Inaugural Academic Olympics draws cerebral minds

by SHARLYN GRACE PALOTES

Academic enthusiasts from various departments gathered for the ‘Virtutis: First Academic Olympics’ organized by the University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos Supreme Student Government (UNORSSGO) at the Little Theatre, Academic Cultural Center, and Fr. Cuenca Hall, Nov. 16.

“This event is designed to encourage participants to apply their technical and academic skills through a competitive and interactive framework because we are committed to fostering interactive and excellence-driven activities,” UNORSSGO Secretary for Student Development and Academics Jonathan Aguilar said.

In line with this, the event encompasses a series of intellectual challenges, including the Grammar Checker Challenge, Topic Presentation, Pagsulat ng Dagli, and the University Debate.

“We have initiated the Academic Olympics, not only as a part of U-Week but as a platform to provide students with an opportunity to enhance their learning experience,” Aguilar said.

The Grammar Checker Challenge is an activity where participants showcase their proficiency by identifying and correcting grammatical errors in written content, while, Dagli, the Filipino equivalent of flash fiction, is a concise short story and a hastily composed narrative.

“The competition was undeniably nerve-wracking, given the tight one-hour time constraint for completing our piece,” College of Arts and Sciences Pagsulat ng Dagli Representative, Theresa Mae Dulman shared.

Meanwhile, topic presentation demanded the systematic and structured communication of information or insights on a specific subject, employing verbal delivery with visual aids to convey key points and engage an audience.

“Despite the last-minute decision to join, our performance turned out quite well, and the experience taught me valuable lessons about teamwork,” College of Allied Medical Health Sciences Topic Presentation Representative Carmela Marie Alinsunurin said.

Notably, the University Debate is a formal and structured competition where two teams engage in an argumentative discussion on a given topic.

Furthermore, College of Arts and Sciences emerged as overall champions in the University Debate while the rest of the results was announced at the Closing Ceremony, November 18.