shift in space has transformed students’ organizational life. “The essence of ‘org life’ in Ateneo is with the physicality of it, kasi that’s where you get to meet with people, interact with people, watch your projects come into fruition,” Joaquin states.
“There is a sense that it helps, that there is more clear integration [between subjects],” Tolosa adds regarding the new curriculum. “Of course, the real measure of this is what you do after Asidecollege.”fromencountering an up to date curriculum, the batch also had to endure a brand new learning environment.
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WRITTEN BY GEORGE D. KHO
Aside from the new core subjects that aim to mold a more dynamic graduate, the pandemic and a wholly different environment would also contribute to Batch 2022’s formation.
A NEW CURRICULUM One of Batch 2022’s trademarks is its reputation as the “guinea pig” batch—first to enter grade seven, “move up” from junior high school, and graduate from senior high school. Moreover, the batch is also the first to experience Ateneo’s new core curriculum which emphasizes a contemporary formation framework.
pioneerThe batch (inescapably)(inescapably)
world
“[We realized] how time is very important, [that] as much as we have to focus on ‘acads’ and ‘orgs,’ we also have to focus on ourselves, our lives, our family,” Joaquin says.
Those throughstakeweadaptability;withortobecauseusexperienceshumangroundasabatchwe’reablefaceadversityuncertaintyresolveandbecauseknowwhat’satwhenwegochange.
Ultimately, being the first to overcome two new curriculums and the strains of the pandemic have made the experience of Batch 2022 unique to them. They will be graduating not just from varying fields, but from a turbulent shared experience.
“As people, we are not limited to our majors. We will be going out into the world not only with our courses,” Joaquin says, stating that the holistic education Ateneans have undergone will inevitably be crucial in confronting the social realities they are to face.
BEYOND RESILIENCIES As graduation day draws near, Class Valedictorian Jamesun “Jb” Bejarin (4 AB POS-MPM) believes that the changes that Batch 2022 has gone through is what makes them unique. For Jb, people tend to glorify the batch’s pioneer reputation. However, he says that behind this rough journey are the human experiences—of students dealing with change, anxiety, and stress.
“Those human experiences ground us as a batch because we’re able to face adversity or uncertainty with resolve and adaptability; because we know what’s at stake when we go through change,” Jb adds.
While Joaquin knows that the batch has faced hardships and loss, he also believes that going through a pandemic and online class has inevitably taught Batch 2022 valuable lessons.
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stating how many have been compelled to resign from exhaustion. “Orgs shouldn’t feel like work. It’s something that you’re supposed to Afterenjoy.”almost two years of online classrooms, the batch then had to contend with the newer context of pilot face-to-face classes. Although not all students were enrolled in “flex” classes, many nonetheless returned to the campus for organizational work, campaign volunteering, and most importantly, for experiencing the campus one last time before graduating.
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World class
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED
ENDURING RECOGNITION
WRITTEN BY AZEQUIEL P. DE LUNA ATENEANS ARE known for consistent excellence in the endeavors that they participate in—garnering various accolades in university rankings, competitions, and extracurriculars, among others. However, the subsequent shift to online instruction prompted the Ateneo to devise ways to maintain excellence in the local and international scene. Gratefully, Ateneo maintains its excellence and even garners new recognitions, despite the limitations of the pandemic. Pursuant to the spirit of Magis, Ateneans have strived to go beyond in everything they do despite the adversities.
Aside from the recognition given to the University itself, students were also able to carry the University’s name in various competitions and awards across various fields. Batch 2022 seniors upheld excellence despite the pandemic reaching their final year of college, proving that these seniors’ passion never died out.
For University President Roberto “Bobby” Yap, SJ, this ranking shows the dedication of Jesuit education to the pursuit of real-world impact.
For the business case competition veteran John Lee (4 BS ME), joining competitions in the online setting may have its setbacks but it comes with silver linings. While the pandemic prevented team members from socializing well with one another, he believes that the online setting democratizes the opportunities provided by case competitions. This allowed a better integration of students in the provinces, bridging the international community, and broadcasting competitions online so that anyone can learn. Furthermore, John states that the online setting allows better time “Asynchronousmanagement.learninggives more flexibility in managing schedules, so you might see students with internships joining case Ateneans opportunitiesfind amidst challenges, and it presents the stability of Atenean education in an ever-changing world. “
Ateneo achieved new heights when it became the top ranked Philippine university in the Times Higher Educations (THE) Impact Rankings 2021 for the first time, which is a global ranking that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ateneo continues to strive for sustainable development as they got a higher ranking in the THE Impact Rankings 2022.
10 MILESTONES GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
The University maintains its ranking as the top private university in the Philippines on the QS World Rankings 2023. This is amid a time of Ateneo’s introduction of a new online learning method in the form of the AteneoBlueCloud— creating a virtual campus that is inclusive of every student’s learning and needs in an online setting.
Finally, Ateneans are also able to use art to advance advocacy. Jake Consing (4 AB COM) directed a short film entitled Dildo, which won the jury prize in the Outfest Fusion One Minute Movie Contest, an LGBTQ+ centric film festival. In an interview conducted by Nylon Manila, Jake shares that personal experiences with regard to mental illness, querness, activism, and memory—issues that connect with a lot of people—influence his films.
Ateneans also made history when two teams became the first Filipino participants to make it to the finals and be named among best speakers in the 2021 World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC), wherein senior Mikko Vitug (4 BS/M AMF) was a participant. This breakthrough was made possible by the aid of the Ateneo Debate Society, revealing how the university’s extracurriculars are able to make an international presence.
11MILESTONES GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022 competitions on top of their academics,” John mentions, stating how one can maximize the online setting.
Batch 2022 and their accomplishments reveal that Atenean excellence is as vibrant as ever, and will reach even greater heights as they go down from the Hill.
Pursuant to the spirit of Magis, the Atenean community strives to go beyond in everything they do despite the adversities. “
“While some experiences were taken away, new doors have also opened. Lifting physical constraints can lead us to new discoveries from new people in new places” he Thissays.mindset of his allowed him and his teammates to win competitions, such as bagging first place in the 2021 Nestlè M.I.L.E Virtual Hackathon along with fellow Ateneo seniors Reihan Leongson (4 BS ME) and Hannah Rubio (4 BS COMTECH).
CARRY ON These recognitions that the University has received is a testament on how Ateneans still continue to strive for excellence despite the shift in space. Ateneans find opportunities amid challenges, and it presents the stability of Atenean education in an ever-changing world.
OBS, through their petition, ignited critical discourse amongst the student body. The Central Assembly was split on whether to endorse the petition or not, with certain members finding the wording too vague to properly endorse it, while others agreed with its call for action. Regardless, each member still communicated that above all, there was an urgent need to push for student welfare in the time of crisis.
At the time, the Code and Rules was meant to replace the University’s previous Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy. This gave the system a much needed update, considering that the previous policy was based on the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995. With the updated Code and Rules, the definition of sexual harassment has been expanded to include gender-based and peer-to-peer harassment, along with other forms of sexual misconduct.
WRITTEN BY BILLIE ASUNCION
United for welfare
After the petition amassed over 500 signatories from members of the LS community, the Sanggunian held two emergency meetings to organize their list of demands to send to the administration. With this, the petitioners came to be known as One Big Strike (OBS).
Once these needs were communicated to the LS administration, the Vice President of the Loyola Schools responded by granting the students a one-week class suspension to allow them the time to rest and recover from the effects of the typhoon and the pandemic.
In the ongoing fight for student welfare, Ateneans continue to champion their values despite any hurdles they may face. Through on-campus mobilizations and academic strikes, Batch 2022 has proven that meaningful change is possible, paving the way for more change in the years to come.
TUA is not alone in its fight for student welfare. After Typhoon Ulysses ravaged the country in 2020, Elise Ofilada (4 BFA CW), along with Bernardine de Belen (4 BFA CW), Patricia Fermin (4 BFA ID), Maria Larga (4 BFA CW), and Angela Cole (4 BFA CW) from Batch 2022 led the Ateneo community in a mass student strike to call out not only the LS administration but also the national government for their “criminal” negligence in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While OBS may no longer be active, its effects can still be felt today. Since the strike, academic breaks have become a regular occurrence, to the point where they are now accounted for in the academic calendar. Likewise, TUA’s influence on the LS’ policies have made a lasting impact, along with their calls for the administration to do even better. The organization remains unwavering in their fight for safer spaces in the University and the end to complicity in handling issues surrounding sexual harassment. These events, at the time, shook the LS community to its core, calling on students to unite to demand better from the administration. With this, the Batch has proven that through discourse and action, real change can be made.
Since the on-campus protest against sexual misconduct and impunity in 2019, students have worked closely with the Loyola Schools (LS) administration to improve the policies safeguarding against sexual harassment. Following the protest, the Sanggunian met with members of the then-newly formed Time’s Up Ateneo (TUA) to assist the administration in writing the Code of Decorum and Administrative Rules on Sexual Harassment, Other Forms of Sexual Misconduct, and Inappropriate Behavior (Code and Rules).
However, working with the administration has not stopped TUA from calling out University complicity when it deems fit. On its second anniversary in October 2021, TUA put out a statement outrightly pointing out the University’s “disappointing” inaction towards fighting sexual violence. Through these, TUA remains fearless in the face of the administration’s negligence, acknowledging the progress made so far while still pushing for it to do better.
WHILE MOST may associate the Ateneo community with a general sense of elitism and a disconnected outlook towards the Philippines’ social, economic, and political issues, Batch 2022 has put in the work to break this notion. During their stay in the Ateneo, the Batch faced various controversies, tackling issues including sexual harassment and the need for academic ease head on.
RECOGNIZED PRAXIS
Beyond these student-led actions, Batch 2022 has remained grounded in the country’s issues, constantly fighting for the better treatment of Ateneo students. It challenges the administration to never falter in its policymaking and take responsibility for its mistakes, assuring that no student gets left behind.
FIGHTING FOR SAFE SPACES
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UNITY THROUGH DISCOURSE
The Sanggunian’s Commission on Anti-Sexual Misconduct and Violence (CASMV) continues to collaborate with TUA, coordinating to not only forward the need for change towards the administration, but also to offer students a safe space in the LS. With this, they also work closely with the LS Gender Hub, opening their doors to students who may need counsel and aid in processing any cases.
GOING UPHILL GBSEALD’s Founding Dean Johnny Go, SJ, Ed.D. shares that an idea for a school of education was brought up nearly 20 years ago, although it was shelved for reasons unknown. Fortunately, the idea was revisited by the University in 2016. “Basically, the University wanted to take a step back and look at the work we’ve been doing [in] education to decide ‘What’s the best way forward for us to do that?’” says Go, then the education hub coordinator. The way forward came in the form of the Ateneo de Manila Institute for the Science and Art of Learning and Teaching (Ateneo SALT Institute).
WRITTEN BY ZACHARY C. GONZALES
JOHNNY GO, SJ, ED.D. FOUNDING DEAN, GOKONGWEI BROTHERS SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND LEARNING DESIGN
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE Establishing a new wing of education is an effort from both faculty and students. Go admits that, like most educational institutions, Ateneo is quite conservative and slow to reform. Although the
GBSEALD was launched mid-2021, receiving support but also criticism. For many people, it seemed odd to embark on a new school amidst the pandemic. “But our answer has been precisely because of the pandemic,” quips Go. “When we experienced a great disruption in learning and teaching, we decided to come up with a statement that education is important.”
The pandemic disrupted everything that we knew about education, and in a way, we were forced to come to grips with technology and to try to be learner-centeredmore in our approach.
New wing of education
FOR THE longest time, the Ateneo’s Loyola Schools were divided into four schools geared to the social sciences, humanities, science and engineering, and management. However, during the pandemic, the University decided to add another: The Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design. Known as GBSEALD, the new school’s rise amidst adverse circumstances represents a message that the Ateneo recognizes that education must be at the forefront.
“Because of the learning crisis that’s happening in the country… we thought we had to make learning and teaching front and center in the agenda of the University,” shares Go. “We also wanted to be able to synergize all our efforts by having just one external face for the University. So we thought a school of education would be the best way to do that.”
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Established to examine the way educators learn and teach students, the Ateneo SALT Institute was ostensibly just a stepping stone. After a few years, it became clear that not only should there be an institute but also a school of education.
So I hope you will not underplay the role significanceand of your meansbatch…italotto me and also to my team, and I’m sure to all the faculty.
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GBSEALD is also interested in innovating learning to be effective, beneficial, and enjoyable. Go believes this can be achieved by further integrating technology, citing the changes brought to the hotel and transportation industries following the arrival of technologies such as Airbnb and Grab.
“One of the big insights in the pandemic really is education is not so much about teaching but about designing learning,” imparts Go. He discloses that GBSEALD is hoping to offer doctoral programs by next year and an undergraduate program called BS in Learning Design the year after.
The new school ultimately aims to contribute to the bigger picture of Philippine education. Beset with unspecified problems, Go says that it will take the efforts of not just the school but also other universities, government agencies, and students.
“In a way, to your batchmates, I’d like to say: ‘Look, you’ve received…what is considered the best education in the country. Please help us make education—this kind of education—more accessible to Filipinos,’” urges Go. “We hope in your career choices, in your choices of projects to support, you will think about this because our fellow Filipinos who do not have the same privilege are suffering. And in the end, all of us will suffer.”
15MILESTONES GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022 University recognized the value of technology to learning and teaching, no one was open to change until the pandemic happened.
“The pandemic disrupted everything that we knew about education, and in a way, we were forced to come to grips with technology and to try to be more learner-centered in our approach,” bares Go. What came out of this process were online learning innovations such as the Adaptive Design for Learning training program and Ateneo Blue Cloud learning management system.
“I hate to put it very bluntly, [but] we owe a lot to your batch of students,” confesses Go. He confides that it was not until they received feedback from Batch 2022 about online learning and learner-centered education that they truly learned to become more effective educators. “We did not pretend that we knew everything; we always said we will learn by doing. And the feedback given by students were very valuable.”
THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE Having guided the University through two years of online education, GBSEALD’s work has only begun. Beyond what it has already accomplished with students, the new school has plans to refine education in Ateneo.
Both aforementioned innovations shape the online learning of graduating Batch 2022. In a similar fashion, Batch 2022 also shapes the growth of online teaching in Ateneo to a great extent.
Apart from feedback, the research and projects by Batch 2022 interns in the Ateneo SALT Institute helped in lighting the path forward. “We really welcomed the presence and the energy and ideas of the students of your batchmates, especially in helping us figure out what we’re supposed to do,” shares Go. “So I hope you will not underplay the role and significance of your batch… it means a lot to me and also to my team, and I’m sure to all the faculty.”
Pinaka-significant na nakuha ko habang iniinterview siya: Si Alex, very achievementoriented simula pa lang. Lagi niyang brinibring up, “Anong mga kailangan kong gawin para mapanalo ko yung medal?” Kapag may nakikita siyang opportunity, ginagawa niya talaga yung best niya; mataas yung expectation niya sa sarili niya. Gusto niya na lahat ng binibigay ng parents niya, mababalik niya sa Andamikanilakong gustong maalala tungkol kay Alex. May mga hindi rin ako na-observe. Pero, siguro, kung pinapili niyo ako, isa lang ang masasabi ko: Madali siyang tanggapin bilang tao. Kung mabibigyan mo siya ng pagkakataon at nakilala mo siya ng mabuti, hindi siya mahirap tanggapin. Gusto niya lagi siyang belong, laging kasali At dahil doon, madaming nagmahal at nagmamahal pa rin sa kaniya. Yan yung di ko makakalimutan.
Something I carry with me is how Alex would also care deeply about other people, even strangers. She would want everyone to enjoy themselves and have a good time with one another, making sure that nobody felt left out or abandoned.
COACH JOK SI ALEX, pumasok siya sa Ateneo Girl’s Track and Field Team team in the middle of the year na. Tapos na yung tryouts and meron nang team. Si Sophie—yung team captain nung year na yon tinanong niya ako kung puwede bang magpasok pa ng athlete. Pagattend ni Alex ng training, yung time niya, sub-13. Yung mga ganung time kasi, yun na yung mga time ng boys. She’s really fast. Mabilis talaga siya Nagulat ako. Sabi ko, “Sige nga, gusto ko nga siyang i-meet.” Nagulat ako kasi para siyang isang maliit na bata. Hindi siya mukhang athlete. Talaga bang sub-13 ang time nito?
That’s why I would like to remember Alex as someone who was always there for me— someone that would never let me down. I hope that everyone remembers Alex’s tenacity and drive. I hope all of her loved ones receive the gifts that Alex has given us: Her presence, her joy, her thoughts, and her impact, and apply it into their lives as a way for her legacy to live on.
Gusto niya na lahat ng binibigay ng parents niya, mababalik niya sa kanila. She was loved, and we will spend the rest of our lives missing her. She was always grateful for the gifts that she has been given and the good set of circumstances in her academic life.
TRIBUTE GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
Alex Barairo A TRIBUTE BY RICA CASTILLO (4 AB DIP IR), COACH ALVIN “JOK” COBAR, AND ELLA CABAHUG (4 AB COM) In memory of
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ELLA TRAINING WAS always a blast with Alex because she made everything fun. I would say that Alex’s passion for the sport is what drove her to become great at it. She knew that this opportunity was not available to just anyone, and I would like to think that she knew how good she was. She would always train with effort and make sure to improve every day.
Alex’s passion for sports also translated into her studies. She was always grateful for the gifts that she has been given and the good set of circumstances in her academic life. She worked hard to maintain her scholarships since she was in grade school, proving just how wonderful she could be. The way that she was able to do this left me in awe and inspired me to become more like her.
Though, sometimes, I think she would let her insecurities get the best of her. She would think that she wasn’t qualified enough or that she was inexperienced. This would often lead her to become withdrawn or lose sight of what she was training towards. But she always felt better because I do believe that she had a good support system and trustworthy friends.
RICA I MET Alex through a group project where we all knew each other except for her. Immediately after meeting her, I found out how personable and competent she was. She melded so well with the rest of the group that we continued to hang out even after the project was over. Our communication slowly trickled to a stop after a couple of months into the pandemic, but I always thought we would pick it back up when we finally can see each other in person. It turns out we wouldn’t have that Alexchance.iswithout a doubt one of the most brilliant people I’ve met. On top of being talented as an athlete and being extremely smart in school, she was also easygoing, gorgeous, and had great ambition. She was a force to be reckoned with in a tiny body; she knew what she wanted and she would go at great lengths to achieve it. I saw how her drive was so big—or maybe she was just pretty small—that it spilled over and infected others around her. I remember looking at Alex—looking at her determination and bright personality—and easily picturing how she would go very far in life. I remember thinking that after we would all graduate, we’d meet again sometime and laugh about how successful we all are. It’s just devastating to realize that we wouldn’t be able to witness her do the great things we knew she would do, and it saddens me how the world would never have the privilege to experience her in full force. For all her flaws and for all her struggles, Alex tried to extend her kindness to those around her. I hope she knew in her last moments that she was loved, and we will spend the rest of our lives missing her.
&LeadersAdvocates 20 Jb Bejarin 21 Aleiana Duque 22 John Lazaro 23 Kirsten Angeles 24 Matthew So 25 Nicole Masagca GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
All these instances ultimately tie back to what Jb had learned in his four years of service in Ateneo. “The greatest challenge that lies for us whether it be for the country or for Ateneo is the need to include,” Jb asserts, stating that solving our ever-present issues inevitably involves including people from diverse perspectives.
20 WITH HIS iconic blue button-up shirt and khaki pants, student leader and Class of 2022 Valedictorian Jamesun “Jb” Bejarin’s (4 AB POSMPM) fashion is as recognizable as his name is for many of Batch 2022. Jb has worn many hats throughout his stay in Ateneo—from interim Sanggunian President, to Church of Gesù volunteer, to Introduction to Atenean Culture and Traditions (InTACT) facilitator, to volunteer campaign head for Leni For You.
For Jb, inclusivity must extend not only in their work in Sanggunian but also in the decisions that we must make as individuals, graduating students, and future advocates for our society.
WRITTEN BY GEORGE D. KHO
LEADERS & ADVOCATES FOR OTHERS, WITH OTHERS
That’s what I realized about service also. It’s a call that you choose to take. It’s a commitment also.
Beyond school politics, Jb had also been involved with national elections since high school. He was a volunteer during the 2016 election bid of Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo, and then he headed the Atenista Para sa Otso Diretso campaign in 2019. The most recent endeavor for Jb was leading the Leni For You volunteer campaign in 2022 which was, for him, the final culmination of his college leadership.
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SERVICE AS A CALL Reflecting on life’s sudden shifts, Jb learned that these turbulences were far more pivotal in deciding not only where one can go, but where one ought to be. “That’s what I realized about service also. It’s a call that you choose to take. It’s a commitment also,” Jb states. A testament to this was Jb’s assumption of the presidency in Sanggunian’s interim government in academic year (AY) 2020-2021. Aside from the shift to online class, Jb also had to deal with a myriad of other issues that faced the student body such as calls for an academic break due to typhoons and the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also a clear divide between the Sanggunian and the school administration’s stance at times, with both sides openly disagreeing with one another. As such, Jb and the Sanggunian had to find other allies and weigh in varying interests during the first AY under the pandemic.
The challengegreatestthat lies for us whether it be for the country or for Ateneo is the need to include. “
While these experiences have taught him many things, the most resounding for Jb are the ideals of service and inclusion.
THE POLITICS OF INCLUSION Despite the results of the 2022 elections, the grassroots campaign that Jb took part in resembled to him a new kind of hope and a path towards it. This realization came when Ateneo— ever so strict in its campus access amid the pandemic and conservative in its public image— openly welcomed thousands of people at the last minute during the Leni-Kiko Pasasalamat Rally. “First time ko makita ganoon ka-puno ang Ateneo (That was my first time seeing Ateneo so full). I didn’t realize Bellarmine field could hold so [many] people,” Jb says. The campaign also strengthened Jb’s view of Ateneo’s sociopolitical role in making a stand.
RISING TO LEAD From the get-go, Jb always seemed to be on the path to leadership. Prior to college, Jb already held positions such as batch representative in grade nine, as well as the Humanities and Social Sciences Representative. Subsequently, he also became Sanggunian President in Ateneo Senior High School (ASHS). Upon entering college, Jb joined the Sanggunian as head of Administrativethe Affairs section. During his first year, Jb—along with many fellow freshmen— launched the Sabihin Sa Sanggu initiative, which was a student-led help desk project carried over from ASHS. By the end of his freshman year, Jb would find himself running for and winning the position of Sanggunian Vice President. Nonetheless, Jb’s leadership journey was not as smooth as it seemed. Jb recalls having a plan of what to do in college. “I remember sa laptop ko yung sticky note; first year, join this org, second year, third year, fourth year. The plan ended up not happening.” As Jb learned soon enough, his personal path would be shaped by external factors and events larger than himself.
“Lahat ng natutunan ko (Everything I learned), not only [in] college but way back, I got to use it for Leni For You,” Jb adds, citing tasks such as negotiating with campus guards, dealing with faculty and administration, networking with various groups, and soliciting donations. More than these, Jb also believes that the Leni campaign symbolized something much more significant both to himself and to Ateneo.
“It’s the first time I saw something so partisan from Ateneo,” Jb adds, looking back at how the University had welcomed events such as the Leni For You Mass in Gesù and the hosting the Sumilao farmers who had campaigned for Leni.
As early as her high school days, Lee already advocated for women’s rights. Over time, she remained persistent in learning and building on causes, eventually speaking up for LGBTQ+ rights and mental health in Ateneo. Although she was driven by purpose, she met challenges that tested her commitment.While
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CREATING IMPACT
“At the end of the day, that’s what you want to do: You want to be able to connect with people you’ve never even met and to give them that lasting impression that shapes their identity, even in the slightest form,” Lee shares.
LEADERS & ADVOCATES WHEN PASSION MEETS SERVICE
cluster. Lee observed the unspoken culture of sexual harassment of in the school halls. It took several months to share difficult conversations with survivors, to shift the stubborn stance of the administration, and to convince passive and opposing parties to support their cause.
That’s what really made that uphill battle worth it because there were people constantly pushing you up and waiting for you to get there, to stand with you up on the hill.
Despite the complications, she keeps in mind the supporters and survivors of the advocacy. Through Lakambini, she was able to create a sense of safety, belonging, and community. For Lee, this made the fight worth it. “Until now, that number is growing. That population of people who support us includes the people who were once against us,” she says.
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Entering college, Lee was set on joining Sanggunian with the same fervor. Her expectations were thwarted after she realized that student government was much more different and demanding. What dawned on her, though, was the importance of collective effort to change institutional and cultural impact in Ateneo.
This is what she strived for as co-commissioner of CASMV: To lobby for comprehensive and representative policies and hold institutions accountable. Despite the most sensitive cases during her term, she was more brazen to tackle issues ahead through the community.
While she feels strongly about her advocacy, Lee humbly admits that it was time to heal for herself. Her support system brought validation and solace to her decision. Moreover, she was grateful and inspired by advocates who want to continue what she and the committee has started. Her advocacy doesn’t end, as Lee integrated her beliefs with theater through Tanghalang Ateneo. Being able to look into her own world view and reconcile those with the text and the characterization is something that she found intense but wonderful. She felt fulfilled because it integrated her two loves–the arts and her advocacy.
Contrary to her seemingly-straightforward achievements and experiences, Lee faced diverse obstacles beyond expectation. Regardless, it is her passion for her advocacy that made her sincere, sympathetic, and strong.
WRITTEN BY WIRA DOSADO
MAKING A MARK
“That’s what really made that uphill battle worth it because there were people constantly pushing you up and waiting for you to get there, to stand with you up on the hill,” she reminisces.
Ultimately, Lee seeks to continue her legacy beyond Ateneo. At the core of her desire to pursue a Masters in Counseling Psychology is her advocacy of women and LGBTQ+ rights, and mental health. She also opens herself to the grand dream of law school in the future, as well as the prospect of becoming a writer who can express her creativity in writing and sharing it with other people.
At the end of the day, that’s what you want to do: You want to be able to connect with people you’ve never even met and to give them that lasting impression that shapes their identity, even in the slightest form. “
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WORDS BEAR meaning that leave a rippling impact. Little did Aleiana “Lee” Duque (4 AB PSY) know, a hobby could change how she views the world and how she makes her mark. Even at a young age, Lee found company in reading books. She affirms that reading shaped her language and worldview. Her perception was further complemented by friendships she had forged with sociopolitically sharp people who awakened her social consciousness and motivated her to pursue an advocacy. When she entered Ateneo, Lee lived that advocacy and passion in various ways by serving as a member and, then shortly after, the Co-Commissioner on the Commission on Anti-Sexual Misconduct and Violence (CASMV) in Sanggunian. She was also an actress and playwright in Tanghalang Ateneo, taking part in two online plays, Lamon Babae, and Obra Maestra. Her involvement in extracurricular activities are matched with academic excellence, as she is graduating Cum Laude
POLITICAL AWAKENING John’s political journey began in junior high, when his old school enacted more conservative policies on students’ interactions around the time the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. In response to this, John drew up a petition soliciting the signatures of his batchmates as an act of protest against his school’s “unreasonable” rules. “Somewhere along the way, someone reported me to the principal. I got in trouble,” John says. “I remember having my first sort of adrenaline rush in very troubled situations […] I brought myself to this situation, doing what I believed was Uponright.”entering senior high school (SHS) in 2016, John was greeted by a wider and more complicated landscape. It was the year that Rodrigo Duterte was elected President, and late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was buried in the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. With the more diverse and politically active environment of De La Salle Taft – SHS, John felt closely drawn to a more “progressive” kind of politics.
John’s experiences have also brought him to confront many other instances of labor issues, such as strikes in Pacific Plaza and in industrial areas in CAMANAVA. On top of these are the occasional demonstrations—such as May Day in Mendiola or the independence day protests of 2020—in which John helps organize and speak in.
ACTIVISM AND LABOR Entering Ateneo, John joined a number of student organizations such as the Ateneo Assembly and the Student Judicial Court (SJC), where he eventually made it to the position of Magistrate. However, John was yet to find an engagement that resonated with Eventually, John was invited by an acquaintance to a sociopolitical youth group called Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) where he went on to become spokesperson and national coordinator. It is through his experiences and work there that John got involved more with organizing and activism. He also helped campaign for Otso Diretso back in 2019, and for Leody de Guzman’s presidential bid in 2022. For John, being part of political movements allows one to relate to people in many ways.
22 MANY OF those who have been classmates with John Lazaro (4 AB MA-POS) will agree on two things about him: His eccentric humor and well-spoken recitations. Behind these, however, is someone whose commitment to the causes of workers and social justice has led to the path of activism—even amid a dangerous political climate.
PAGTATAYA
Aside from this, the sight of riot shields, yantok , and assault weapons have become an accepted everyday reality for activists such as John. Many times, John has had to negotiate with authorities simply for their group’s constitutional right to protest.
However, contentioussuchissues that surround organizing and activism under the current political climate also come with it the dangers of red-tagging and harassment. Being in a national position for SPARK and having gone to many rallies, John seems unsurprised by the fact that he could likely be in a watchlist. “I’m on a lot of media, being interviewed multiple times by press […] so kilala din naman ako ng mga pulis (the police probably know me as well).”
“It forces you to enter the world of other people, and to learn from them directly, to talk to them, empathize with them, understand things from their point of view,” he Oneadds.ofthe most memorable engagements for John was the Zagu workers’ strike in 2019. He was able to bring The GUIDON and Sanggunian to cover the protest, tying his connections with Ateneo together with his work in SPARK.
It forces you to enter the world of other people, and to learn from them directly, to talk to them, empathize with them, understand things from their point of view.
While John admits that his work is physically and mentally strenuous, he mentions being able to make it through school with good grades and applying the experiences he’s had to his academics. “I have to think about interest a lot of times […] about [organizing] coalitions, what do they what to get out of this, what can I offer them realistically […] what are the ramifications if we fail. It trains you to think about the world in a very political way,” John adds. Through all this, John asserts that his story is one of commitment. “[Being an activist] teaches you to be committed, to put things on the line—again, an Atenean cliché na pagtaya ,” John emphasizes.
WRITTEN BY GEORGE D. KHO
As an activist, it teaches you to be committed, to put things on the line— again, an Atenean cliché na pagtaya “
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“It’s a strange experience [because] the way they negotiate with activists is very confrontational. I get the sense [that] they want to provoke something out of you para magescalate yung situation (in order to escalate the situation),” John mentions.
HOLDING THE LINE
LEADERS & ADVOCATES BETWEEN PICKETS AND RIOT SHIELDS
Kirs first entered Ateneo as a BS Management Information Systems student, seeing potential in the booming technology scene. Her career path would later change, however, after joining The GUIDON where she was exposed to various issues that made her more sociopolitically aware. Although she was a news writer for only one year, she likens her time in the organization as a jump out of her sheltered comfort zone and the reason for her widened worldview.
WRITTEN BY KATHLEEN U. YAP
[EA] is almost everything that I’m passionate about in a group of people. It doesn’t only hit me in a career way but it also piques me intellectually and emotionally.
Much like the past four years, Kirs says that nothing in her career is set in stone. Right after college, she hopes to continue her community-building work with EA by jump-starting other university groups as she did with its Ateneo chapter. She also seeks to explore stints related to bio-security through research, as well as global health through NGOs similar to WhateverLEEP.she chooses to pursue, Kirs remains grounded in her mission to do the most good in the world.
Kirs was initially inactive in EA Blue due to commitments to other organizations. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Kirs used her free time to read more on EA. She also participated in EA Philippines’ eight-week discussion group, where she learned more about EA’s concepts and causes with other students and professionals in the country. After the fellowship, an opportunity to be more engaged with EA presented itself: A search for a new EA Blue president. Kirs originally did not respond to the call as the role did not align with her desire to become a doctor. However, using the concept of counterfactual impact, she realized that she could do more in this cause that only had a few people involved in it. She thought, “What’s gonna happen with this [organization] if no one would pick it up?” As President, Kirs laid the foundation for EA Blue, creating new systems and engaging more active members. She successfully led
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CHANGING PERSPECTIVES
A
In particular, Kirs covered a TALAB talk about unions and labor rights of housekeepers. She was deeply moved as someone close to her own housekeeper was facing health problems that she was unaware of at first.
LEADERS & ADVOCATES MAKING THE MOST IMPACT
[EA] is really what I love all together. You get to do stuff about [different causes] and help beings—not just people but beings across time. “
“This all kind of just accumulated and it made me think that there’s more to be done with health,” she said. The only question left was what would be her role to help improve the country’s public health system. She would soon shift to BS Health Sciences in her sophomore year with the dream of becoming a doctor.
“[EA] is almost everything that I’m passionate about in a group of people. It doesn’t only hit me in a career way but it also piques me intellectually and emotionally.”
Despite her initial hesitations to step up as President, Kirs ended her term on a gratifying note. “[EA] is really what I love all together. You get to do stuff about [different causes] and help beings—not just people but beings across time.”
23 day in Kirsten Angeles’ (4 BS HS) senior year involved more than just academics. In between her classes, she squeezed in communitybuilding work for organization Effective Altruism (EA) Philippines, as well as research for health institution EpiMetrics and the non-profit Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP). Despite her busy schedule, Kirs also dedicated time to personal activities like eating dinner with her family and exercising four times a week.
While her routine appears to be scheduled down to a tee, much of Kirs’ college experience is actually characterized by change. Her open mind, deep curiosity, and desire to make a positive impact have taken her to new paths aligned with doing meaningful work.
THE PERFECT FIT Kirs’ deep engagement with EA created significant changes not only in the organization’s sustainability, but also in her life plan. Her use of counterfactual impact saw a comeback once again as she discerned in her future career. Although being a doctor would allow her to do good, she realized her heart was in EA and its community.
NEW CHAPTER Kirs’ passion for creating a change grew stronger after discovering EA Philippines’ Ateneo chapter EA Blue through LIONS RecWeek in 2019. Among all the booths, EA immediately captured her interest as it touched on uncommon global issues like animal welfare beyond cats and dogs—something close to her as a plant-based eater since 2014.
the organization’s first Introductory Effective Altruism fellowship that produced a number of graduates and later on, guided its second run. Unlike in previous years, EA Blue also received mentorship from EA Philippines thanks to Kirs’ close coordination with them.
The love and compassion a leader has for his members is Mattso’s strongest asset. Mattso’s leadership shows us that at the end of the day, a good leader is able to cultivate a good community. As he learned from Finding Chika by Mitch Albom, he shared, “You don’t have to be born into a family. You can create it.” BY NOELLE D. LEJANO
SoMatthew WRITTEN
No, I never reached a thousand visits but I don’t think I needed a thousand to wish the kids a good life [and] a good childhood. I just needed very meaningful ones.
WITH A HEART AND OPEN HANDS
The card was a letter from his past self that read, “My grandmother had a degenerative disease that only gets worse with time. All the time I could have spent with her was spent on worrying about what little time I had with her left. The memory of her reminds me to never take a person, or in this case, an organization, for granted. Similarly, never take an opportunity for granted.”
LEADERS & ADVOCATES ALWAYS, IN ALL WAYS: SERVICE, UNREFINED
Among the innovative projects within his term was the Celebrate Life Kamp (CLK), a monthly online initiative aimed to reconnect its members to the sector through team-building activities. From having only 30 kids to the now whopping 60 attendees, the event was the organization’s response to be more compassionate. “We couldn’t just do what we wanted anymore. We had to do things that were based on the needs of other people.”
We couldn’t just do what we anymore.wantedWehad to do things that were based on the needs of other people. “
THERE ARE people who are admirably confident, while there are also people who are effortlessly humble.
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Matthew Chua So (4 BS PSY), Kythe-Ateneo 2022 President, seems to breathe both confidence and humility in the most unassuming manner. He shares that loves reading, listening to music, and has a deep affinity for the color blue. And yet what might be his most notable feat is the overflowing compassion that manifests whenever he talks about Kythe.
A BS Psychology major and aspiring doctor, Mattso remained faithful to the Child Life Services (CLS) advocacy for all four years of his college life, finishing his stretch as the organization’s spearhead. Interestingly enough, he first met Kythe through rather unconventional means—a lion dance performance.
Unlike most who find organizations in Recruitment Week (RecWeek), Mattso found Kythe through a high school lion dance performance. The Kythe Foundation Inc. (KFI) has many volunteer arms, including one that involves parents of Xavier School students. As a Xavier student himself, he and his teammates danced for the kids at the National Children’s hospital. This was the moment the term “Kythe” entered his radar.
It was the push he needed to go and serve the organization he loved most, to the best of his Fromabilities.Kythe’s efforts of indirect financial support and direct psychosocial support, he successfully initiated a shift in structure to adapt to the pandemic. “We had to change the way we approached advocating.”
THE LEAP TO LEADERSHIP Choosing to run for Kythe President amid a pandemic was not easy. Mattso recalls his initial hesitation, but he was moved to take the opportunity when he came across a memento from his earlier Kythe days.
Coming into college, Mattso’s familiarity with Kythe drew him into applying for the organization. However, he expressed that in his first semester, he never attended a hospital activity (HA) and was only retained for joining alternative events. On the day he finally mustered up enough courage to join an HA, his Kythe kid did not speak a word to him. “My very first Kythe kid never talked to me. If anything that could go wrong, this is the worst thing that could go wrong.”
Although his experience wasn’t ideal, it was by realizing that his time in Kythe was limited that he was able to maximize his membership moving forward. “For the duration of the second sem, whenever I visited, I left a paper crane in a playroom,” he shared. “That was my version of folding a thousand paper cranes and making a wish. No, I never reached a thousand visits, but I don’t think I needed a thousand to wish the kids a good life [and] a good childhood. I just needed very meaningful ones.”
A DANCE ENCOUNTER
In the future, Mattso has high hopes for KytheAteneo to return to on-site activities, be the premier student organization for the CLS, and have an active role in nation-building. He looks forward to the day CLS is prominently practiced. Most importantly, he wants the members of the organization to never lose their heart for service. “Always, in all ways, for and with the kids,” he closes.
Being the leader and a strong advocate of the CLS has led Mattso to think and act with bigger perspectives in mind. “Definitely, it’s about putting people first,” he notes, expressing that the empowerment of both the people within his organization and the people they serve should come hand in hand. By the looks of it, his effort to serve will never cease even after leaving Kythe-Ateneo. In fact, Mattso has no plans of discontinuing his support for Kythe. If anything, he even jokes around expressing his interest to join the board of the KFI someday.
All I really wanted to do was to create the same space that I had when I was a sophomore looking for somebody to validate my concerns, dreams, and fears.
“All I really wanted to do was to create the same space that I had when I was a sophomore looking for somebody to validate my concerns, dreams, and fears.”
WHILE MOST leaders are known for their strong and assertive voices, holistic leadership takes more just dictating the way. Being compassionate enough to listen is just as much a requirement to solve community problems as evidenced by Development Studies Program Awardee Nicole Masagca (4 AB DS).
LEADERS & ADVOCATES
I finally got to put a name to the work I’ve been doing for the longest time. “
Nicole’s ability to sit down, observe, and reflect can be attributed not only to the development engagements she has led, but also to the realization of her own advocacies and capabilities.
This inspired Nicole to run as DevSoc’s Vice President for Research and Development—a role that would allow her to establish the organization’s very own consultancy arm. During her vice presidency, she built the consultancy
Nicole associates being an executive board member ultimately as a way of giving back. After being able to unlock her fullest potential as a student leader in DevSoc, Nicole also felt the calling to serve the ASLA community. She would help adapt the program to fit the online setting as the Facilitator Lead and later Program Director to ensure the ASLA continues to inspire and shape new batches of leaders.
During her sophomore year in CODE was when Nicole also first heard of the Ateneo Student Leaders Assembly (ASLA) from an upperclassman. As she underwent a long application process, Nicole was already reflecting seriously on her leadership story, including her experience as the first Commission on Elections chairwoman in ASHS. And during the four-day program itself, she was inspired by one of its speakers Atty. Carlo Africa, a lawyer working for electoral reform whom she saw herself in. “ASLA gave me figures, real people who I could become, local people who I can look up to.”
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Now that Nicole is setting foot in a new space down from the Hill, her goal remains to bring about social change, but this time in the public health sector. Geared with a Minor in Health and Development, Nicole aims to work locally first in the Department of Health and internationally one day in the World Health Organization. She hopes to influence how health programs are run by offering a grassroots perspective formed through listening to the community—true as ever to the leadership style.
HEART
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“Something done by development practitioners in the making.”
from the ground up, engaged with various sectorbased organizations in Ateneo, and provided solutions to the problems in their development initiatives. It was only fitting that Nicole was the leader to accomplish this, given her previous knowledge of consultancy from CODE.
THE SEARCH FOR SELF
Nicole was unsure of what to pursue in college back when she was still a General Academic strand student at Ateneo Senior High School (ASHS). She initially felt drawn to Global Politics. However, she would chance upon a brochure that introduced the Development Studies program, which eventually captured her heart. The interdisciplinary course still touched on politics, but at the same time, gave opportunities to experience on-theground work in creating social change. This was a match for Nicole, considering her interest in running relief programs that began in grade school. “I finally got to put a name to the work I’ve been doing for the longest time,” she said.
DREAMING BIG More than just gaining a mentor, ASLA also validated the dreams Nicole had for her home organization the Development Society of the Ateneo (DevSoc). Her coursemates felt frustrated that they could not get early exposure to how development work happens.
This was coupled with Nicole’s own motivation that DevSoc could do more initiatives other than the usual talks led by their department.
PAYING IT FORWARD Driven by her passion for development, Nicole would continue her journey in DevSoc as its President. Her term can be characterized by efforts to connect both externally and internally. She set up infrastructure to institute a development coalition of student organizations all over the Philippines, as well as conducted social listening sessions to address members’ concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACT
“We don’t really have initiatives of our own that we can be proud of,” she realized.
Nicole would learn more about sparking change outside the classroom setting when she joined the Ateneo Consultants for Organization Development and Empowerment (CODE) as a freshman. As she spoke and worked with its clients, she discovered how organizations move and shape their members into fostering their passions.
WRITTEN BY KATHLEEN U. YAP THE TO LISTEN AND
“
After her competitions with the ART and the Philippine national team, Alyssa expresses that rowing will always be a part of her life. However, according to her, it may be time to move on from the sport and focus on finding a job or help in their family business once she graduates.
28 ENTERING COLLEGE, Alyssa Go (5 AB IS) had never rowed before. However, after being introduced and transitioning to the sport, Alyssa has since become one of the most notable members of the Ateneo Rowing Team (ART). Throughout her collegiate rowing career, Alyssa bagged numerous accolades and has represented the Philippines in the 2021 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games last May in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Reminiscing at her stint as a member of the ART and the Philippine national team, Alyssa acknowledges how every competition she has competed in has been monumental in forming the person that she is today. She shares, “They helped me become the athlete I am today and all of them molded me to become the best possible version of myself. All my races gave me different experiences to learn from.”
According to Alyssa, she fell in love with the sport because it was unlike anything she had seen before. “It’s something that’s really different from most of the sports that are seen on TV. I wanted to try out and when you start doing a sport [and] you stay longer, the more you [want] to excel in that sport,” she expresses.
All my races gave me different experiences to learn from.
“I plan on retiring from rowing, but I will still row from time to time. It makes me sad to do so but I feel like it’s time to start focusing on other things.” Alyssa mentions.
Now, as the outgoing captain of the women’s team and recipient of the The GUIDON-Moro Lorenzo Sportswoman of the Year award, Alyssa stands at the brink of a future with endless possibilities, emboldened by her years as a student athlete.
ATHLETES CONQUERING NEW DEPTHS
ONTO GREATER THINGS
“Thebetter.circumstances would be different for me if there was onsite training [with Ateneo] because I would not have pushed for the national team. I would have just led the Ateneo team,” she shares. “There was not much time to do academics and the best way to be able to go to school is to have online classes.”
EXCELLING THROUGH THE TIDE After her impressive performances with the ART, Alyssa eventually became a member of the Philippine National Rowing Team last December 2021. Proving why she is a valuable member of the national team, Alyssa once again showcased her skillset as she won the national team’s mini regatta. However, being a member of the national team as well as leading the ART proved to be a challenging task for Alyssa. The online setting due to the pandemic acted as a blessing in disguise as it allowed her to balance her academics and training with the national team
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GoAlyssa
It’s something that’s really different from most of the sports that are seen on TV.
As a member of the Philippine team, Alyssa was a part of the rowing team that competed in the recently held 2021 SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. In the competition, Alyssa won a prestigious bronze medal in the women’s lightweight quadruple sculls. “It was a bit nerve-racking [at first] because representing the Philippines in the SEA games is such a huge step for me but after a while I felt happy and honored to andrepresentfightfor the country I grew up in,” she mentions.
LOVE AT FIRST ROW Far from the water, Alyssa was a part of her volleyball varsity team back in high school. Coming into college, Alyssa did not initially plan on joining the rowing team. However, in her sophomore year, she was invited by an old teammate to try out for ART. Alyssa obliged and has been an integral part of the team ever since. Proving her natural prowess and passion for the sport, Alyssa bagged bronze in the 2019 Varsity Boat Race in Malaysia in her first year with the team. Eventually, she would have the captain for two years—during her junior and As the COVID-19 pandemic put sporting events to a halt, the ART under-23inAlyssainternationally,competitionsindoortransitionedalongtorowing.wonsilverthe2021500mlightweight women’s Asian continental qualifiers and consequently placed sixth in the Asian Games. Last January, Alyssao improved on her 2021 finish as she placed second in the 2022 Asian Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships.
With her swimming career coming to an abrupt end, Dara feels bittersweet as she is thankful to Ateneo but also disappointed that she couldn’t represent the school throughout her college life. “I’m really grateful that they gave me this opportunity but it’s sad that I wasn’t able to play for Ateneo knowing that I was under scholarship for four years, but swimming for only two years.”
The uncertainty of whether the UAAP will hold a season during the COVID-19 pandemic was also difficult for Dara as it hampered FAST’s UAAP preparations. Unfortunately, the UAAP opted to cancel UAAP Season 83 and exclude Swimming from the competitions held in UAAP Season 84, prematurely ending Dara’s swimming career. She adds, “I felt so frustrated because I was training until last February and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to swim at all for Ateneo in the UAAP anymore.”
Following her success in UAAP Season 81, Dara entered UAAP Season 82 with momentum on her side, primed to haul in more medals for FAST. Through the four-day competition, Dara joined forces with her teammates to secure a gold medal in the 200m Medley Relay and a silver medal in the 4x50m Freestyle relay. The two medals were part of the 458-point tally by FAST, decisively completing their campaign for a Bythree-peat.providing steady contributions to FAST in winning their second and third straight crowns, Dara looked to help extend their dominance in the UAAP through the last two years of her college career. However, the restrictions brought by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic cast doubt on the future of Dara and FAST.
During her youth, Dara started swimming to strengthen her lungs in her battle against asthma. “Before, I was really sickly and I had a hard time breathing doing the most basic physical activities but through swimming, I was able to get more freedom in what I could do which made me interested in it,” she shares. However, Dara’s motivation for swimming truly burgeoned when she began to play competitively as it helped her relax from rigorous classwork.
It was gratifying because all the hard work came to fruition and because I was able to give back to Ateneo and to Coach Archie [Lim] for giving me a scholarship.
I’m at peace knowing that I’m done with my swimming career.
While being unable to compete for the last two years has been frustrating, she walks away knowing that she did everything she could to do so. “There’s always a question of ‘What if the pandemic didn’t hit?’ but then since it was out of my control, I’m at peace knowing that I’m done with my swimming career,” she states.
Competition as she clinched two gold medals, a bronze medal, and a record-breaking time in the women’s 50m breaststroke.
WRITTEN BY NEAL R. BELTRAN
ATHLETES THE WINNING STROKE
CarreonDana
With Dara enjoying success both locally and internationally, Dara was heavily recruited by various schools in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Dara ultimately picked Ateneo. “I chose Ateneo because they were more supportive in terms of their sports program,” she expresses.
MAKING THE JUMP Dara joined the Fast Ateneo Swimming Team (FAST) in UAAP Season 81 and became an immediate contributor to their second straight title. Her run was highlighted by winning a gold medal and ending the University of the Philippines’ decade-long reign in the women’s 50m breaststroke. She also snagged a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke. Dara’s name was then cemented in history as she was awarded the Rookie of the Year of UAAP Season 81. For Dara, winning a championship and Rookie of the Year were her way of returning the favor. “It was gratifying because all the hard work came to fruition and because I was able to give back to Ateneo and to Coach Archie [Lim] for giving me a scholarship,” she shares.
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29 swimming career, Dara Carreon (4 BS HSc) has epitomized excellence, winning medal after medal both locally and internationally from her youth until her first two years in Ateneo. While her time representing Ateneo in college was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dara can look back at her time in the pool fondly as she always gave her best effort and won every time she competed.
THE OPENING STRETCH
As Dara’s passion for swimming grew, her performance in the pool also reached new heights as she racked up multiple awards throughout her high school career. Over the course of Palarong Pambansa 2013 and 2015, Dara garnered a total of seven medals—three gold, three silver, and one bronze. She also went on to participate in competitions abroad. Most notably, Dara’s best performance came in the 2017 Hong Kong Mantas Swimming
As she leaves her swimming career behind, Dara is now opening new doors—starting by graduating with a degree in Health Science with
EXITING THE POOL
GOING WITH THE FLOW Going into the Loyola Schools, EJ has never tried rowing before. During his high school years, EJ laced up his cleats for the pitch as a member of the football team. In his freshman year, however, EJ along with his group of friends passed by the ART recruitment booth in the John Gokongwei Student Enterprise Center. Intrigued by the sport, EJ decided to try rowing and join the ART tryouts. “I was [football] varsity up to high school and I was still in condition so I said, why not give it a shot?” he recalls.
For EJ, winning in the SEA games was undeniably one of the most notable moments of his rowing career. “It has to be the highlight of my rowing career,” he shares. He also credits his training and conditioning, as well as his and his teammates’ dedication, in achieving the monumental feat. “I have never dedicated myself to training so hard and achieving a goal as big as that,” he adds. “Aside from that, it has to be passion and dedication, the puso, that we put into achieving our goals and dreams.”
ObañaEJ
ATHLETES CONQUERING NEW DEPTHS
It has to be passion dedication,andthe puso, that we put into achieving our goals and dreams.
Maganda yung naging timing ko sa team (The timing was good for me to join the team). “
RIDING WITH THE TIDE After competing in the SEA games, EJ is now looking forward to competing one last time with the ART at the 2022 World University Games at Chengdu, China before graduation. “That’s the biggest stage for university athletes. It’s like the Olympics for university students [and for me] that’s going to be [one of ART’s] greatest accomplishments.”
Nonetheless, no matter what path EJ takes, he has left a legacy built upon his leadership and accomplishments with the ART. Sure enough, EJ has ingrained an invaluable mark on Ateneo Sports for the years to come.
30 ONE OF the teams that remained active during the pandemic is the Ateneo Rowing Team (ART) as they’ve consistently expanded their ventures to more local and international competitions. At the helm of the Men’s Rowing Team is captain Emmanuel Joseph “EJ” Obaña (4 AB LM), who has led and steered the team to consistently rake in awards for the Blue and White.
As graduation looms, EJ is undecided about his future, but he remains optimistic and excited. “There’s going to law school, and then there’s continuing the national team. I have yet to decide which of the two I will prioritize but definitely both of those paths get me excited for my future!” he says cheerfully. Even if his tenure with the ART will come to an end come graduation, EJ acknowledges how rowing has changed and impacted his life, stating how it gave him an avenue for self expression. “I find rowing to be my outlet and it just brings me joy to be on my boat on the water. I guess, in a sense, rowing allows me to live in a world separate and distinct from the rest.” he mentions.
WRITTEN BY RA SOLOMON
After transitioning from the pitch to the waters, EJ then became a vital cog in the team since his freshman year. He was eventually minted as co-captain during his junior year, paving the way for him to be hailed as the men’s team captain during his senior year. “Maganda yung naging timing ko sa team (The timing was good for me to join the team). Starting when I was a newbie, the rowing team they became more active sa competitions,” EJ shares. Moreover, the camaraderie and tightmadeknitEJ stay throughout his college years. “I started off in the team having no friends at all but it was really nice getting to know everyone while sharing the same passion for the sport. Without these teammates that I consider to be my closest friends even outside training, I think I wouldn’t have stayed in the sport,” he mentions. In his stint with the ART, EJ was a monumental part of the team that won third place in the Men’s Open 8+ Final in the 2019 Hongkong Rowing Championships. EJ was also able to place eighth in the under 23 lightweight men’s Asian Rowing Virtual Indoor Championships last DueJanuary.tohisimpressive performances as a member of the ART, EJ became a part of the Philippine National Rowing Team officially last January and represented the country in the recently held 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam. With the national team, EJ rowed his way to become a part of the men’s team that won an esteemed bronze medal in the men’s lightweight quadruple sculls.
LJ’s wings flew him to the annual inter-school multi-sport event Palarong Pambansa, where he represented Isabela’s women’s basketball team LJ carved a path for himself which was not missed by the vigilant eyes of Lady Eagles Persuadedscouters.byAteneo to join the Eagles’ nest, LJ knew how he was bound to soar even higher under the tutelage of the Blue and White.
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ONE-FOR-ALL DNA
Given how dedicated LJ is in every aspect of his life, it’s only fitting when you see him in the Jordan campaign commercial, you’ll hear the question: “What’s the value of excellence if it isn’t shared with others?” To this, LJ answers, “It’s about serving who’s beside you on and off the court.”
Nothing beats the feeling of playing for the Ateneo community and wearing the blue and white once again. “
LJ acknowledges the many stereotypes against females who enter male-dominated industries such as basketball. He admitted how easy it is to be thrown off course by people who say females shouldn’t play basketball. Thanks to the support of his friends and family—especially his dad—LJ stood his ground and didn’t allow society’s prejudice to clip his wings. “Basketball became my safe space,” he reveals.
MirandaLJ
SHOOTING HIS SHOT
Despite having less than two months to prepare, LJ and the rest of the Lady Blue Eagles earned a spot in the Final Four. “My 3x3 experience was a rollercoaster ride... [It was] just overwhelming in general because it’s been so long since the last time I felt that kind of adrenaline rush. 3x3 is played differently and is more tiring than 5x5 so I really had to make sure I was mentally and physically ready,” LJ shares.
“Before, it was a challenge to expand the reach of women’s basketball, but now that you see improvement, you become hopeful.
The Political Science graduate insists, “Nothing beats the feeling of playing for the Ateneo community and wearing the blue and white once again.” Fortunately, he still has two playing years left as a Lady Eagle. He will be pursuing a Master’s Degree, but if a job opportunity presents itself, LJ says, “I would love to shoot my shot.”
After LJ’s debut as a Blue Eagle in the 81st season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), his team experienced a major setback come Season 82 as LJ was sidelined due to a Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) or “runner’s knee” injury. “The scariest part about basketball is that no matter how much work you put in, no matter how healthy you are, it’s never guaranteed that things will always be the same,” he explains.
LJ has long witnessed how women have constantly been excluded from the sports scene. even mentioning that when he was starting out, there were no available live streams or televised games for 3x3 and 5x5 basketball.
It’s a good thing LJ Miranda knows how to make his shots. This way, those watching on can revel at him swishing his way into life’s hoops again, and again, and again.
WRITTEN BY BELLE GREGORIO HOOPS, HE DID IT AGAIN!
ATHLETES
NEXT QUARTER
LIFE FROM THE SIDELINES
When Season 84 saw action again in the first quarter of 2022, 5x5 women’s basketball was not part of the slated sports. Luckily, the 3x3 tournament in Batangas pushed through in June.
CHANGE ISN’T so bad after all—take it from LJ Miranda (4 AB POS) who, at a young age, believed he already identified which sport he would be most passionate about only to be proven wrong. Being one of the faces of the Ateneo Women’s Basketball Team (AWBT), it comes as a surprise that basketball was something LJ started, in his own words, “Super late na.” Before shooting hoops, the Isabela province local spent most of his days focused on prevailing above the net as a member of his high school’s volleyball team. When he learned that his school was lacking players for their girls’ basketball team, the challenge-obsessed LJ decided to shift gears and try his hand at it.
There’s a different kind of motivation that you get when you see that what you work for has an effect because there are changes happening,” he expresses.
The scariest part about basketball is that no matter how much work you put in, no matter how healthy you are, it’s never guaranteed that things will always be the same.
Little did LJ and the rest of the Lady Eagles know that LJ’s hiatus wouldn’t last for just a year. It wasn’t only LJ whose collegiate career would be put on hold as the COVID-19 pandemic halted all sports events.
With Ateneo being the first University outside of the United States to be sponsored by the Jordan brand, LJ believes that Jordan backing the AWBT is not solely a win for the Lady Eagles, but a win for women in general.
WRITTEN BY BELLE GREGORIO
Michael’s hobby has definitely taken him places. Learning the tricks and trade of Valorant proved to be worthwhile as Michael took on a leadership role in the LG Terra roster, where he competed in tourneys such as Season 3 of the Esports AcadArena
TO GROW UP BUT NOT OUTGROW Before the internet allowed people to order our favorite food, watch movies, and go shopping in just one click within the comforts of our home, malls were the place to be. Michael’s childhood was colored with memories of going to the mall with his family. The mall was his key to a door that unlocked a different world on the other side of a computer screen. “I’ve been playing becauseIshooter][first-persongamessincewassevenyearsold,ofmyolder brother. While the rest of our family would stroll around the mall or be at the cinema, my brother and I would just stay in the internet cafe,” Michael recalls. Later on, his friends started to associate him with certain games like Counter-Strike because of his expertise and mastery over them despite not playing from a gaming personal computer (PC). “I couldn’t justify buying a gaming PC to my parents so I kept playing with the laptop I had even if it had poor specs so I could play with my friends,” he remarks.
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worse was the void left by his friends who have shifted to another game. Wanting a sense of community back, Michael bought a gaming PC with his own money. Although he admitted that transitioning from his usual FPS games to mastering Valorant was difficult, he deemed investing in a gaming PC worth it because gaming allowed him to be with others again albeit in isolation.
VALIENCY BEYOND VALORANT
ATHLETES CONQUERING NEW DEPTHS
“But for me, it’s more than just a hobby. It’s a hobby with a purpose.”
But for me, it’s more than just a hobby. It’s a hobby with a purpose.
University Alliance Cup and the AcadArena Alliance Games Valorant stage. Outside of LG Esports, Michael and his friends would put together a team and register in online tournaments and go up against professional teams just for the sake of it. They would end up beating those belonging to the top five teams in the Philippines and even those from other countries.
OVER THE past few years, social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a boom in electronic sports (esports). With organized, multiplayer video game competitions becoming all the rage, Michael Ken “LG Flex” Uy (4 BS MGT) found himself in a virtual arena that would test his tenacity in more ways than one.
THE NEXT LEVEL Born with a competitive nature, Michael knew he had to take his command of Valorant up a notch by joining actual competitions. In his third year, the Management major joined Loyola Gaming (LG) despite the team already having an established pool for competitions. As fate would have it, one of the competitions an LG team joined got into the finals, but one of the players couldn’t make Consequently,it. they wanted Michael to be the next man up.
Despite initial apprehensions that his shyness would hold him back, Michael has since found that he need not say much to begin with—his game alone speaks for himself.
Although being an LG member entails hours of team and individual practice, Michael doesn’t take anything against people who look down at esports and say it’s just a waste of time.
“The esports scene in the country isn’t that big yet. The players are super limited because it’s hard to pursue it professionally,” he shares.
The first challenge Michael had to overcome was his introversion. Realizing that he had nothing to lose but everything to gain, he accepted the invitation. It didn’t take long before Michael earned his rightful spot in the competitive pool.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Michael soon found himself having less and less friends to play with as his peers started playing a newly-released game called Valorant. The pandemic alone was enough to leave Michael feeling alienated; what made matters
UyMichael
As Michael graduates, he assures the LG community that they are capable of anything. Witnessing how LG started from the bottom to becoming an established name in the collegiate esports scene, Michael has only three words for those who want to make waves as a gamer: “It takes time.”
SJ has established a new dream moving forward, which is to play professional basketball internationally. SJ will also be able to realize this goal soon as he is slated to play for the Daegu KOGAS Pegasus in the next Korean Basketball League season. He shares, “For me, I’ve fulfilled one of my dreams to play internationally. I’m very excited to showcase the skills I’ve learned in the Philippines and to represent the country in Korea.”
BelangelSJ
EXCITING TIMES AHEAD
COMPETING DURING THE PANDEMIC
In his third year, the uncertainty of whether the UAAP will hold a season during the pandemic was challenging for SJ because it induced a roller-coaster of emotions. “That time was difficult because everything was paused and with the pandemic going back-and-forth, it was easy to lose hope but at the same time I had to stay ready,” he explains.
While the unpredictability could have steered SJ into hopelessness, he stayed prepared by keeping in proper form. “I stayed in shape by hiring a nutritionist and a weights coach to help me build my strength and keep me on track with the workouts that I needed to do,” he SJ’sadds.readiness eventually became fruitful when he earned a call-up from Gilas Pilipinas to compete in the 2022 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asia Cup qualifiers and the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. In his stint with Gilas Pilipinas, SJ crafted several memorable moments, including a buzzer-beating threepointer to win against South Korea and qualify for the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup.
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After spending time with the National Team, SJ reunited with the Blue Eagles for UAAP Season 84. As a fourth-year player armed with invaluable experience, SJ became the starting point guard that helped lead Ateneo to their fifth consecutive finals berth. However, the Blue Eagles wound up losing to the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in heartbreaking fashion despite SJ’s 27-point outburst in Game 3 of the Finals.
DURING HIS childhood in Bacolod, SJ Belangel (4 AB IS) dreamt of graduating from Ateneo and playing basketball for the Blue Eagles. Years later, SJ would go on to win two titles as a student-athlete for Ateneo in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Basketball Tournament. In his four years as an undergraduate, SJ exemplified perseverance as he exhibited patience and a tireless work ethic to achieve his goals.
UP-AND-COMING After being the three-year starter at point guard for the Ateneo Blue Eaglets and winning the UAAP Season 80 Juniors Championship, SJ seemed poised to immediately contribute when he moved to the Seniors division. However, SJ struggled and played sparingly in his rookie season as he faced a logjam in the depth chart. Despite falling short of his expectations, SJ recalled learning the importance of performing his tasks and staying patient. “I didn’t have a good rookie year, but I knew that I just have to be patient and fulfill whatever my team needs, especially as a backup point guard,” he Thankfullyshares. for SJ, his patience quickly paid off as he improved to become a steady contributor in his second season, where they clinched the UAAP Season 82 crown. SJ credited his development to the coaches and veterans in helping him get acclimated with Head Coach Tab Baldwin’s system. “I was able to adjust thanks to teammates such as Mike and Matt Nieto who helped me understand what I need to do in the system, and the coaches who helped me in adjusting with the system and improving my skills,” he states.
ATHLETES HOOPS,
WRITTEN BY NEAL R. BELTRAN HE DID IT AGAIN!
With the starting point guard spot newlyvacated, a promising SJ was primed to have a breakout season in his third season. However, the restrictions brought by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of Season 83, halting SJ’s supposed breakthrough before it even began.
Playing in UAAP Season 84 amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a graduating student was also hard for SJ as it entailed living in a bubble for several months. Facing a compressed schedule involving playing games thrice a week and practicing in between, it became difficult for SJ to juggle academics and basketball, which took a toll on his health.
After an arduous journey on-and-off the court, SJ is set to fulfill his childhood dream of obtaining his undergraduate degree from Ateneo. He likens his graduation to the euphoria of a victory in basketball. “It felt like winning a basketball game wherein I was able to make everyone around me happy,” he recalls.
“I struggled mentally because I wasn’t accustomed to missing classes and not contributing to Canvas discussion boards in addition to managing our team’s performance on the court,” he states. Since then, SJ has overcome through aid from those close to him. “When the season ended, I was able to focus more on my academics, and with the help of my teachers, classmates, and my girlfriend, I was able to catch up,” he adds.
It felt like winning a basketball game wherein I was able to make everyonemearoundhappy.
Geniuses 34 Abie Bungay 35 Avy Salvador 36 Frans Regala 37 Tiffany Golangco 38 Mikko Vitug 39 Angel Martinez GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
Through her exploration in information design and development management, Abie hopes to leave a mark by pursuing a career in government through the Department of Trade and Industry’s Design Center of the Philippines, which conducts design research, ideates product design, and creates products for Filipinos using local materials.
Space is political. Design has the ability to transform spaces—virtual or physical—and, in turn, dictate how these spaces are occupied. When we choose, we decide who gets to be included or not.
AS A versatile artist, magna cum laude Abie Bungay (4 BFA ID, Minor in Development Management) stays true to her belief that artists possess the capability to choose and decide who are included in spaces. “Space is political. Design has the ability to transform spaces— virtual or physical—and, in turn, dictate how these spaces are occupied,” Abie asserts.
“As a designer in this program, I am super determined to be able to have a voice as a designer kasi it comes down to whom do we offer our time, to what advocacies do we choose to spend our talents, our skills on,” Abie affirms.
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Through her involvement in these initiatives, Abie was able to contribute to design research for the Martial Law Museum, create interactive resources for students as a way to cope up with the pandemic, and design a children’s card game on financial literacy.
This is the driving force behind her projects in sectors such as Sanggunian’s Commissions for Gender Equality, Mental Health, and Anti-Sexual Misconduct and Violence, as well organizations like EMPATH and Works of Heart Design Studio.
BungayAbie
“I don’t want naman to feel like it’s just something I want to do to prove [something]... na para lang (just to) to fill a void,” Abie shares. “If I choose something, I want to make sure that it’s also something I stand for.”
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DESIGNING INCLUSIVE SPACES
Realizing that it is difficult for victims to draw the line as to when and how to respond, Abie conducted interviews and research within her barangay to probe on the problems that women experience when it comes to sexual violence. This eventually led to the creation of Haliling Hilom—a community theater kit that introduces and teaches first response techniques—for her thesis project.
While Abie dabbles in oil and acrylics, she has also expressed her passion in assemblage—the act of building entirely new pieces out of various items she has gathered. She also flaunts her skills in editorial, layout, and web design through her extracurricular activities and internships. Outside of her rigid schedule, Abie exercises her creative freedom through personal projects that hone her skills in illustration.
Despite the array of opportunities on her plate when it comes to arts and design, Abie fell in love with her program through her Philosophy and Theology subjects. These played a significant role in her formation as a designer by equipping her with technical skills outside of fine Comingarts.into
Abie’s eye for design is rooted in her advocacy to open, design, and transform spaces to be more inclusive. “When we choose, we decide who gets to be included or not,” she explains.
think about what her design is for and who she is designing for. “It doesn’t matter how good looking and visually compelling it is. If it’s not hitting a goal then it’s useless,” she adds.
As a scholar for 16 years and a beneficiary of the Ateneo Alumni Scholars Association, Abie admits that the lack of safety net and the pressure to maintain her grades augmented feelings of.
However, as a designer who flourishes through collaborations, the onset of the lockdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly shifted her routine and shuffled her priorities.
BEHIND THE SCENES Abie’s penchant for arts bloomed with her knack for wrapping and designing notebooks. What began as a simple outlet for fun and expression has since become the opposite. “I actually realized that I am more of a pragmatic designer. I continue to design now because it’s tedious and arduous and it is not as not as fun as I used to think it is but in a good way,” Abie shares.
Ateneo, she found herself in a quicksand of worries—questioning her artistic skills as others were already adept in different design softwares. Since the bulk of artists’ craft is known to fall on the end product, Abie felt like her inclination towards organization and collaboration pushed her behind others. Through her studio classes and mentorships from instructors and professors, Abie realized that her course equipped her with the ability to
ECHOING HER ARTISTIC VOICE
WRITTEN BY LOU DEL ROSARIO
Abie sought answers by exploring options outside of her program. Wanting to expand the horizons of her craft to social sciences, Abie immediately saw the Development Management program as a field that would equip her with the knowledge to further utilize her talent for various sectors.
GENIUSES THE WHY BEHIND THE CRAFT
THE NEXT MILESTONE With an academic scholarship to ASMPH, Avy is ready for her next milestone. She hopes to keep applying herself and pursuing her passions. While she hopes to specialize in tertiary care, she is still open to being active as a public health advocate as the pandemic really emphasized the problems with public health in the country.
Seeing that the course was also compatible with Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health’s (ASMPH) requirements, Avy was pushed to pursue the course—but she did not stop there.
For Avy, Management complements Health Sciences because, in practice, being in the public health sector is not just about hard sciences. It deals with governance, managing and analyzing information, and leadership.
WRITTEN BY ANGELA ROSS IBARRA
WHEN ASKED how she would describe a genius, Avy Cathleen Salvador (4 BS HS, Minor in Management) shares, “Someone who can transform thoughts into actions.”
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Avy’s college experience can be summarized by the phrase, “Becoming and doing more.”
She further elaborates that a genius—much like Jimmy Neutron or Heinz Doofenshmirtz—can creatively find their way to apply what they have learned into practical situations.
LESSONS LEARNED
A consistent honors student, Health Sciences program awardee, and summa cum laude with a long list of co-curricular activities, Avy has shown that her achievements spring from continuously applying herself.
Kaya ko naman, so why will I hold back?
For her, it was something to be considered a humbling experience. She learned that she does not always have to be the smartest person in the room. Not being the subject expert gave her the chance to learn from other perspectives. This hardship also taught her to approach uncertainty with an open mind and heart, which she would not have learned if she shifted right when things got tough.
In senior high school, she took the General Academic Strand with some Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics electives to widen her options in college. Eventually, Avy was inspired to choose Health Sciences as her major. An alumnus of her school talked to her about it and she saw how it highlighted the interdisciplinarity of health.
Avy is from a family involved in business but she was free to follow her own dreams. Hearing her relatives talk about making a difference in the health sector encouraged her to pursue medicine.
Avy also took on a minor in Management because she already had experiences in Finance from her co-curricular activities.
BEING MORE Despite hardships, Avy still managed to be a consistent honor student and held many positions in different organizations, including being President of Health Sciences Society (HSS) in her senior year. For her, these successes are not for pride; it is something inherent in her chosen path. “In [medicine], there is always a next milestone to achieve, so that pushes me to strive for success. Kaya ko naman, so why will I hold back?” She was an active member of Project LAAN, AIESEC ADMU, Ateneo Orientation Seminar, and HSS. In these organizations, she was able to apply herself in public health, hone her skills in other fields, and build a community with fellow Ateneans. However, she says that it takes a lot of effort in staying active in these.
“Saying yes to an event or position means saying yes to it everyday before and even after,” she Ultimately,shares.oneof Avy’s deepest motivations is her love for her family. “Making my family proud and seeing them happy makes me happy,” she shares. She appreciates everything they do for her so she wants them to see the fruit of their labor.
GENIUSES BECOMING AND DOING MORE
Avy hopes that public health could be publicSheincommunitiesintegratedmoreinthethefuture.believesthathealthisnot a campaign or business tactic, so hopefully, those who promise to prioritize it can follow through. After all, prioritizing public health means saying yes to all the hard work it takes to integrate it in the society.
In [medicine], there is always a next milestone to achieve, so that pushes me to strive for success.
In sophomore year, she doubted whether she belonged in the right course. She experienced culture shock since Health Sciences covered a broad range of fields and readings usually required deeper analysis of several factors.
SalvadorAvy
Four years in Ateneo taught her that Magis means going the extra mile out of love. Reflecting on her college journey, Avy believes that love fueled much of her actions.
Moreover, her roles in organizations in Ateneo are in the field of management, so getting a minor helped her be a better member.
While Avy excelled both in academics and org life, her college life was not without challenges.
[A genius is] someone who can transform thoughts into actions. “
Frans wrote more about GCM for Migration News, where she produced reports that discussed how countries around the world could improve their national systems to ensure people are safe when moving from border to border.
WRITTEN BY ANICIA GUNLAO
Frans shares that she was proudest to represent the country better in student experiences. Europe held the misconception that Filipinos are maids or wives of foreigners, but Frans strived to prove otherwise. “Being able to nuance that for the country keeps me going,” she shares.
FINDING THE SPARK
Before taking a master’s in Migration studies, Frans is planning to have a gap year to learn French. Aside from that, she wants to study au pairs in Europe and how populism interacts with migration. One day, she hopes to integrate the voices of young people into the migration policies in the Philippines through a youth forum.
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Frans described the paper coming together as very serendipitous. She had a mentor back then that told her about the congress, but she didn’t have a topic in mind and found it too expensive. Then, one day, a friend invited her to an event in the University of the Philippines Diliman entitled, Filipinos in the eyes of an Italian. During the talk, she was inspired to explore how human migration relates to human mobility.
WORK IN MIGRATION For Frans, studying migration and being open to learning about others’ experiences allowed her to understand more about who she is amid the varying truths of society.
A SEMESTER IN LATVIA
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FRANCESCA REGALA, most commonly known as “Frans” by her peers, is a fourth year European Studies student specializing in International Relations and running for magna cum laude Her interest in migration began with her two grandmothers: Her paternal grandmother was an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Greece, while her maternal grandmother was part of a Spanish community.
In her freshman year of college, Frans presented a paper titled HANAPBUHAY: Respect, Status, and Domestic Work in Italy. She wanted to learn how human dignity can be addressed especially in Italy. “It’s something that I love to do, [and] it’s something that deserves more research and genuinely my area of expertise.”
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS Currently, Frans holds a permanent post in the Major Group for Children and Youth, where her role is to help the United Nations in understanding issues affecting children. She is also working on a project with the United Nations Children’s Fund’s regional plan of action on how to make the Association of Southeast Asian Nations mechanisms morechild friendly. She plans to hold consultations with different organizations and trade unions on how to implement it at a grassroots level.
Right before the pandemic happened, Frans was offered a Erasmus Mundus scholarship grant to Latvia. Despite spending most of her time in online class, she still learned many valuable lessons such as how to budget her money and take responsibility for herself. She pulled this off only in her sophomore year.
GENIUSES GOING GLOBAL
I really don’t know how I would have pulled it off without the support of everyone. Being able to nuance that for the country keeps me going.
Previously, she was the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) Leader for the Philippines, where she wrote national youth reports. She interviewed third culture and OFWs’ kids to ask if they felt that the GCM goals were being met in the Philippines. This was to ensure that kids were coping well with the movement or their migration. Based on these interviews, Frans would write recommendations in her reports.
“
The paper placed first at the 2019 UNIV Congress in Rome. She described the feeling as “unreal,” despite the complicated process of getting there. She was struggling to survive her first year because had difficult subjects and at the same time she was fundraising for her flight to FransRome.wrote to everyone she knew, worked parttime, and sold paintings. Looking back at it now she reflects, “I really don’t know how I would have pulled it off without the support of everyone.”
THE CASE COMPETITION JOURNEY
Back in 2019, when Tiffany was still a sophomore, she was invited by her former professor to join Ateneo’s case competition pool alongside five other Ateneans. However, before participating in case competitions, they were each given multiple cases to determine the four out of the six students who would be part of the team. This was the team that Tiffany would compete with for most of the case competitions she joined. Once their team was formed, they started their training and joined their first case in the All-Ateneo Business Case Competition, where they won first place. Tiffany and her team were chosen among many teams to represent the University. The star-studded team joined and topped even more case competitions throughout their stay in the Ateneo, such as bagging 2nd Runner Up in the PWC Mergers & Acquisitions Challenge 2020 and 1st Runner Up in the 2021 IIBD International Business Case Competition. While Tiffany competed with the same team for the majority of the case competitions she joined, she also tried her hand a few times with another team that consisted of her friends. Together, they won the Philippine CFA Ethics Challenge and even represented the Philippines in the CFA Institute Ethics Challenge 2021 APAC Regional Finals where they placed 2nd Runner Up.
GENIUSES THE PUSH TO COMPETE
Besides her teammates, Tiffany’s family also helped her stay motivated. In particular, her mom was very influential to her as she was the one who encouraged her to try out various things in college such as case competitions.
For everyone who hopes to try out something new, Tiffany has only one piece of advice: “Always go for it if you are interested in it. Try it out because you will never know what will happen in the future. There will always be setbacks, but you realize that it’s better that way and that things happen for a reason. In the
PERSEVERANCE IS KEY Tiffany kept joining case competitions because of the exposure these provided her. She was able to see the many different problems that different companies face, as well as their varying lifespans, business models, and personal goals. This pushed Tiffany to learn about how each business worked and how to solve their problems analytically.
In the end, things work out. “
Case competitions are known to be both time consuming and challenging, and being able to juggle this alongside academics and org work is a difficult task. Tiffany shared that it was a crazy journey since case competition training tested one’s endurance and commitment since one session can last for up to eight hours.
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Pre-college, Tiffany learned about case competitions from her older sister who was also part of the case competition pool during her stay in Ateneo. Tiffany eventually followed in her sister’s footsteps because case competitions allowed her to gain a better understanding of what it was like to be in a consulting company. It also exposed her to different industries and companies.
IT IS often said that balancing academics and student organizational work is a difficult task, but Tiffany Golangco (4 BS ME) managed to do it. Aside from graduating as magna cum laude from the honors course Management Engineering, Tiffany has also joined multiple organizations and has taken on multiple internships throughout her stay in Ateneo. On top of that, she joined and won multiple case competitions, bringing much pride to the John Gokongwei School of Management.
“Because I was interested in it, and because I had my team, it kept me committed to training. If it was just me alone—without a team and coach—I might have quit,” she shares.
Tiffany shares that—whenever she would get tired—her mom would remind her that she has to finish, instilling the idea that once she commits to something, she has to do it and see it Today,through.Tiffany has moved to Singapore and pursued a budding career in investment banking. While working in Singapore was never a part of Tiffany’s plans, she followed her mom’s advice and decided to just try it out.
WRITTEN BY KENDJI S. TUAZON AND ANDREA MIKAELA LLANES There will always be setbacks, but you realize that it’s better that way and that things happen for a reason.
GolangcoTiffany
When debating became too emotionally taxing, Mikko would find respite in the abstractness of math. His pursuit of a degree in applied math stemmed from a childhood interest in numbers.
STOKING EMBERS
Mikko notes that he picked up the value of perseverance throughout his academics and competitive endeavors. Deeming himself average at flag football, he worked hard to improve. He realized the same thing about debating—improvement entailed hard work. Still, he was satisfied as long as he was able to be a good teammate to his co-players; yet another thing that influenced how he debated. Instead of focusing on individual recognition, he would fix his efforts on how they could win as a team. “The moment you focus on [individual performance], you do worse and your team performance is worse as well,” he explains.
WRITTEN BY KIARA FLORENCIA RODRIGUEZ
GENIUSES A PASSION FOR KNOWLEDGE
BLAZING FIRE Mikko’s interest in the activity was piqued by his sister’s experiences as a debater. Having started later than his peers, Mikko was scared; he expresses the anxiety of going up against people who were better than him. Nevertheless, it was still an enjoyable experience for him. As he pushed through with debating, he shares, “A lot of debating is just the activity.”
He did not have to know all the facts, he just needed to master how to give a seven-minute speech continuously with confidence. Once he nailed the technicalities, he focused on acquiring more knowledge.
“I’d say in my fourth year… it’s the best I’ve performed in debate tournaments, and I’d say the reason for that is I kind of committed my fourth year to learning and just understanding more about the world,” he explains.
BEST KNOWN for his illustrious debate career, the most common misconception about selfproclaimed nerd Mikko Vitug (4 BS/M AMF) is his course. Many assume he is taking Political Science due to his prowess in speaking—but a closer look reveals a greater polymath underneath. “I end up trying so many different things and I feel like that’s a good part of who I am,” he shares.
While he has a great passion for debating, his general love for learning has led him to pursue a wide range of interests. In his years as an undergraduate, he served as a member of the Ateneo Blue Raiders Flag Football team. He also had a short stint in the Loyola Film Circle. Unrelated as these interests may be, they all contributed to Mikko’s flourishing as a debater.
NEW SPARKS Now in the twilight of his debating career, Mikko shifted focus from competing to coaching— something he began doing at the end of his freshman year in Ateneo. It gives him a different sense of pride to see his students perform well in competitions. “I think it’s one thing to personally do well in debating, but to watch a bunch of different people really grow and start to find themselves is a different kind of joy,” he says. Currently, he coaches a local high school team and is in talks with a US-based university to do the same for their undergraduate team. He plans to continue helping mold future debaters for the foreseeable future as he pursues graduate studies. With a genuine fondness for learning, he shares, “I feel like there’s so much more I can learn still, and I find that more comforting than alarming.”
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When I started out debating, people didn’t know how to pronounce or spell Ateneo. In a lot of the Zoom rooms, they would struggle with how to spell our school’s name but nowadays, that’s not the case.
“When I was young, I really expected to do something with math,” he recalls. Despite the difference between his two main interests, he finds that both are underscored by rigorous logic. Mikko realized that he could apply the same thinking he uses in his course to debating. “Even if it’s not numbers, there’s still some facts about the world that have to be true; some very logical sequence you’d have to follow to make an argument,” he explains.
“When I started out debating, people didn’t know how to pronounce or spell Ateneo. In a lot of the Zoom rooms, they would struggle with how to spell our school’s name but nowadays, that’s not the case. It’s one of the most heartwarming achievements you can have,” he shares.
I feel like there’s so much more I can learn still, and I find that more comforting than alarming. “
This translated to four to six hours weekly of consuming YouTube videos of free lectures on social issues. He would also read articles on similar topics, trying to summarize and create a five-minute explainer for each.
The outcome of such efforts was historymaking. Mikko was among the first Filipinos and Asians to ever make it to the 2021 World Universities Debating Championship grand finals. Despite falling short of the championship, he still placed fourth on the Best Open Speaker list of the competition.
Mikko recounts the recognition of Ateneo’s teams as serious contenders in international debate competitions as his proudest achievement.
Surrounded by driven and passionate people throughout her Ateneo stay, Angel learned that—while she may not be an “invincible child genius”—it’s the process of learning and growing at your own pace that is most important. This not only pushed her to pursue various learning experiences; it also encouraged her to impart her knowledge with others.
The revival of Angel’s love for writing began with posting essays on her blog just to express her thoughts. Her friends and family would soon encourage her to submit her pieces to domestic and international organizations. “Of course, I was hesitant at first because sino ba naman ako, diba? To submit to places that I’ve been reading since I was in high school,” she recalls. She would eventually cave in and pitch her story ideas to various editors.
MartinezAngel
GENIUSES FULFILLING
From learning to talk before turning one to teaching herself to sing the alphabet backwards, Angel had exhibited extraordinary intelligence since her formative years. Recognizing their daughter’s unique abilities, Angel’s parents hired a child psychiatrist to assess their daughter and determine how to best nurture her gift. A 20-page assessment that Angel read when she was 13 revealed that she was diagnosed with “advanced cognitive ability” for her age. Her unique genius continued to shine until high school, where she graduated with flying colors and passed the entrance exams to the country’s top four universities without the help of a review center. Angel admits that she thought she was going to be “that” girl who nailed every aspect of her academic journey.
Being a mentor and then by extension a speaker was a way for me to democratize the information that younger creatives needed so that they could achieve their dreams, fulfill their potential.
Despite making it to her dream university, Angel’s journey was not all smooth-sailing. During her freshman year, Angel was called by a professor to discuss a paper she had submitted. Thinking that the professor called her in to praise her work, she was heartbroken when her work received a C-grade and feedback that her essay was underdeveloped.
An advocate for quality education, Angel also pursued an internship in non-profit Teach for the AsidePhilippines.fromher various internship experiences, Angel accepted an offer to mentor for The Young Writers Initiative. “When I was starting out, especially in freelancing, I had to learn a lot of the stuff on my own,” she explains. “So I feel like being a mentor and then by extension a speaker was a way for me to democratize the information that younger creatives needed so that they could achieve their dreams, fulfill their potential.”
As of writing, Angel is a regular contributor to Young STAR, CNN Philippines Life, Rappler, VICE, and i-D. Beyond writing, Angel consistently seeked internship opportunities to learn and grow. She has previously interned for Cobena Business Analytics and Strategy, advertising agency
Wunderman Thompson, and Kontinentalist, to name a few. Here, Angel learned how to present ideas to high-impact stakeholders, manage her time, as well as the qualities she wants in a potential employer.
IT’S RARE for one’s trajectory in life to be predicted at a young age, but Angel Martinez (4 BS COMTECH) is an extraordinary exception. At just five years old, Angel’s knack for writing prompted media outlets to predict that the “future of Philippine literature” was in her hands. With bylines in five local and international outlets, Angel is well on her way to fulfilling this prophecy.
Once praised as a child prodigy who wrote hundreds of books, reality quickly hit Angel that studying in the Ateneo was being a small fish in a big pond. “As time passed, parang I realized that my peers were like the super brilliant people who would echo the original ideas I thought I had,” she says.
NEXT CHAPTER
As her time in Ateneo comes to an end, Angel hopes to balance a potential job in market research with her freelance writing gigs. “I don’t wanna give up writing at all. I do want a nice day job that’s also interesting for me. So these are pretty important considerations for me because writing is literally a part of who I am now,” she says.
WRITTEN BY TATIANA L. MALIGRO THE
With reports from Allianza O. Pesquera
It doesn’t matter at what pace I’m reaching that standard, or how I’m performing compared to my peers. “
PROPHECY
“It doesn’t matter at what pace I’m reaching that standard, or how I’m performing compared to my peers. There’s always going to be someone out there who will outperform me in some way. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Once diagnosed as a gifted child or “child genius,” the budding writer’s time in Ateneo has been a humbling experience defined by a process of falling in love with the learning process and the craft of writing all over again.
X, W…
POST-RUDE AWAKENING Left demotivated by her freshman year, Angel eventually developed a “healthier” attitude towards college in her sophomore year. However, her love for writing remained dormant until the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Z, Y,
Artists Performers& 42 Sabina Manlutac 43 Julia Santiago 44 Gerrick Go 45 Aiden Gattud 46 Alyanna Arches 47 Sherisse Sy GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
IN TRACING back the history of dance, records show that humans danced to live—for rituals, worship, or community. Now, there are those that live to dance—an action as familiar as walking. Among those people is Sabina Manlutac (4 BS HS), who is among the many who consider dance to be formative in her adolescent life.
Though bittersweet, Sabina says she expects a new environment away from dance after graduation, but she is still open to catching up with her fellow dancers. “When it comes to something creative or sharing your craft [with] the world, it’s good to surround yourself with the right people. That’s where you draw inspiration from.”
WRITTEN BY GENESIS JACINTH TAN
While teaching in private dance workshops to the neighborhood children, Sabina was also doing her best as CADS President. More than anything else, she says she wanted to preserve the vision of continuity, acknowledging the executive board before her as they had organized the org’s systems in transitioning to the online setup. Now, she desires the culture that drew her into CADS to stay alive, especially as her batch graduates. According to her, she and her board members maintained and simplified systems while hoping to reduce occurrences of burnout. During this busy year, Sabina also prepared for the National Medical Admission Test while also accomplishing her college midterms. She plans to proceed to medical school but says that she won’t ever forget the growth and discipline mindset dance gave her. “Dance has seen me in my highs and lows. It is also a way to appreciate music, and it adds a layer of sound that you can see rather than just hear,” she adds.
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By no means, however, did this peak imply an end to her relationship with dance.
AWAITED ENCORE
Dance has seen me in my highs and lows. It is also a way to appreciate music, and it adds a layer of sound that you can see rather than just hear.
All of this led her to feel a closer connection with CADS, saying, “It’s a big reason why I love, and fell in love, with Ateneo. And I wanted to stay involved.” And involved herself she did, even when the pandemic cut the campus experience short.
In October 2019, her team for the college division of Dance Supremacy Queens won second Place. This continues to be one of her most memorable experiences, especially after struggles like wardrobe malfunctions merely weeks before the finals.
When it comes to something creative or sharing your craft [with] the world, it’s good to surround yourself with the right people. “
But balancing her newfound commitments with academics was no easy feat. When asked how she managed all this, Sabina recalled numerous encouraging experiences with the CADS community when she was discerning over shifting to Health Sciences.
Just as how she lived her college life following her passions and what felt right to her, she says that throughout college, it is important to take opportunities. She highlights that one can never know what will happen or what will be taken from them. When something as major as a pandemic could happen, everyone may as well live to the beat of their souls and take the givenchancestothem.
WARMING UP Sabina is no stranger to challenges. In her sophomore year, she shifted from Development Studies to Health Sciences and served as a logistics deputy in the Company of Ateneo Dancers (CADS). She also committed herself to regular evening training as a street dance member in CADS and would later win the position of Chief Logistics Officer. Sabina and dance have a long history. She shares, “This would seem a bit funny, but my first time dancing was back when I was a little kid. You know, when relatives ask you to perform in front of them.” It was after that experience that she started to take on summer dance workshops when she was 10 years old. This went on until high school when she and her sister joined its dance varsity together. She explains, “Those high school years were the most formative [because] I was competing and got exposed to other teams. It was also the peak of my dance career.”
CURTAIN CALL “Come college, I thought I’d do something different,” she ponders now as incumbent CADS President. Despite being apprehensive of the commitment, Sabina was one of the many wide-eyed freshmen who signed up for CADS in 2018. She saw familiar faces from her high school in these auditions, all vying for the same spot. After getting accepted, she notes that her grades improved, attributing it to her being content with where she was.
ARTISTS & PERFORMERS TO THE BEAT OF ONE’S SOUL
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While working in the logistics division, Sabina says she found purpose in ensuring her co-members had the space to pursue their craft by reserving venues and coordinating with the various Ateneo offices. She adds that she felt connected with her fellow dancers and production members throughout dance competitions.
RISING TO THE OCCASION Throughout the pandemic, Julia continued to leverage college theater to ensure the craft continues to exist for the curious, eager, and passionate. She asserts, “Theater really isn’t for the weak of heart, but I think that’s how art is in general. In order to create, one must push themselves in order to achieve greatness.”
We’ve risen to the occasion, and though the ride has been bumpy, it would not have been possible at all without our batch. “
STRINGING REALITIES
According to Julia, the theater is the truest form of storytelling. “The beauty of this art form is its ability to capture the human essence through sharing an intimate experience with an audience,” she says. “I think people enter theater wanting catharsis, but they stay knowing that the craft isn’t just about them.”
In order to create, one must push themselves in order to achieve greatness.
WRITTEN BY EALA JULIENNE P. NOLASCO
“I’ve learned to be a better listener. I’ve been taught by directors to source off of your scene partner, to not just draw your emotions from within,” she adds. “This bouncing off of each other, the giving and receiving of energy, the positive and negative action—all of this has made me a better communicator.”
“I’d say that our batch has been responsible for transitioning theater from on-site to online. We’ve risen to the occasion, and though the ride has been bumpy, it would not have been possible at all without our batch,” Julia says.
Julia Santiago (4 AB IS) insists that the aim of theater is improvement in light of mistakes—not perfection—and creating a unique experience for every show.
Despite these challenges, her love for theater urged her to continue, and even join Tanghalang Ateneo (TA). For her, joining TA to perform Filipino plays instead of musicals was like trying something new and going back to her roots simultaneously.
Though still a collaboration, pandemic-era theater tested individual performers as they lost the opportunity to rehearse and prepare the stage together. Come the shoot days when each performer is bound by the same four corners of their screens, it is as though they never left the stage at all.
Theater really isn’t for the weak of heart, but I think that’s how art is in general.
LEARNING AND UNLEARNING THEATER
ARTISTS & PERFORMERS PERFORMING TO AMPLIFY REALITIES
Ultimately, theater endured because of the people who stayed to keep the art form alive.
While the theater has helped Julia on a personal level, she also remarks that theater as an art form goes beyond oneself; it is a reflection of society through art. She notes the power of theater lies in its capacity to engage sociopolitical issues from politics, sexuality, and more. Following the no-phones policy, audiences gathered in one place and fixated on the stage are engaged in the production completely.
A musical enthusiast growing up, Julia planted herself in the theater community the moment she entered high school. Though she had no prior theater experience, she believes that her first on-stage performance brought her to her truest element. Thus, joining the Ateneo Blue Repertory (blueREP) in college was never in question. That said, she mentions that the silver lining in theater’s demanding schedule was sharing the creative process with her fellow organization members. “Collaboration is truly the heart of theater as only one person does not ever put up shows. We need directors, playwrights, actors, tech, ushers, [and] marketers. The theater is not only what happens on stage, but it is also what it takes to get there,” she says.
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“Theater is made to be consumed and digested, so it’s the perfect place to engage in sociopolitical issues. People are there to listen, so I think it’s important that messages relevant in our society are put at the forefront,” she adds.
She further shares that being in theater humbled her. “I think the longer one does theater, the more one learns about the unglamorous side of things: the politics of it all, the lack of funding, the disregard for the art form in general,” she says.
With that in mind, Julia spent her first two years in the Ateneo with blueREP. Rehearsing, however, faced challenges as the pandemic brought new challenges. Aside from learning how to become a one-man production team that manages her own lights, set, and costumes, she also found it difficult to learn how to act. She shares, “Prior to the pandemic, I had done ensemble roles, which didn’t require a lot of legwork on my end. I barely knew how to act on stage, what more on-screen?”
THEATER DOES not happen overnight. Staging a reality expressed through art requires weeks of preparation—from musical rehearsals to blocking, to the most grueling and important process of technical dress rehearsals.
Everyone—from actors to the technical staff— works hand in hand for the pre-production and Oftenpost-production.toutedasan unforgiving industry, the theater is an opportunity for both performers and audiences to relive their stories and truths.
IDEAS AND TRUTHS IN ACTION
The best scene you’re in is the one you’re in right now. “
On-stage, when taking on different characters in scenes, performers can tap into the experiences that allow them to discover new parts of themselves. Off-stage, performers leave with more confidence to communicate and make puzzle pieces fit in place.
TAKING ON the stage doesn’t always mean making scripts and masks. Often dubbed as a comedic art form, improv attests to being more.
ARTISTS & PERFORMERS CO-CREATING THE SHOW
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Go explains, “It means when something is presented to you—such as a suggestion from the audience, a line your scene partner said, or even the actions you see your partner is doing—accept it and add on to it.”
By relying on the performer’s expertise in blending the personal with the audience’s direction, improv truly breaks the fourth wall. Short for improvisation, improv is an art form that is characterized by its spontaneous theatrical performance. This novel approach to the performing arts is what makes improv stand out, and is the foundation of the formation of the relatively new student organization Blue Bird Improv. Improv performer Gerick Go (4 BS CS) explains that improv is not rehearsed compared to other performances. Rather, what performers rehearse are the mechanics of the game that they would co-create with and perform for the audience.
GoGerrick WRITTEN
Yet the actual success of the show cannot come to life without the openness of every performer to discovering who they truly are and being authentic on stage.
“YES, AND” The success of every improv show largely relies on the collaborative effort of the improv performers, the Coaching and Performance Organizer (CAPO), and the audience’s participation. It also draws its unique spontaneity from its primary principle of “Yes, and.”
Gerick says that it was not a problem that he was not a theatrical actor before joining Blue Bird Improv. First entering the organization with nothing but himself, he leaves it with new skills and as a more genuine and confident person, and an even better communicator.Hesays this is due to how improv requires one to be open to novel situations and Conversely,scenes. Gerick highlights the importance of having one’s own experiences to anchor live performances. “As we go further in the process of learning improv, we get to learn more about speaking our truths; being vulnerable to experience [and] to each other,” he Asideadds.from opening up, he notes that the different scenes in improv are also opportunities to understand other lives. “You get to slip in the skins of others,” Gerick mentions, citing a specific time when he improvised the role of a pregnant woman— followed by a serial killer.
To prepare for these shows, improv performers have weekly improv sessions where they rehearse the mechanics of the games for two hours. During these sessions, the CAPO would teach the performers and “Eggies” (newbies) the tenets of improv, warm-up exercises, and their Boundrules.bythe principles of co-creation and authenticity, the performers make sure the show goes on and makes sense despite any difficulties, such as response delays due to internet connectivity interruptions. With that, Gerick notes that in the true spirit of improv, they make do when someone suddenly freezes during games. He recalls a specific scene, saying: “If someone stops speaking, [...] we manage to ‘yes and’ that [and] use that to our advantage. We’re like, ‘Oh, are you speechless? Why so silent?’ We do those things, we just incorporate to the scene [to make] things more spicy, more fun.”
MAKING THE MOST OF IT As mentioned previously, improv distinguishes itself in two ways: Its emphasis on collaboration and co-creation with the audience, and its capacity to channel one towards authenticity. Given such malleability of every show, perfection warrants no seat in Blue Bird Improv shows. Rather, at the heart of every show is the binding principle of “Yes, and,” as well as everyone’s commitment to making the best of the moment. “The best scene you’re in is the one you’re in right now,” Gerick says.
Looking back on his own journey in improv, Gerick says that what makes Blue Bird Improv unique is the open community borne from vulnerability.
“If you would join Blue Bird improv, you would find yourself in a community [that] would accept you, not for your special skills, but [for] who you are, and you just grow to be more real and vulnerable as a person,” he says. BY EALA JULIENNE P. NOLASCO
As we go further in the process of learning improv, we get to learn more about speaking our truths; being vulnerable to experience [and] to each other.
editing is a kind of storytelling art. He names creators like Sam Kolder and JR Alli to be some of his inspirations; additionally, he mentions that his favorite techniques from them involve cuts, seamless transitions, zooms, and montages. Kolder and Alli are known for their travel videos, and Aiden himself has even taken the time to edit trips he took with his friends, commemorating the time they spend together in short edited films.
FAST FORWARD Aiden naturally embraced his artistic skills coming into college, citing his desire to branch out further than his math degree. “Sabi ko sa sarili ko na ayoko ng nag-aaral palagi na puro acads, kaya naghanap talaga ako ng way para magamitan ng oras. [Creative work] ang napuntahan ko,” he remarks. (I told myself I didn’t want to just study all the time, so I really tried to find a way to make use of my time. And I found myself in creative work.)
“Na-introduce ako sa buong proseso dahil doon (I was introduced to the whole process because of it),” Aiden shares. Their entry ended up making it to the finals. At this point, all Aiden could think of was how simple everything turned out to be. In his words: “Ah, ang dali pala (Oh, it’s actually doable).”
STITCHING THE TIMELINE
Now that he’s graduating, Aiden reveals his long-term plan: After graduation, he sees himself leaving to fulfill his two-year missionary service in accordance with his religion. Until then, Aiden intends to further build his portfolio. Further on, Aiden sees himself coming back from his mission and going into a field that falls into an intersection of math and creative work. He is also open to the idea of going to an American university to obtain an arts degree. Regardless of what the future brings, Aiden seems to be aware of all the realities he will face in parallel to his philosophy on video editing.
Just like how some choose to jump right into a project without reading the manual, Aiden skipped the free, already available editing programs and jumped right into a more advanced one. Eventually, their project was chosen by the school to compete in a competition known as CinePambata—a nationwide competition with a one-minute video requirement.
Ang dami nang nangyayari sa mundo. Ang daming stories na wala tayong chance na makita o marinig. Dahil sa video editing, kaya mong i-express yung mga realities na iyan.
WRITTEN BY GENESIS JACINTH TAN
GattudAiden
“Ang dami nang nangyayari sa mundo. Ang daming stories na wala tayong chance na makita o marinig. Dahil sa video editing, kaya mong i-express yung mga realities na iyan,” he (Aconcludes.lotishappening in the world. There are many stories we don’t get the chance to see
EXPORTING MEDIA Though Aiden recognizes that the editing process of film rarely gets recognized nor praised by audiences, he still maintains that
Throughout college, he has worked in organizations like the Company of Ateneo Dancers and the Ateneo Mathematics Society, creating not only video edits but also posters and other graphic design outputs. Most of the time, Aiden works on motion graphics over video editing, mainly due to the transition to the online setting. However, unlike creating posters, Aiden finds video editing to come more naturally to him.
For Kyle Aiden Gattud (4 BS AMDSc - M DSc), video editing is his way of taking a step closer to real life—a skill he refined in hopes of expressing stories and daily realities.
ARTISTS & PERFORMERS FRAME BY FRAME
“Nakakatunaw ng mind iyong graphic design, pero kapag video editing alam ko naman paano i-navigate palagi (Graphic design melts my brain, but if it’s video editing, I always know how to navigate it).”
Now, Aiden works as a video editing intern for a company. On the side, he edits videos for a content creator on YouTube.
Regardless of the medium, Aiden emphasizes the importance of storytelling. In particular, for projects with a long timeframe, he points out that storytelling can in fact help maintain continuity of the project’s themes. He shares, “Kahit na sapat lang iyong mga gimmicks at transitions, basta maganda ang flow and storytelling, maganda na iyon (If your gimmicks and transitions are barely enough, then as long as your flow and storytelling is nice, that’s already good).”
47 are worth a thousand words, then the craft of video editing can put a life’s story into a number of beautiful minutes. Take a day spent with amazing people and sights, and you can immortalize the memory in the form of a short film.
Aiden discovered video editing in the way some young students might have discovered their skills: Through sheer necessity. Back in junior high, Aiden and his groupmates were tasked to create a short film for a video project. With his interest in learning new, unfamiliar skills, Aiden nonchalantly volunteered to learn video editing. He also learned how to direct and plan out the storyboard, which is a draft that visually tells the story.
personal branding as colorful as she gravitates toward using bold colors and incorporating witty puns in her designs.
DESIGN WITH EMPATHY Alyanna goes on to say that after interning for Par Vous Designs, Humble Sustainability, and Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation, she realized that she wanted to focus her efforts on branding. This is because she likes the challenge of creating something unique and enjoys the process of conceptualizing and ideating before executing.
FINDING INSPIRATION
the University’s hustle culture also pushed her outside of her comfort zone to try out new things.
With that, she remarks that “design without empathy is just an aesthetic” and it’s ineffective when it’s not human-centered. She further cites one of her mentors for teaching her that designers are powerful because they push people to act. “Design has a powerful way to shift one’s perspective. I like that part of design na you’re able to shift the perspective of the audience and you’re able to inform people through your design.”
Though she enjoys making art, Alyanna mentions that it also makes her happy to see people not only enjoy what she makes but also be impacted by it. She shares, “Kasi sa YouTube videos ko, I always put [clips of] me making art tapos nakikilig ako (it thrills me) whenever [my viewers] comment, ‘Oh, because of you, I tried graphic design.’ So, yes, parang naging Tumblr na ako (It’s like I’ve become Tumblr).”
Taking inspiration from pop culture, she has also steered her art style towards something funky or retro-looking as she became more confident in creating her own elements through Adobe Illustrator.
Alyanna Arches (4 BS COMTECH), for one, works to keep her designs fun, bold, and centered on the human experience, no matter what medium her art takes its form in.
Like many adolescents in 2011, Alyanna dabbled in creating fan edits and Wattpad cover art. Notably, her first design was dedicated to the “Percabeth” pairing from the Percy Jackson series. Realizing that she enjoyed the design process, she taught herself how to manipulate photos on Adobe Photoshop with the help of YouTube and Tumblr tutorials.
“I taught myself how to make edits ‘cause— wala, ang saya lang (it’s just fun). And after that, I just [kept] going and [made] fan edits [for my] latest obsessions, so I couldn’t stop doing it. So now, I’m still here in design and now it’s my career,” she shares. Her work today greatly contrasts with the monochrome style she preferred as a budding designer. Alyanna describes her current
ArchesAlyanna
THE CURRENT trend in design is minimalism— as seen in the rebranding efforts of companies over the years. While minimalist design has its own merits, plenty of graphic designers prefer creative and exciting elements for their color palettes and typesetting.
Notably, what helped her concretize her career aspirations was Junior Fellowship for Financial Literacy. As the Creatives Head, she was able to head projects and execute her own ideas for once. She also notes that the Ateneo’s focus on the humanities has been a helpful reminder to think beyond herself—or to not be a capitalist, as she jokingly says. Besides that, Alyanna says that
Design without empathy is just an aesthetic. Design has a powerful way to shift perspective.one’s “
ARTISTS & PERFORMERS DELIBERATE DESIGN
“I went from photo manipulation to graphic design, to illustration, to packaging, to branding. So, I can learn what I want to learn if I just push myself to do it and get out of my comfort zone,” she says. She not-so-jokingly adds that if it weren’t for the Ateneo’s hustle culture, she would have stayed in the same sphere all her life.
That being said, Alyanna emphasizes that social advocacies matter to her when considering companies or organizations to work for. “I want my skills in design to have meaning. I want to put it to good use in something that is relevant today,” she adds.
As of writing, Alyanna has over 88,400 subscribers and 7,125,195 views on her YouTube channel. Known for her creative intros and study vlogs, both she and her audience enjoy the pop culture references she integrates into her videos. That said, Alyanna sees YouTube as a hobby to document her memories and not as a career, adding that she will be focusing more on work after graduation.
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In line with equipping herself with the skills for a career, Alyanna shifted from BFA Information Design to BS Communications Technology Management because she wanted to expand her skills outside of design—all while honing her design skills through extracurriculars, youth organizations, and internships.
“I think branding is about being able to communicate effectively what you’re all about: Your values, your personality as a brand, and what you’re doing [...] through just visuals and without saying a lot,” she explains.
WRITTEN BY ALLIANZA O. PESQUERA
THE JOY OF CREATION
Though both songs shine with She’s nostalgic nature, she also knows that they are a far cry from what more she can offer. “My favorite part about being [an] artist is when people get to relate to the music… I want my music to help [people] find a safe space to be vulnerable,” she says.
“I’ve learned that you can’t please everybody,” she shares about her creative process. “When you’re making your own music, before anyone else, you should feel satisfied about the way it sounds.”
“For ‘Walkthrough’ naman, I think it’s one of the songs that— for the first time– I’m really proud of. It will always have sentimental value for me, [because] it captures the feeling of wanting to get to know more about someone.”
ALL THAT JAZZ What awaits She in the future lies right on the other side of her fear. “All I can do right now is keep putting myself out there,” she says, noting that her priorities involve perfecting her technique, working through the genres she’s comfortable with, and collaborating more actively with TJ. As of writing, She divulges that there is a music video for Walkthrough in the works—and a prospective extended play to drop anytime soon.
There are inevitable downsides to building oneself up in the industry. She cites struggles of finding her footing in the music community, alongside the need to deal with criticism from those surrounding her. Sometimes feeling stuck in a rock and a hard place, She nonetheless sees herself pushing for a career in music post-graduation.
“WHEN I do something, I usually like to be sure of myself—but right now, I’m scared,” Sherisse Myka Sy (4 BS LM) candidly admits.
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“We’ve agreed that we want to continue doing music even after college,” She says. “Our music right now is a work in progress. Right now, we’re just trying to find time. But the targets and plans, they’re all there.”
I’d like to be a voice that reminds people that it’s okay to be themselves. I want my music to act as empoweringan source for others. “
ARTISTS & PERFORMERS A PASSION FOR KNOWLEDGE
TO PLAY BY EAR Music had been a big part of She’s life since childhood, influenced in particular by her grandfather. Having been a performer himself, She’s grandfather was the driving force that encouraged her to seriously consider exploring the craft. “One of the last things we spoke about before he passed away was his wish for me to be happy with what I do, and he really mentioned na he wants me to pursue music kasi he saw na that’s what made me happy,” She However,shares.She found that her lack of selfconfidence was her biggest enemy. Initial attempts at learning music were made difficult by frustrating self-consciousness. Come high school, though, She was able to carve out spaces that made it easier to learn more about her own musicality.
“As much as I like expressing myself through music, I also want the music I make to be a platform for talking about issues like mental health [and] intergenerational trauma. I want my music to act as an empowering source for others. I want to make people feel like they’re not alone,” She says with conviction.
SherisseSy
With reports from George D. Kho and Allianza O. Pesquera
CHANGE OF TUNE Despite needing to balance the demands of being a working student, She has brought to life a good number of her plans as a solo musician. Currently, she has two songs released across various streaming platforms: darling, you and Walkthrough.
Most notably, she found herself part of Immaculate Conception Academy’s Glee Club, as well as the alternative pop-rock musical collective Pugfish. While the Glee Club equipped her with the technical skills on mastering music, performing with Pugfish helped her grow more familiar with the stage. She eventually realized that she wanted to try her hand at making music of her own. This entailed sharpening her abilities at songwriting and collaborating closely with others to professionally produce her works. She speaks highly of Tristan Jay “TJ” Ng (4 BS ITE), who provided her invaluable support in music production.
“For ‘darling, you’, I wanted to be vulnerable. I just wanted to express myself,” She shares.
Recognized more by her stage name She, the firecracker musician in a business-inclined course knows better than anyone else that her path is Regardless,unconventional.Shestilldreams of producing music that brims with heart and vulnerability. Having been recognized as a recipient of the Loyola Schools Awards for the Arts for Music Performance, She now hopes to release music that reminds people of just how important sincerity is during these trying times.
When asked what She thinks her sound is about, she answers in a heartbeat: “I’d like to be a voice that reminds people that it’s okay to be themselves.”
WRITTEN BY ANDREA MIKAELA LLANES
Narratives 51 Gabriel Almanzan 52 Bea Estrella 53 Robee Ng 54 Justine Valdez 55 Isabelle Cruz GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
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PAYING IT FASHION-FORWARD Tagpi came at a time when the Philippine textile industry was put to the test because of the pandemic. As a young social enterprise, it has a rich and colorful future ahead with Gabby continuing to build the brand and travel to personally learn more about artisanal communities. His journey of rebuilding his own path gave him the tools, direction, and heart to become part of rebuilding a significant aspect of Filipino culture. All of this is to say that following passions and finding greatness have no deadlines. It can co-exist with different facets of life. In the same way people grow out of their clothes or mature out of their styles, they also grow out of their interests. While every stitch or rip cannot be planned ahead of time, the best a tailor and seamstress can do is make alterations as they come and trust the result is a perfect and unique fit.
Because Philippine art and culture had such a heavy influence on Gabby’s life, pursuing a passion project in the fashion industry was almost second nature to him. “[I] wanted to be able to contribute in preserving [the tradition of weaving] because this is part of our culture and gives us a sense of identity as Filipinos,” Gabby reflects.
Thus, in his sophomore year, Gabby opted to shift into BS Life Sciences, pivoting from his interest in the social sciences to science and engineering. Of course, Gabby initially struggled in adjusting to the demands of the heavily science-laden course, but eventually got the hang of things as time went by.
This became the driving force for Tagpi, a social enterprise that spotlights the local textile industry, weavers, and artisans through unique everyday pieces incorporating traditional Filipino weaves, embroideries, and hand-painting.
As with any new endeavor, it was not without its fair share of challenges. “I had no fashion and business experience prior to Tagpi, [so] I was really scared of starting this brand,” Gabby expresses. The lack of technical expertise also manifested in self-doubt, especially because his rigorous pre-medical course also demanded a significant amount of time and effort. However, all these hurdles seemed less daunting whenever Gabby went back to his vision for the local weaving tradition. He was willing to step out of his comfort zone because he felt so strongly about what he could contribute to the bigger picture.
AlmanzanGabriel
WRITTEN BY ENA ALGOPERA AND BEA PANGANDIAN
Despite finding his academic footing in the sciences, Gabby’s passions were still deeply rooted in culture and the arts. Fashion, in particular, was always something he felt comfortable with. Styling and putting together unique pieces allowed him not only an outlet to express his creativity, but also an opportunity to connect with his grandmother who exposed him early to indigenous Filipino fashion.
53 PASSIONS AND interests both bloom and wither as time passes by, but there is comfort in knowing there are no set deadlines to fulfilling them. One can begin early and also start late. The journey of Joaquin Gabriel Almazan (4 BS LfSci) is one such example, having encountered different shifts in college. Gabby found himself constantly adjusting to what he felt he was truly interested in and passionate about, from culture to sciences and then to the arts. Nonetheless, he showcases that, regardless if passions and interests bloom or wither, one can always choose to start all over again.
SARTORIAL COMING-OF-AGE
ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
Coming from the humanities and social sciences track during senior high school, Gabby believed it was only fitting to take on a related college program, eventually choosing AB European Studies. However, along the way, Gabby admittedly lost interest in what he was studying and ultimately decided to pursue other interests.
NARRATIVES NOTHING TOO LATE
“I was really interested in other countries’ cultures. [However], I decided to shift after a year because I realized that it wasn’t really my thing. I lost interest in it,” Gabby reveals.
I was really interested in other countries’ cultures. [However], I decided to shift after a year because I realized that it wasn’t really my thing. I lost interest in it. [I] wanted to be able to contribute in preserving [the tradition of weaving] because this is part of our culture and gives us a sense of identity as Filipinos. “
Gabby looks back on his young journey as a social entrepreneur with humility and gratitude because of how much running Tagpi has taught him about the Philippines and the rich cultures of artisanal communities.
As his college journey nears its end, Gabby looks back and sees himself surviving his taxing course shifts as a triumph. He recognizes that he was surrounded by a caring family, friends, and fellow coursemates that made going through his humanities course, and then shifting and adjusting to a science one, attainable and bearable. “I had [a] great support system that helped me,” Gabby shares.
It will be scary but there are people who will encourage you. For me, those are my family and mentors. [Forecasts] are guides. There are manageland.in-flightconditionsunexpectedthathappenorwhenyouYouhavetowell. “
Throughout this ordeal, Bea was supported by family and friends. They encouraged her to view the experience not as a loss but as a redirection. “I’m having so much fun in COMTECH, [which is] like ME but on the creative side, because na-exercise ang creative brain cells ko (my creative brain cells are being exercised),” Bea shares with a smile. “I’m not gonna say it’s easy, but I feel less pressured.”
In paragliding, conditions during flights are unique. One cannot rely on forecasts alone. “[Forecasts] are guides,” Bea shares. “There are unexpected conditions that happen in-flight or when you land. You have to manage well.”
As a graduating student, there is the fear of not knowing what to do. Bea advises to explore away from their comfort zones. “It will be scary but there are people who will encourage you. For me, those are my family and mentors,” she reassures.
EstrellaBea
Today, Bea is ready to take off for her next adventure beyond the comforts of campus life. Like her and for anyone with an open heart and a willingness to explore, the uncertainties in life will only be doors to new opportunities that lie ahead.
As if pre-empting her situation, Bea changed courses the semester after to BS Communications Technology Management (BS COMTECH). It was a choice that was out of her control. “I didn’t know where I wanted to go,” Bea explains. “I felt like I had everything planned out. [Now], something stopped. I didn’t know what to do… I didn’t have that direction.”
AN UNEXPECTED REDIRECTION
“I didn’t think [Ateneo] would reconsider but I tried.” To her surprise, the appeal was granted. She spent her initial college years in BS ME, balancing school work and theater membership in Ateneo Blue Repertory. As training for her extracurriculars usually ended late in the night, Bea persevered by finding joy in her theater performances, which was also a place for her to learn.
WRITTEN BY BEATRIZ C. REYES
NARRATIVES ONE, TWO, TAKEOFF
Nathalie Beatrice Estrella (4 BS COMTECH) experienced the latter, shifting out of a degree program she loved. Today, she exits college with a different course and as one of the few Filipina paraglider pilots nationwide. Whether it be in her element or in college, Bea expresses the future doesn’t always go as planned—and one can survive the rough winds of life if one “just manages well.”
ACCORDING TO PLAN After high school, Bea passed the Ateneo College Entrance Test and was accepted into the AB Management Economics program. However, the said course was not her first choice. “I wanted Management Engineering (BS ME) because that was what I planned,” Bea shares. In the hopes of attaining her dream course, Bea wrote a reconsideration letter to transfer.
COLLEGE IS a place of exploration—or so we’ve been told. But no matter how much we try to control the future, life has unexpected surprises. For many students, shifting out of a course is one of many major decisions in college that can be empowering if chosen voluntarily and disheartening if by circumstance.
protagonists’ encounter through a paragliding accident. Shortly after, a client of Bea’s dad mentioned paragliding and invited her and her family to meet at a launch site—and Bea fell in “[Paragliding]love. was amazing,” exclaims Bea. “We were up a thousand meters near the clouds. I felt like there was no pandemic. After that, I just couldn’t let it go. I can’t let it stop there.”
LAUNCH AND TAKEOFF When asked about her learnings in shifting out, Bea shares it helped her try harder despite the many difficulties she faced. Because of the marketing-oriented nature of her course, Bea believes COMTECH is aligned with her advocacy: To spread awareness on paragliding. Bea encountered paragliding by accident. She recalls watching the Korean drama Crash Landing on You (2019), which featured the
Bea attributes managing well to her instructor, who often reminds her to do so. Bea brings her experiences of paragliding to the unexpectedness of college. She expresses how there are many uncertainties, but it is our response that makes us manage these situations better.
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Despite almost two years since her first takeoff, Bea expresses she sometimes still feels nervous. She says a short prayer asking for guidance and protection whenever facing the unexpectedness of each flight.
However, come the first fully-online semester, Bea faced a tight situation with a strenuous subject. “[It] was the crux of everything,” she recalls. “During the first few weeks, I already felt [that I will shift out]. I was accepting that it was a possibility.”
Front of House member for the Company of Ateneo Dancers and TNT for OrSem 2019 Silay, 2020 Tuloy, and 2021 Tayo
There is no doubt that this golden girl has a long journey ahead of her. But like the rest of us, she is gearing up to take on the unknown.
When asked about what her transformations have taught her, Robee believes it is most important to learn to love yourself—to be confident in who you are and who you might become. By learning to love herself, Robee has been able to offer the same love to the friends she has met along her college journey.
Looking back now, freshman Robee—who initially stumbled for her place in college—has now shaped herself to carry more confidence in shining her energy to others. “I’m the brightest gold I have ever been right now at this moment. If I was just gold before, now I’m golden and I’ll own it,” Robee exclaims.
INITIAL PRESSURE Before entering college, Robee struggled with finding herself and her insecurities. “I really didn’t find which category I was supposed to fit in,” Robee recalls. She learned early on that the experiences she gained from meeting different people helped shape her identity through learning to look at different perspectives. “It’s learning to love yourself and learn about yourself through others,” Robee adds. Since the beginning of freshman year, Robee has been an active member of the Ateneo Student Exchange Council. “It’s really one of the places in Ateneo that I found as my home,” Robee shares. Her responsibility in helping and making exchange students feel welcome allowed her to learn about more cultures and meet more people. The experiences have also honed Robee’s passion for welcoming others, encouraging her to join more hosting gigs and organizations that allow her to continue interacting with others. For instance, Robee has participated as a disk jockey for the Ateneo Association of Communication Majors’ Magis Radio, and a host for Lights for Hope alongside other organizational events. She was also a notable
HITTING METAL
“
WHEN A girl enters college with her full and raw self, she carries the material to become greater. Although materials like gold do not stay in the same shape or form, resident golden girl Robee Ng (4 AB COM) comes bearing her raw self as gold—transforming into one that consistently shines for others. Robee is an active organization member, host, and Orientation Seminar (OrSem) Talks ‘N Tours (TNT) facilitator that welcomes Atenean freshmen home. She often associates the word “golden” with herself, noting it means to be light and happy. “It’s [about] bringing energy to the people I surround myself with,” Robee says. Despite being described as a “ball of sunshine” by her family and peers, Robee says “being golden” was a personality she evolved into.
As a graduating student, Robee advises everyone to “take it all in, take the beatings, really learn from it, and see how you can be better.” There is much to learn about oneself, she adds. “I still have so much more to shine.”
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WRITTEN BY FRAN ENRIQUEZ
Take it all in, take the beatings, really learn from it, and see how you can be better.
For all the advantages of having a bright personality, keeping consistent also has its limits. Robee quickly realized staying golden all the time was “not that simple.” On several occasions, personal mental health concerns and anxiety hindered her from sharing her energy with fellow classmates. However, Robee has learned to redefine these obstacles as reminders to put herself in place, reminding her that she too is human. “I can’t always shine and just be happy, there are days that that’s not it. And, that’s super valid na [that] you can’t always be perfect and you can’t always be happy,” Robee reveals. Through her struggles, Robee realizes college is not about solely being in the limelight, but rather meeting the people that will make you feel like you are in it together. When tougher days come, she finds that it is important to be surrounded by people who really love and care for Robeeher.also found that coping mechanisms such as jewelry-making have helped her through particularly difficult times. With accessories, it does not matter whether the material is precious or not, Robee believes [that] “nasa nagdadala ‘yon” (it depends on who wears it). Jewelry-making is her way to turn her stress into something beautiful and productive.
If I was just gold before, now I’m golden and I’ll own it.
NARRATIVES GOLDEN GIRL
RobeeNg
SHAPING GOLD In shaping her own gold, Robee has found that her college experience allowed her to go through the pressure and challenges that make her the more confident version of herself today.
Engaging in an array of organizations and programs, Justine explains that it is her desire for change that brings all of her interests together. “Even if the specifics are different, the inherent goal is the same: the want for change,” she says.
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
Justine initially considered taking linguistics and history for college but ultimately found herself pursuing a degree in the sciences, specifically in Chemistry with Materials Science and Engineering (CH-MSE). Science piqued her curiosity and drew her into many things that cannot or have yet to be explained. “It was in science where I [can] say I [can] do it for the rest of my life. I would not get bored of it ever,” Justine remarks.
“I do not think I came into college knowing I wanted to be a teacher or [be] someone involved in the education sector, but I am going out of college knowing that,” Justine shares.
ALL HANDS ON DECK In her various organizational involvements, Justine acknowledges her encounters with countless individuals who hold different mindsets and perspectives. She recalls that these interactions gradually brought her out of her Participatingelement. in Heights led her to meet and connect with students outside the science courses whose opinions often differed from hers. Influenced by the experiences of her aunt who has cerebral palsy, Justine’s involvement in SPEED urged her to campaign for improved facilities for people with special needs and disabilities. Lastly, holding the OrSem Chair position and virtually collaborating with people pushed her to be consciously empathetic to people and their situations.
Like most high school seniors entering college, Justine shared the difficulty of discerning what college program to take. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to pursue just because I liked everything. There was not really a big pull to me somewhere,” she admits.
The idea of becoming a teacher was a seed planted during Justine’s high school years. She found fondness partaking in an individual’s growth, particularly in teaching kids through her parish involvement and her youngest sibling, Jerome. Sadly, Justine set aside the dream of teaching because her interests in the sciences were far greater, ultimately choosing to pursue the latter academically.
NARRATIVES THE MORE LOVING OPTION
One of Justine’s involvements even rekindled a long-lost dream. Heading the Build-A-Lab project of ACHES involved saw her work closely with the local public education sector. This hit close to home because, before the sciences and her many involvements, being a teacher was Justine’s dream.
Eventually, however, Justine’s exposure to a bigger reality during college encouraged her to reconsider the teaching profession.
BECOMING AN ALL-ROUNDER
Originally envisioning herself tucked away in a lab conducting experiments, Justine is now gearing toward pursuing a teaching career in the sciences, bringing together and reconciling her two passions.
In the countless times Justine dipped her toes in different waters, she recalls her fear of failure and its ability to hinder her from trying. She would not dare to try if she was not guaranteed success. Yet, changes are inevitable. As seen in her involvements, Justine dared the possibility of outgrowing her fear of failure and recognizing her capability to try at the very least.
“Do not be afraid of the change or growth you’ll go through,” imparts Justine. “That’s when you get to go out there and say: Okay. This is me. This is who I am. This is what I can be.” BY BEA PANGANDIAN
While Justine pursued the sciences academically, she still maintained her other interests through college organizations and programs. She was a member of the Ateneo Chemistry Society (ACHES), the home organization of chemistry majors; Heights Ateneo, a literary and artistic publication; and Ateneo Special Education Society (SPEED), a sector-based organization dedicated to persons with special needs. Justine also headed the Orientation Seminar (OrSem) Tayo for Atenean freshmen and the 20th run of the Ateneo Student Leaders Assembly, a studentrun leadership formation program.
56 COLLEGE IS a time when we are made to feel that we can be anything we want to be. Justine Valdez (4 BS CH-MSE) is a living testament to the transformative power of participating in advocacy-driven college culture. Besides being a woman in the sciences, Justine also has her feet planted in the arts and humanities, leadership, and various Throughadvocacies.allofhervarious involvements and experiences, Justine lives out the idea that we can be anything we want to be, and there is no harm in trying to achieve it.
It was in Science where I [can] say I [can] do it for the rest of my life. I would not get bored of it ever. “
Do not be afraid of the change or growth you’ll go through. That’s when you get to go out there and say, Okay. This is me. This is who I am. This is what I can be.
ValdezJustine WRITTEN
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MOMENTS OF ATTRACTION
Because of the experience, Ella learned more about herself. She believes she became more grounded on her “why’s” and the advocacies she brings with her. Ella also realized organizations can be balanced alongside school work; these experiences becoming a catalyst to set herself up in pursuit of doing more for others. Today and even beyond college, Ella says she hopes to be part of groups that give back to the community they serve.
By her second year of college, Ella recalls how her friends pushed her to join the Council of Organizations of the AteneoManila (COA-M) which eventually became one of her first organizations. Since then, Ella has participated in many different organizations and events. She became the Secretariat Head in Ateneo’s 2019 Orientation Seminar, Project Head of COA-M’s first-ever online Recruitment Week (RecWeek), student-facilitator for both Kythe-Ateneo and Lights for Hope (LFH), and a member of the Ateneo Blue Consulting Group.
One of Ella’s most memorable activities had been her participation in LFH, a student-led and Atenean volunteer initiative, where she spent time with children from public schools. “I love how [the project] is service-oriented,” shares Ella. “It was for the kids, and I also like [spending time] with kids.”
When Ateneo pivoted to the online set-up, Ella was initially taken by surprise but eventually saw this as an opportunity to “think outside the box.” She and her RecWeek team became more open to new ideas and taking risks as they were unfamiliar with pioneering the online Suddenly,set-up.leadership became less about tasks and more for the people Ella chose to serve. She highlights facilitating online games for her team members in place of online meetings as one important example. “They’ll forget the project, but not how you treated them and the process of the project,” Ella advises. As Ella begins taking more mentor roles, she reveals liking being in the background while sharing her experiences as a member and a leader, giving her closure for all her organizational experiences. Mentoring younger members was her way of giving back and contributing to the formation of future leaders. “Parang hindi naman siya calling (It didn’t seem like a calling) but part of a purpose that also sustains your meaning for your life,” Ella reflects.
They’ll forget the project, but not how you treated them and the process of the project.
WRITTEN BY FRAN ENRIQUEZ AND BEATRIZ C. REYES
NARRATIVES ALWAYS FOR OTHERS
ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE is one of the many highlights of being a college student, but one of the challenges faced with such work is the fear of being sidetracked from academic requirements. Isabelle Marie C. Cruz (5 BS ME) followed this same line of thinking when she was a wide-eyed freshie. However, as her college experience bloomed, Ella saw how she could balance both work and play—and even find fulfillment altogether.
ACTIVE PARTICIPATION
Though Ella’s active participation in organizations created a path for her in college, she now asks herself how she can use them in transitioning to work-life and continue serving after Familiarizinggraduation.herself with her own work and capabilities as a member of several organizations, Ella was able to come out of her own shell. She became more confident with her power as both a leader and a follower. Still, Ella believes there is much exploring to do in finding avenues to continue serving her advocacies. She was thankfully introduced to organizations outside of college through the Kythe alumni network where she discovered many opportunities lie in wait after graduation.
Parang hindi naman siya calling, but part of a purpose that also foryoursustainsmeaningyourlife. “
Here Ella is reminded her Ateneo experience fostered her goals and interests for her life beyond college. “We give time and energy for the things we have to do,” Ella advises herself as she continues her search for service beyond the University.
Prior to the pandemic, Ella could typically be seen either in the background diligently doing the tasks needed for one of her organization’s projects or post-processing an event with her team. This is a far cry from her first year of college when she was not involved with any extracurriculars at all. Her days had been a cycle of “go to school, go home, and then do acads.”
IsabelleCruz
LIGHTING THE WAY Ella’s experience as an active organization member became a slow but steady course towards defining her life as a leadership mentor. She mentions COA-M’s RecWeek as a defining moment for her. “At the moment I haven’t seen that I was transforming. But now I’m a different person than when I entered college,” Ella recalls.
Mentors 58 Mia Cruz 59 Remmon Barbaza, PhD 60 Arjan Aguirre 61 Dr. Jun Cuenca 62 Michael Coroza 63 Carmel V. Abao, PhD GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
Still, despite uncertainty, she is sure in her ability to connect with her students.
It amazes me that I can still be with my students in a way that’s real, authentic, and sincere. Part of me is thinking, ‘Can I do this for life? How can I still serve Ateneo even if I’m far away?’ But I trust that there will always be something that will give me the chance to be there for my students. “
AFTER NEARLY two years, no professor or student is a stranger any longer to the struggles that come with online learning. Every member of the Loyola Schools (LS) community has faced their share of growing pains when it comes to adjusting to the new setup brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. For professors, this can take the form of struggling to reach out to students and make a meaningful connection amid the demand and mental strain of requirements. However, being able to invest in students’ well being is more important now than ever before. In Mia Cruz’s case, this struggle is exacerbated by teaching Ateneans while living in the United States. Cruz is currently a Theology lecturer in the Ateneo. Despite the distance, she is able to make genuine, grounded connections with her students when teaching. She credits her ability to do so to the fact that with Ateneans, she can feel more comfortable— and that teaching in Ateneo feels like coming home.
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“Part of me is thinking, ‘Can I do this for life? How can I still serve Ateneo even if I’m far away?’ But I trust that there will always be something that will give me the chance to be there for my students,” she says.
THE CAPACITY TO ADAPT While Cruz is able to deliver her lessons with genuinity and grace, there are issues that she faces that are unique to her position as an online teacher based overseas. Notably, she cites that the difference in time zones between the Philippines and the United States poses a challenge for her. However, over the months of teaching, she has discovered her capacity to adapt to the online setting.
GROWING INTO ONESELF With the slow yet steady shift back to on-site classes, Cruz finds that she is once again asking herself if she can continue teaching.
CruzMia WRITTEN BY BILLIE ASUNCION
In particular, she observes that sharing in her students’ struggles and relating with them on a deeper level is the key to bridging the gap and making a meaningful impact during class together. This includes their shared struggles in online learning, as well as their goals and achievements.
found a way to return anyway. When a fellow Theology professor approached Cruz in August 2020 with an offer to teach the Discerning Life Questions (DLQ) course fully online, she stated that she did not take too much time to think on her answer. “It was almost automatically a yes,” she Thoughsays.she noted that she did have reservations about whether or not she could handle teaching the course—especially in an online setting—her desire to come home to Ateneo overpowered her fear. With this, she mentioned that being able to teach the course has been a blessing. One of her greatest realizations after teaching online classes is learning that, while she can be an online teacher, it is just as impressive that Ateneans can, in turn, be online students.
“I get to come home to that, and I get to come from that too. It’s not just the place, it’s the bonds I formed with my students, which I will always be grateful for,” she says.
“I learn so much from my students. A lot of the things that I ask you to do, I do too, [and] I’m interested in those too,” she says.
MENTORS COMING HOME TO ATENEO
AN INSTANT “YES” While she has been living in the United States since 2004, Cruz returned to the Philippines in 2019 to teach in Ateneo during the Intersession term. She was meant to return the following year, but these plans ended up not panning out in the way she expected them to due to the COVID-19 However,pandemic.Cruz
In line with this, she shares that Ateneo is, and always will be, a home to her. Much like how a home functions, it is not a place that she goes to, but a place that she comes from. She notes that for a home that she has not been to in a while as is the case with Ateneo, she feels that she can return with a new sense of self that she feels that she has grown into over the years.
“It amazes me that I can still be with my students in a way that’s real, authentic, and sincere,” she shares.
WRITTEN BY TATIANA L. MALIGRO AND IRA NEPOMUCENO POETRY
Barbaza,RemmonPhD
Fortunately, schools are now transitioning to a post-pandemic setup. Because of this, Barbaza foresees more opportunities to fully capture the attention of his students.
More than three decades has passed since Barbaza first discovered his liking for Philosophy, which still remains to have a profound impact on every aspect of his life including the everyday mundane. Whether it be in teaching, scuba diving, bird watching, photography, and even dishwashing, Barbaza has found ways to live a poetic life by taking a moment to appreciate what is around him.
MENTORS EVERYDAY BEAUTY AND
Live your life beautifully and have the courage to live beautifully. That’s the best wish I can have for anybody— to live a beautiful life.
BEAUTIFUL MUNDANE
FOR MANY Ateneans, college life has been reduced to dispassionately accomplishing one academic requirement to another; day in day out, week by week. Amid heavy workload that batters a student’s state of mind, encountering a mentor that inspires students to savor each passing moment and see the beauty in everything proves to be a comfort.
The only way to live is to live poetically.
One such example would be Remmon Barbaza PhD—a philosopher, associate professor, and mentor who wields the power of his lectures to prepare students to live beautiful poetic lives beyond the Hill.
POETRY, LANGUAGE, AND DWELLING Barbaza first taught Philosophy as a Jesuit scholastic in 1993 while taking up a master’s degree in Philosophy in the Ateneo. Having graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of the Philippines Diliman, Barbaza naturally gravitated towards Philosophy and the philosophical thinking on language. Through Heidegger, the young professor was able to perceive language as the house of Being— our “Wehome.dwell in language and we’re never out of language. We have language because first of all, our lives are poetic,” he explains. “The only way to live is to live poetically.”
Apart from Heidegger, Barbaza attributes his passion for Philosophy to the influence of his advisor Roque J. Ferriols, SJ, who he describes as a lightning that struck his entire life and being. “Something like Father Ferriols comes once in a lifetime, and he will leave marks that you can never really shake off your system,” Barbaza describes. With a stronger zeal for Philosophy, Barbaza eventually decided to forgo his Jesuit years and focus on his craft in 1996, just four years shy of being ordained as a priest. In 1998, Barbaza flew to Germany to pursue a doctorate degree in Philosophy, focusing on Heidegger’s concept of dwelling. After finishing his doctorate degree, Barbaza returned to the Loyola Schools as a full time professor in 2002. Throughout his years in the Ateneo, he held various positions, such as being the Philosophy Department’s Chair and the School of Humanities’ Acting Dean.
The abrupt shift to online learning also pushed Barbaza to learn new things to ensure a smooth learning experience for his students. He noted that there were fewer students showing up to class. “And even if students attend, they are just black rectangles on my screen. They don’t even turn on the camera. It’s so difficult for us teachers to deal with that,” he admits.
“I am most myself when I do philosophy. I can’t ever imagine doing anything else other than philosophy. This is who I am. This is what makes me happy. This is where I feel I am most myself. That was more than 30 years ago, and it’s still true now,” he declares.
BLACK SCREENS, BRIGHT HOPES
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Despite these hardships, Barbaza still finds immense joy and satisfaction in seeing his students flourish and discover what they are meant to be in life. He finds it to be a humbling experience, encountering students who determinedly tread their own paths.
In the same way, Barbaza desires that his students will live poetic lives by courageously treading the humble path ahead of them. “Live your life beautifully and have the courage to live beautifully,” he urges. “That’s the best wish I can have for anybody—to live a beautiful life.”
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Despite his long tenure, Barbaza had to overcome many challenges to ensure that his students were learning. He observes that students’ inclination or predisposition to read and fully engage with material has decreased over the years. For instance, he notices that students would submit their essays to carefully-crafted questions in just 10 or 15 minutes instead of taking their time to fully absorb it. Since then, Barbaza would always start the semester with Simon Weil’s Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God as a reminder to put genuine learning at the forefront. “Grades are really nothing. What remains are those that you learn and keep within. Nobody will talk about grades 30 years from now when you have a reunion with your classmates,” he says.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Aguirre began his years in teaching as a graduate student at the Ateneo in 2006. “I was fortunate enough to be mentored by some of the most inspiring and influential people here in Ateneo,” he happily recounts, adding that teachers such as Diana Mendoza, PhD and Luis David, SJ impelled him to go an extra mile. Under the tutelage of his own mentors, Aguirre was moved to also live a life advocating for values the University champions: Democracy and social justice. After three years of activism and studying, he was officially taken in by the Political Science Department as an Instructor. In retrospect, Aguirre notes three things that validates his choice to teach in the Ateneo. First, he loves the culture of the University. He continuously expressed his love for the tradition of influence and the pedagogy of student formation here. Second, he thrives in Ateneo’s active involvement in the pursuit of justice. Aguirre recalls how he joined his home the department outside Gate 2.5 as they
Arjan Aguirre is a resident MA Instructor for the Political Science Department. His teaching catalog is impressive, ranging from Global Governance, to Political Theory and Electoral Reform. Of course, Aguirre is only able to teach all these well because of the life he has dedicated to service in and out of academia.
Of course, Aguirre leads by example. He is known for the work he does outside of the University, such as working with different organizations, political parties, and candidates in and out of elections. “I know I can change the world with [teaching my] students but nothing beats getting your hands dirty,” he says.
“Having hope means looking forward to that opportunity to change the world [even if you fail many times],” he says.
When asked whether he wants his students to one day follow his footsteps, he proudly says that he simply wants to be a role model and that he has already produced such students.
If there was one thing Aguirre wanted to tell Batch 2022, it would be to repay the good you have received to someone else. Beyond the memes, the voluminous readings, and the four walls of the classroom—an Ateneo education is only valuable if it is used to help others. “If you want a better society, pay it forward,” Aguirre advises. Only by doing so can we make our mark in the world that we have been trained to service.
This is precisely why Aguirre’s brand of teaching is remarkably engaging, relevant, and funny. His classes are always opened with humorous yet deeply insightful expositions on current events and ethics. Aguirre shares that his work “would be meaningless if students don’t know what they are talking about,” and that the business of teaching Political Science is not just to produce good political scientists but to produce ones with a heart.
“I still feel the pressure of having to prove that I am worthy,” he admits.
He shares that he wants to touch lives no matter how indirectly. This is why Aguirre does not just identify as a teacher but also as an academic, a scholar, and a practitioner. “Take away one and I’m gone,” he asserts.
Evidenced by the Facebook page that immortalizes his signature brand of teaching, as well as the students and alumni that attest to the influence Aguirre has had in their lives, it is safe to assume that he continues to change the world through his pupils and beyond.
WRITTEN BY ENZO LAGAMON
While he has recently completed his Masters in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, his history with the discipline and with teaching dates way back.
When asked about his teaching philosophy, Aguirre immediately says that teaching should be “student-centered.” He detests the idea of professors talking down on their pupils by virtue of seniority as he believes that learning is a twoway affair; that teachers must learn something from their students too.
The graduating batch of 2022 will leave the University fresh from a pandemic and having just sworn in a new Philippine President. In light of the uncertainty of the future, Aguiree hopes the graduating batch foremost remains hopeful.
THE VOCATION of teaching is braved by few souls who find it imperative to be actively involved in the formation of young minds. Most professors in Ateneo face every day knowing the duties bestowed upon them and the impact they have on their students’ lives. A select few, however, have been such a remarkable figure of influence that their pupils made a Facebook meme page in their professor’s honor.
campaigned for transparency during the Arroyo administration. Third, he realized that he could do something more “substantial” if he chose a career in teaching. He knew that he would be able to work with some of the country’s best teachers and students to help in nation-building if he taught in the University. These three reasons are fundamental to his vocation. He says that being in a community that fosters excellence motivates him to continuously improve his craft. Aguirre says that he is still always looking to better himself and find ways to offer something new to his students to “make their Ateneo experience unforgettable.”
He insists that Batch 2022 also be resilient in the sense that one must not stop doing good. He says: “As long as you are breathing, make sure what you do is for good and for a larger cause.” Aguirre adds, though, that hope and resiliency only make sense if you have a purpose. Thus, he enjoins Ateneans to find their own visions and causes to champion.
MENTORS THE PROFESSOR WITH A MEME PAGE
HOPE, RESILIENCY, AND A VISION
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As long as you are breathing, make sure what you are doing is for good and for a larger cause.
THE STUDENTS AT THE HEART
AguirreArjan
WHAT WE OWE EACH OTHER Not even a pandemic could deter Cuenca’s resolve for teaching. If anything, distance learning only affirmed his convictions of going beyond and doing more. “Akala ko dati (I used to think) I was already patient, but the pandemic taught me I could be more patient,” he says. “I thought I used to be present, but online learning taught me to be even more connected.”
Dr. CuencaJun
Though his journey has not been without its fair share of challenges, he remains steadfast in his pursuit of embodying Ateneo’s core values in the ways that he knows.
The Psychology Department, he adds, had much to do with his personal formation, making it almost natural for him to return. He started off as one of the only lecturers of Physiological Psychology and has since expanded his educational endeavors, such as teaching neurology and physiology part-time at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health.
MENTORS ONE DAY AT A TIME
WRITTEN BY ANDREA MIKAELA LLANES
BEING AND DOING MORE At his core, Cuenca considers himself a true blue Atenean; he had finished at Ateneo High School and gained his undergraduate degree from the Loyola Schools. When he was offered the opportunity to teach at the college level a few years later, he was in the process of reviewing for the board examinations. Cuenca shares that it was not a particularly difficult decision, even if it did mean he would spend much of his after-class hours studying in the Rizal Library. “Why Ateneo? Because I wanted to go back,” he says. “I wanted to give back.”
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Though Cuenca’s life in the academe is colorful as it is, his story is made all the more impressive when one remembers that he is first and foremost a medical practitioner. “Someone told me that my specialty—anesthesiology—is very incompatible with teaching because of the lifestyle of an anesthesiologist,” he muses.
“Especially now in the pandemic—you have a role in making sure that things will become better. Things can get better.”
However, Cuenca emphasizes that the most important lessons he has learned ties to extending cura personalis to oneself. He asserts, “We need to take care of each other, but first we need to take care of ourselves. To be of service to other people—you will only be able to do that if you are well [and] if you are in your best self.”
Laughingly, he shares that his students can attest to his love for synchronous sessions.
For him, these calls are avenues to show his students that he is capable of connecting with them if they’d allow it. To the best of his abilities, he tries to simulate the classroom experience while simultaneously increasing his capacity for consideration.
“It brings me a lot of fulfillment, seeing that I was them many, many years ago, and hoping that they will also be where they want to be a few years later on,” he says.
It brings me a lot of fulfillment, seeing that I was [my students] many, many years ago, and hoping that they will also be where they want to be a few years later on.
Especially now in the pandemic—you have a role in making sure that things will become better. Things can get better. “
As Cuenca has proven throughout his own career, when all one has is enough light for the next step, then let it be the step that sees us through the dark.
“As Ateneans, we’re taught to take the lead [and] to make sure that things are being done in the right way. You don’t have to be in a position to do that,” Cuenca declares.
THE NEXT RIGHT THING What, then, is expected of us the moment we are called to service post-graduation?
Over the past two decades, it has been a delicate balance game of being on call 24/7 and making it to classes that can house up to 70 undergraduates. Cuenca chalks up his tenacity to the joy he derives from seeing himself reflected back at him when he looks out at his students.
The daunting task of building a better world is made easier by Cuenca’s final piece of advice: To take it one day at a time. “As long as you hold on to your dreams, as long as you want them badly enough—you can. You will,” he urges.
OFTENTIMES, A professor stands on the shoulders of the educators that came before them. Such is the case with Dr. Manuel “Jun” Cuenca, a lecturer from the Psychology Department. Going into the academe was a choice he made because his own teachers had inspired him throughout elementary to college. Roughly 20 years into the profession, Cuenca now paves the way for many others—be it in the educational setting or the medical field.
Though the answer may seem simple, Cuenca laments that it is often overlooked: Ateneo’s core curriculum of the humanities. For him, the high-level insights, capacity for self-reflection, and training for critical thinking encompass all courses. He believes that these lessons eventually become essential to any graduate’s mental framework, eventually contributing to the University’s propensity for producing the leaders of tomorrow.
It was not until the late 90’s that he again stepped into the Ateneo as a master’s student. Coroza’s fate remained interwoven with the Ateneo until he was offered a position as a part-time instructor, eventually becoming fulltime. Through his experiences in the Ateneo, he saw that the University valued members of its community and how it gives everyone a great space to pursue their endeavor. He states that he saw the reality of magis and cura personalis, valuing others, and the pursuit of excellence not just for oneself, but for others.
ROUTES BY CHOICE AND CHANCE
CorozaMichael
ang pakikipagkapwa mo at pagmamalasakit mo sa tao (The way you relate and care for others is always challenged).”
Sikaping maging magaling na gradweyt ng Ateneo, maging magiting na Filipino, at higit sa lahat, maging mabuting tao. Sa klase natin at sa ating pag-uugnayan, wala dapat maiwang pusong lulutang-lutang sa gitna ng karagatan, tayo lahat at dapat maging timbulan— lifesaver. Tayo dapat ay maging timbulan na magliligtas sa isa’t isa. “
Opportunities led him to Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA), a group of poets led by national artist Virgilio Almario who would play a pivotal role in his trajectory. It was also through LIRA that Coroza first set foot in the Loyola Schools in the year 1989—not as a teacher, but as a poet set to perform in front of Colayco Hall. As Coroza continued to pursue mastery of his craft, he recognized that writing in itself may not suffice to support himself. Almario became a catalyst in his career, urging him to teach. He came to teach at a high school in Muntinlupa— described as the happiest years of his life— deeply invigorated by the chance to teach all he loved about Filipino how he wanted to.
UNANTICIPATED PURSUANCE
“LAGI KO sinasabi na bago ako naging guro, isa akong manunulat—at kaya ako naging guro ay dahil isa akong manunulat (I always say that before I became a teacher, I was a writer—and that I became a teacher because I was a writer),” Michael Coroza—Palanca awardwinning writer and professor—prefaces.
Dubbed as a poet from a very young age, Coroza was never a foreigner to poetry. His grandfather’s home on Sunday nights was often filled with articulations of a balagtasan on the radio, and a young boy’s attempts at mimicking such. Recitation evolved into memorization, school performances, and the writing of poetry in his adolescence.
“Sa tingin ko natutupad ito sa Ateneo, at sa pagiging narito ko sa Ateneo, natutupad ko ito ( I think that these are carried out in Ateneo, and by being here in the Ateneo, I can carry these out).”
LIFESAVERS AND IMPRINTS Now the head of the Filipino Department, Coroza is eager to share his passion and what he believes students can learn through reading, and about the complexities of life. In his 33 years as a teacher, his care for students is grounded in his will to listen to and understand them. Coroza always references a poem to his classes stating, “Sa klase natin at sa ating pag-uugnayan, wala dapat maiwang pusong lulutang-lutang sa gitna ng karagatan, tayo lahat at dapat maging timbulan—lifesaver. [...] Tayo dapat ay maging timbulan na magliligtas sa bawat isa.” (In our class and in our interactions with one other, there mustn’t be a heart left drifting remotely in the middle of the ocean. [...] We must become lifesavers meant to rescue one another.)
The pandemic was no exception to the struggles Coroza has faced in his attempts at reaching out to students. “Laging nahahamon
WRITTEN BY DIANA PATRICIA RIVERA
Coroza soon explored journalism in high school and was then set to earn his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy to pursue law. However, his second year at University was marked by his spontaneous acceptance of an offer to apply to their official campus publication, where he was accepted. Working with this publication allowed him to continue his craft and find chances to work in the midst of esteemed writers, ultimately solidifying his choice to pursue writing. His initial plans to pursue law were consequently derailed. Coroza found himself gripped by his craft, and once again enveloped by an environment impelling the unanticipated pursuit of his passion.
He emphasizes that the need to reach others in these volatile times indeed requires persistence—and so he carries on. “Hindi ako nagtuturo ng leksyon lang, na batay sa libro. Ang tinuturo ko sa inyo mismo ang buhay ko. Buhay ko ang wika at panitikan. (I don’t teach only lessons based on books. What I impart is my life. Language and literature are my life.)”
Coroza says. He marks his last day of teaching a class by imparting words of wisdom and hoping he has left an indelible mark similar to what they have left on him as a teacher: “Sikaping maging magaling na gradweyt ng Ateneo, maging magiting na Filipino, at higit sa lahat, maging mabuting tao. (Strive to become excellent graduates of the Ateneo, to become courageous Filipinos, and most of all, to become good people).”
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MENTORS A PURSUIT PAST POETRY
It was so nice to be
Abao also finds exhilaration from handling subjects so deeply entrenched in the world beyond Ateneo. By drilling into students’ minds the relevant theories of Political Science, she finds comfort in knowing that they might be able to handle the realities that await them post-graduation.
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“WHEN THE political situation is very exciting, it’s also an exciting time to teach politics,” Carmel Abao, PhD says in introduction, her eyes glinting with enthusiasm. As a member of the Political Science Department since 2008, the assistant professor has undoubtedly seen her fair share of thrilling times. It seems that more awaits her as she assumes the position of Department Chair. With renewed vigor for the Department’s tried and true purpose, Abao hopes to cultivate a culture of empathy that will benefit civil society at large.
When asked why she chose to stay, Abao’s answer is plain and simple: “I just discovered that I like teaching. Once I tried it, I thought, ‘Pwede pala ‘to.’ (I can do this.) Teaching has been very enriching.”
GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND Outside her role as a lecturer, Abao is also notably the founding President of the Ateneo Loyola Schools Faculty Association (ALSFA), a committee on faculty welfare that focuses on benefits and salaries. Abao notes that it was an uphill battle to participate in the governance of Ateneo. “[ALSFA] is a mechanism to aggregate faculty interest and make sense of what we really need,” she says. “And when faculty say, ‘We need something,’ we also have to think of whether it will be good for our students [and] our Thisinstitutions.”particularcompassion is what likely made Abao a prime choice for the Department Chair post. She calls her term a “tour of duty,” smilingly sharing that she feels as though it is really her time to serve the Political Science Department. “The department always has a role to fulfill vis-à-vis every government that is elected, which entails examining problems [and] forwarding proposals to those problems,” she Thoughelaborates.thetask seems formidable, Abao has no doubts about what her peers are capable of. “We have faith in our curriculum, in our pedagogy,” she asserts. “We [the Political Science faculty] always work with government and civil society, and that kind of work seeps into our teaching and research. Alam ng mga students na yung tinuturo namin, hindi lang dahil nagbasa kami—dahil nakasalamuha talaga kami (Students know that what we teach doesn’t merely come from reading–it comes from genuine socializing).”
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Prior to teaching, Abao was active in social movement work. She shares that she was exposed primarily to issues surrounding labor, political organizing, and urban poverty. She busied herself organizing labor unions and even dabbling in electoral politics, eventually realizing that she wanted to slow down a bit. Come 2008, Abao was enticed by a parttime opening in the Ateneo School of Government. After a semester, she was offered a full-time position. “And then I never left,” she muses. “ Tuloy tuloy na siya (It’s been continuous since then.)”
Carmel Abao, PhD
“You have to care about what happens. It’s not just about you students—it’s all of us. A good life and a good society must go hand-inhand,” she asserts. “Care about how society is organized, not just about your own individual welfare. To say ‘I don’t care’ is the worst thing you can do at this point. At the end of the day, whatever happens to society also affects you.”
MENTORS BOTHER
To say ‘I don’t care’ is the worst thing you can do at this point.
After the election results, she convened with the Political Science Department in hopes of holding an online session where students could openly speak their minds. Roughly 200 individuals logged on to the call, genuinely shocking Abao, who learned then and there the importance of safe spaces for unbiased conversation. She shares, “I was really amazed at the depth of their concern.”
V.
AGAINST THE APOLITICAL Abao’s ultimate vision for Political Science graduates is that they may someday be transformative, though she adds that they already seem to be halfway there. She shares her awe at how much of her students responded to the pandemic and the elections. “A lot of them were at the forefront of student rights. It was so nice to be colleagues with my students in terms of demanding things from the University,” she says, noting that members of the graduating batch were largely proactive.
University.thingsdemandinginwithcolleaguesmystudentstermsoffromthe “
With these qualities already instilled in Batch 2022, Abao has only one crucial wisdom to impart to all those who will be going down the hill: To never succumb to apathy.
WRITTEN BY ANDREA MIKAELA LLANES TO CARE
Staff Administration& 66 Department Secretaries 68 Jose Maria Edito Tirol, PhD 69 LSOGC 70 Dr. Maria Luz C. Vilches, PhD 72 Roberto C. Yap, SJ GRADUATION MAGAZINE 2022
S.ElisaAgbay
E.ReaLora
A heartfelt congratulations on your graduation, Batch 2022!
68 V.EdithaBagtas MendozaRosalie
P.ElizabethLucas
MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT FINANCE AND ACCOUNTINGINFORMATION SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT “ ““ “ “
Hi Math Majors Batch 2022!
Finally,Congratulations!itpaysoff all the hardships and sacrifices you went through. Just keep on dreaming, it will definitely come true! All the best! To Batch 2022: Finally you’ve made it. You will now receive the fruit of your hard works. I wish you all the best for your future. God bless you and a BIG CONGRATULATIONS.
Dear Batch 2022, Always put GOD first in your life. Stand on the hill and be proud of Flyyourself.highBatch 2022!
You have achieved all of this today because of your persistence and dedication, the University will remember all of your efforts during your time here. Let your current success serve as a stepping stone for your future accomplishments. Today is your watershed moment that will determine your future trajectory in your chosen profession and consequently your objectives. May you continue to seize opportunities and overcome obstacles on your next journey. Once again, the warmest congratulations on your welldeserved achievement. Good luck and God bless you all! To the Graduates of Batch 2022, I congratulate you all on this milestone in your lives. I hope that you will continue to uphold the importance of communication in our society with your achievements. Be the voice of the voiceless, the strength of the weak, and the defender of the oppressed. May you continue to serve society with professionalism and instill unbiased ethical values. Never be afraid to use your knowledge to be of help to Onceothers.again, congratulations, and God Bless you all.
The SecretariesDepartment Messages from
69STAFF & ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT SECRETARIES S.SalomeB.RaquelTizonLlanesGatchalianRoseGenevieveV.Lopez Cherrie May T. Montemayor INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT FILIPINO LEADERSHIPDEPARTMENTANDSTRATEGY MODERN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
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Susi ang inyong dedikasyon, sipag, at pananalig para malampasan ang pagod, puyat, at mga hamon ng pagaaral sa Ateneo. Tinitiyak din ng inyong masaklaw na edukasyong nakaugat sa mga turo ni San Ignacio na hindi lamang lumago at umunlad para sa sarili kundi para sa iba. Ipinagmamalaki kayo ng Pamantasan at inyong mga magulang sa tagumpay na ito at sa inyong mabungang kinabukasan. Ituring din ninyong hudyat ang araw na ito sa isang panibagong paglalayag sa mga salimuot at ginhawa ng buhay sa labas ng Ateneo. Huwag ninyong kalilimutang magsumikap, magpunyagi, at ialay ang lahat ng ito sa higit na kadakilaan ng CongratulationsPanginoon.toyouand your parents for successfully finishing your Ateneo college education. You’ve gone through a lot of roller coaster of emotions for the past two years. Many of us have experienced troubles with sleep and faced a lot of stress, frustrations and challenges. With God’s grace, we are starting to go back to the new normal. I would like to say thank you for your patience, cooperation and for doing your BEST given the very challenging and unique remote learning. Again, congratulations and continue doing your best! Good luck to all of you. Take care everyone.Ourdear
Congratulations AB IS Batch 2022!
Congratulations,touch!Batch 2022!
It has been an honor to be a part of your college life. I am so proud you completed school despite uncertainty and challenges because of the pandemic. You have overcome the unexpected, persevered, and become stronger. Best of luck in all of your future endeavors. God bless you all and please stay in
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Pagbati sa mga magtatapos ngayong 2022!
Batch 2022, This message is not enough in letting you know how proud we are that you were all able to surpass the challenges in the past years and made it until the end. I wish you to fly high and choose the path where people will see love, compassion, and dedication inside you. Remember to keep your faith, He will never fail you. Sending you all with love and blessings throughout your journey. I missed ushering you to the stage. Happy Graduation!
All your hard work and sacrifices have paid off and here you are now, on your way to achieving much greater things. Yes, graduating from a respectable school such as Ateneo adds weight and prestige to your resume, but you must also prove yourself first. Show them what kind of an individual came out of your beloved school, show them the values and skills that took you to where you are now. “Huwag matakot na magkamali, pero gawin lagi kung ano ang tama at mabuti.” All the best to you all!
the arrival of a contagious new COVID variant, all of you can look forward to an onsite graduation. Some of you have even had the joy of face-to-face classes once again, and hopefully the opportunity to all walk around the campus again after your final exams. With the reduction in cases, it has become easier to move around and travel, at least within our own borders. Yet at the same time, we cannot look forward to a return to the Old Normal, or dream of an idyllic New Normal, and pretend as if the last two years never happened. The reality is that 2022 has already been far from peaceful, with continuing COVID-related confinements and deaths in other parts of the world, the terrible ongoing war in Ukraine and its expanding economic repercussions, and now the uncertainties arising from the coming May elections.
And as they graduate as Ateneo alumni, I want them all to know, I am so proud of them.
JoseSincerely,Maria
Edito Tirol, PhD DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS AND AID DEAR ADMU BATCH 2022, At the end of the tunnel, there is light. But that light is also the one we ourselves make, and constantly seek to share with others. So there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.
Edito K. Tirol, PhD Director, Office of Admission and Aid
At the end of the tunnel, there is light. But that light is also the one we ourselves make, and constantly seek to share with others.
STAFF & ADMINISTRATION OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS AND AID
MariaJose
I will remember that I am not alone and that precisely because I am not alone, I will think not just of myself, and ask, how I can keep helping others worse off than myself?
The graduating batch of 2022 holds great personal sentimental value because with a few exceptions, it is composed entirely of the first group of students that I accepted as freshmen in my first year as Director of the Office of Admission and Aid. My goal at that time, which has carried over for the last five years, has been to select students who are not just academically gifted. Rather, I have sought to select young men and women with tremendous potential as leaders, and understand the meaning of resilience, integrity, and love of country.
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As Fr. Bobby put it, there will be no Old Normal or New Normal, only Next Normal. What will it be like? We don’t know. Will it get worse before it gets better? We don’t know. But what we do know is that we have not just survived what the pandemic has wrought, but endured, and in fact, some of us have not just endured, but even thrived. Wars can bring out the best, but also the worst in us. In many ways, the last two years may not have been a military conflict, but it has definitely been a period of intense struggle medically, socially, economically, mentally, and emotionally. And we take pride in thinking that for all the times we wanted to give up, or more often than not thought only of ourselves, we instead told ourselves I will get up, I will not be defeated,
Lux in Domino, Ateneo de Manila.
The relief and awkwardness of this year’s return to partial on-site classes may have elicited feelings of excitement and, at the same time, feelings of apprehension. Your interactions with LSOGC have likely drawn the same feelings over the years. It was awkward and scary to have to tell a total stranger about how you felt, what your deepest and most secret thoughts were, how complicated things were, what confusion you were facing, and the kind of dilemma to which you could not think of a solution. For a good number of you, we hope the fears and apprehensions changed into relief as you spoke about your feelings, thoughts, stories, and behaviors. It crystallized in your mind that the solution was indeed with you. You just needed someone to talk to, who could make sense of the chaos, objectively reflect on who you really are, and help out in plotting the next steps to move forward. It prepared you for this moment where you are set free into the wild bearing the thought of the bright star which comes out in the evening. It is your compass. It is your guide. It will likewise be your counsel. After all, you are a co-pilgrim, and we accompanied you in the four to five years of stay in the Loyola Schools, pointing out the inner strengths and value that you had but never believed in despite all the external evidence of it. Amidst all the trimmings of the assistance we tried to engage you in, the momentary rest in Blue Snooze, the peaceful interactions with plant life and visual arts, the soup that helped you through pangs of hunger during
For the privilege of standing on holy ground when you opened yourselves to us, we thank you. It has probably been two years since you last set foot on campus.
STAFF & ADMINISTRATION OFFICE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING Loyola
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midterms and finals, the dogs that absorbed the stress in you, and the webinars that educated you on how to deal with certain issues, we hope that you had a happy and meaningful time in college. And we send you off, not just with all the survival skills in this jungle called life, but with the kind of care that sustains life itself. God bless you all and we continue to pray that when the journey seems to get rough, you will close your eyes, breathe slowly and deeply, recall the times you hurdled similar difficulties, and relish that you have gone through these before and surmounted them in victory. And when you reach that moment of peace, where the bright star has shown again amidst the darkness… smile to yourself, and continue on.
Counselingand
TO THE GRADUATING BATCH OF 2022,
For the privilege of standing on holy ground when you opened yourselves to us, we thank you. We also cherish the moments that you have lightened our path with your own light. It is your turn to be a light to
TheSincerely,others.LSOGC Schools of Guidance
Office
Dr. Maria Luz C. Vilches, PhD A message from VICE PRESIDENT FOR THE LOYOLA SCHOOLS
73STAFF & ADMINISTRATION VICE PRESIDENT FOR THE LOYOLA SCHOOLS
Roberto C. Yap, SJ A message from UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
Eyes are dry at the last goodbye; this is the Ateneo way.
78 Down from the hill, down to the world go I;
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