MANILA, Philippines ? Hard work does pay off: last April 27, student achievers from the National Capital Region were named the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines. The students were chosen based on their academic excellence, exemplary leadership and record of community service.
Want to be a top student, too? Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP) share their tips for making it to the top. So if you?re looking to pull up your grades, hear it from the country?s best.
One thing they have in common? All the students make sure that they keep their priorities straight, but still maintain thriving social lives. Plus, all the TOSP awardees also make sure that they?re involved in community work and other extracurricular activities, proving that it?s still best to be well-rounded instead of purely academic.
Read on to find out their thoughts on the future, how to balance academic and personal business, and whether they consider themselves nerds or not. (For the record, we think that nerds are extremely cool and will someday rule the world, if they aren?t already).
STEPHEN MICHAEL H. CO, 22
BS Biology, Minor in Hispanic Studies, Ateneo de Manila University
What are your tips for being a good student?
Good time management in everything you do.
Finding your passion, which will wake you up in the mornings.
What are your extracurricular activities?
I?m president of the Ateneo Biological Association, a member of the Pre-Medical Society of Ateneo, and Ateneo Celadon, an intern at Hybridgm Consulting Inc., and I help out in the family business.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal?
Proper time management: make sure you have time for both work and play. Discipline: if your schoolwork is not yet done, finish it before having fun.
Do you consider yourself a nerd? Why or why not?
No. I do hang out with friends every weekend. And I do not pull all-nighters just to study. When school takes its toll on me, I take a break and go out with friends.
What are your plans for the future?
Go on as a junior consultant at Hybridigm Consulting Inc., the first biotech consulting firm in the Philippines; get a Masters in Bioscience Enterprise at University of Cambridge by 2012; set up my own biotech company in the Philippines by 2014; become an angel investor for emerging biotech enterprises at the age of 45, and found a biological research institute at 60.
THERMINA ANN L. AKRAM
AB Mass Communication, Far Eastern University
What are your tips for being a good student?
Know what you really want. Reflect and look deeper on how you view your life in the future, so you can prepare yourself and know the things you need to know. Learn how to say no at times, because one cannot have everything; there will always be sacrifices needed. Be reminded that whatever you do, you are still a student so never neglect your responsibilities in school.
What are your extracurricular activities?
Being the vice president of the FEU Tamaraw Volunteers, I join community immersions and tutorials. Sometimes I facilitate trainings and join environment-related activities and campaigns. I also join leadership seminars and trainings.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal life?
I reflect and always make it a point to apply effective time management. I also learned how to sacrifice and give up things that will cause conflict in my studies, because at the end of the day, I am a student. I also plan ahead of time, but always make it a point to be flexible whenever there will be changes in my plans.
Do you consider yourself a nerd?
I don?t consider myself a nerd, but I think I am wise and smart because I did not contain or limit myself in the classroom. I went out of my comfort zone and that made me a holistic person.
What are your plans for the future?
Practice my field in the broadcast industry and eventually teach to share my experiences to others because leadership should be influential.
NICOLE MARIE R. VILLAROJO, 22
BSC Marketing Management, De La Salle University
What are your tips for being a good student?
1. Use a planner. You?ll be surprised at how many things you miss out on and end up cramming just because you didn?t manage your time well or just simply forgot about it.
2. Dull moments are never a good sign. As a student, there?s always something to do.
3. Go the extra mile.
4. Read. I don?t think there?s any substitute for it.
What are your extracurricular activities?
I?m outgoing Student Council president of DLSU. Currently, I?m also quite active with Youth Vote Philippines for the coming 2010 National Elections. I?m also into the environment, so I initiated The Biodrive Project, which basically has three parts: to help jeepneys convert their engines to run on used cooking oil; to create refilling stations for used cooking oil and to create sustainable supply chains through partnerships with restaurants, school canteens, etc.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal life?
Just proper scheduling and learning when to say no. In the past, I had a tendency to say yes to every opportunity/invitation that came my way, but you just really know when to say you have too much on your plate, or else you spread yourself too thin. I also remind myself to rest and slow down. It?s easy to neglect the need to take care of yourself, but it?s something that?s really important. Take time to rest and spend time with your loved ones.
Do you consider yourself a nerd?
Admittedly, yes. I really do read a lot and my topics of interest aren?t exactly pop culture. Economics/politics/international relations/human rights are things I find interesting and most people don?t.
What are your plans for the future?
I intend to join the corporate world for a few years, but eventually I intend to teach part-time in DLSU.
KEISHA LOURDES L. DUYONGCO, 21
BS Health Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University
What are your tips for being a good student?
It?s always helpful to have a good source of motivation. Studying is sweeter if it?s dedicated to special people in your life, such as your family. If you fail a quiz or an exam, it?s not the end of the world! Learn from your mistakes, work harder, and aim high for the next one! Treat yourself at the end of the week if you can. Do not allow yourself to be drowned by stress and school work. Take care of your body. Be humble in your achievements. You are what you are because of other people as well.
Aim for a balanced student life. Aside from academics, get yourself involved in an organization, pursue your passion, dedicate some time for service, and never forget your friends and family. Always be honest in every endeavor. Never gamble your character?it?s a golden investment. Have a vision of yourself five to 10 years after graduation. It will guide you in making your choices and decisions, and in setting your priorities straight. Pray to God regardless of an upcoming exam or a project.
What are your extracurricular activities?
Aside from being a member of the Ateneo Resident Students Association, I was also the President of the Pre-Medical Society of Ateneo. I am actively involved in health-related projects, such as blood letting activities, first aid training, and medical missions. I am also an inducted member of the Ateneo Student Catholic Action.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal life?
First, it?s important for you to realize the value of both in your life. Next, compartmentalization is the key! I always set a separate time for each whenever possible. It gets very stressful when you let one interfere with the other. I?ve been lucky though, since a lot of my friends are also the people I encounter or even work with in school?this lessens the dichotomy.
Do you consider yourself a nerd? Why or why not?
This question is for my family and friends to answer, although I really hope they say I am not! I have always believed in the importance of striking a balance between academics and the other things I value in life. It?s the only way one can holistically develop as an individual?which is one of the reasons why we go to school in the first place.
What are your plans for the future?
I plan to spend the next five years as a student in the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health. When I get my MD/MBA degree, I?ll apply for residency training abroad. As soon as this is done, I?ll establish my practice here in the Philippines, maybe enter into hospital administration, and surely be involved in health initiatives for underprivileged communities.
PAUL H. SIBUG, 20
BS Computer Science, Far Eastern University East Asia College
What are your tips for being a good student?
It?s important to know and realize that being aware of the nation that produced us will help us as a student. We have to know the needs, the scarcity that we are experiencing. Knowing the needs of the nation will encourage us to do better in our field, and eventually after filling up our own boxes, be able to think out-of-the-box. This actually helps us have a stretch in all the things that we are learning, thus helping us to become better.
What are your extracurricular activities?
I am currently leading a national organization, the Junior Philippine Computer Society. I am also a Microsoft Student Ambassador. Also, I am involved in an Asean organization to promote the use of ICT. I am also the president of the FEU-East Asia College Computer Society, which is an affiliate of the JPCS as well.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal life?
The most important thing to remember is how to prioritize tasks. No matter how many of them are there, there will be no problem at all. Time management is the key.
Do you consider yourself a nerd? Why or why not?
Being a nerd is not everything for me. It is a self-centered attitude, because a nerd tends to search for knowledge, but use it for personal learning. Nerds in general do not have a social life, and a holistic kind of student would have both academic and social side in balance. Most important, being a leader has to have social involvements.
What are your plans for the future?
It is important on my field to take up IT certification exams, and while doing that, I?ll also apply for a job suited for my field of specialization and interest.
ADRIAN CLARC S.P. MUNDIN, 21
BS Management Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University
What are your tips for being a good student?
For me, you have to believe. Believe in yourself, others and God. Believe in yourself for it is you who know who you are best?what you can do and more importantly what you are capable of. Regardless of what your goals are as a student and as a person, a healthy belief in yourself allows you to explore, go out of your comfort zone to continually grow and learn. Believe in others for it is through others that we show our best selves. It is through others that we experience joy and sadness, victory and pain. We learn through and with others, exploring and experimenting so that we may become who we are meant to be. Most importantly, it is through others, that we find purpose?that we know we dream big?big enough to include our families, our communities and our nation in our aspirations. Believe in God?one who continually loves us despite our mistakes, despite our imperfections and despite everything we do that makes us unlovable. We find strength from God through others so that we can act for God and for others.
Oh, and get lots of sleep, have fun and do not take things so seriously. Learn for the sake of learning and not grades or achievements. For me, the most important thing in college is not any award or achievement. Instead, it is the quality of personal relationships that you form with other people?that you have made a difference in the life of at least one person and that because of you, that person can be his or her best self that God calls him or her to be.
What are your extracurricular activities?
I have been blessed to be given the opportunities to engage in debate (both national and local in the Ateneo Debate Society and the Philippine Team to the World Schools Debating Championships), education (on different levels with Pathways to Higher Education) and the advocacy of corporate social responsibility (Ayala Young Leaders Alliance and Slate: The Corporate Social Responsibility Magazine).
It?s impossible not to spend time with people once you?ve fallen in love with them and with the God you gave them as a gift to you.
Do you consider yourself a nerd?
Nope. Although I love to learn and experience new things about the world around me. The world is so beautiful, why not explore it?
What are your plans for the future?
Be happy. And hopefully make this country a little bit better for the generations to come so that my children, your children and everybody else?s children can grow up in a country that can allow them to be anyone whom they want to be. Hopefully, I do this through corporate social responsibility or public sector policy and governance advocacy.
MARIEFE L. DEL MUNDO
Bachelor in Cooperatives, Polytechnic University of the Philippines
What are your tips for being a good student?
Know your priorities. As a student leader, I have commitments to my organization. Good time management really works.
Get motivated. I am always motivating myself to study hard to enjoy the quality of good life as educated individual. And I keep in mind that if I stay motivated in pursuing my studies, my family, relatives, friends and others will be happy and proud of me.
Continue practicing values. Self-discipline, hard work, perseverance and deep faith in God are the values that really give me great help not only to become a better student but also a better person as whole.
Help others. Apart from improving myself, I am also helping others. Cooperation is helping each other out so everyone benefits, it's the opposite of competing, where everyone wants to win for themselves.
What are your extracurricular activities?
I consider myself not just an excellent academic performer but also vigorous and enthusiastic student leader. I served as member of PUP Student Council Assembly and president of PUP College of Cooperatives Student Council for two consecutive school years. I am also an active member of non-academic organizations outside the university like Peoples? Alternative Studies Center for Research and Education in Social Development.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal?
I start by knowing my priorities and setting my goals. I have to spend in school six days out of seven, and then I make sure I keep my evenings even a short time and my weekends for my personal life. I never bring my personal problems to school. I always pray to God for his guidance and unconditional love that serve as my strength to go on in my lives with positive outlooks.
Do you consider yourself a nerd?
Actually, I never consider myself a nerd because like the other students, I?m also giving myself plenty of time to enjoy as well. I always find time to go out with my classmates and friends and to do something active that will blow off steam and increase my energy. Learn from the unique experiences that have touched my personal life.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to get experience working in NGOs and in the cooperative movement where I can gain and share my expertise and enhance my abilities to do community development work. I also need to develop myself as good researcher, community organizer, training coordinator and speaker in continuing my passion to serve, lead and touch people?s lives and my purpose in helping the cooperative and community in simple but effective ways.
KARYL ANNE B. FACTORA, 22
BS Physics, De La Salle University
What are your tips for being a good student?
Tip 1: Be ready in all your classes. Professors are delighted with students who come prepared for lectures and don?t just merely absorb discussions like a sponge.
Tip 2: Be willing to sacrifice some leisure time.
Tip 3: Always stay awake in class. Bring a cup of coffee or a piece of candy if you have to.
What are your extracurricular activities?
I was the former president of Partidong Santugon sa Tawag ng Panahon, the premier socio-political party in DLSU. I was primarily concerned with fielding candidates for the student council elections and training members for future leadership roles and in organizing them for efforts on nation building. Santugon was and is still active in supporting the farmers for the CARPER (agrarian reform) Bill.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal life?
No matter how busy I get with my academics and extra-curricular activities, I always take the time to unwind and take a breather. As much as possible, I make sure that I read a fiction book that takes me away from all the schoolwork, but it doesn?t mean that I don?t give it any priority. Academics and extracurricular activities are always a top priority, but with the help of my friends and colleagues, I get to be grounded and still manage to remain who I really am. It helps to have a great set of friends who will assist you in managing your life when it gets really tough.
Do you consider yourself a nerd?
As odd as it may sound, I am proud to call myself a nerd, but not in the conventional sense. I am a nerd because I like the sciences and am very interested in pursuing a real future in the field, but it doesn?t mean that I don?t have a social life. I love to travel with my family and my friends and, take note, I do not carry a lab gown and microscope wherever I go. Being a nerd for me is being passionate about your respective field and still managing to maintain good relations with other people. That is why I am proud to call myself a nerd.
What are your plans for the future?
I am currently in the process of looking for a job in the field of science. I particularly want to be employed in a company that supports the development of science in our country. Given the time, I would also want to teach physics to high school students in hopes that I could inspire them to take the same path in their lives as I did. Other than that, I am looking forward to being active in YouthVote Philippines because I really believe in the power of the youth.
FLEUR-DEL-LIZ BERLIN ESTOMO
BA Communication, Assumption College
What are your tips for being a good student?
Take college life responsibly by attending to your academics with eagerness and passion. Take every opportunity given and make the most out of it. Spread one?s wings by getting out from one?s comfort zone and face every challenge as a venue for growth. Respect the people around you (parents, friends, professors, mentors, etc.). Enjoy the simplicities of life and above all, have faith to the Almighty.
What are your extracurricular activities?
I am president of the Assumption Student Council. I am a women?s rights advocate; active member of Ayala Young Leaders Alliance; Gawad Kalinga Volunteer; proponent of community development projects and outreach programs in Assumption College. I also serve in the literacy and youth development programs in Bicol Region.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal life?
Living a balanced life starts with recognizing one?s goals, passion and priorities. It goes along with knowing one?s strengths and weaknesses. As a student, it is my passion to learn and to educate myself. As a student leader, it is my passion to serve and to contribute to my fellow Assumptionistas. So no matter how hectic the schedule is, I ensure that I give time and priority to the things I love and passionate about.
Do you consider yourself a nerd?
I refuse to say that I am a nerd or a geek. I would have to say that I am only overly passionate with the things I do, but I also think that one way or another, we all have our nerdish or geek-ish ways.
What are your plans for the future?
I plan to take a master?s degree in communication to further educate myself as a media practitioner. I also plan to continue my advocacy empowering the youth and the women.
JAMIE E. PRING
BA Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman
What are your tips for being a good student?
In my opinion, a good student should possess three qualities. First, he or she knows her or his priorities. Students are funded by their families, at times themselves and even the government. This fund is a form of trust and a good student should take care of this trust by meeting her or his academic requirements and making them the priority. Second, he or she loves what he or she studies. As much as it is right to see education as means to a particular end (progress, prosperity, etc.), education should also be seen as an end in itself whereby a good student learns also for the love of learning. Lastly, a good student knows how her or his knowledge is applied in the real world and actually applies it to contribute to progressive change. Loving what are studied and knowing how to apply them do not only make studying easier, but they also nurture a sense of duty to give back and make the attained education worth the trust.
What are your extracurricular activities?
Mainly, my extracurricular activities are composed of service in the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council initially as Political Science Department representative (in AY 2007-2008) and then as the council chair (in AY 2008-2009). Together with the other members of the council, I was involved in planning and implementing campaigns, activities and services for the students and the wider community, and representing our college in various gatherings. I am a member of the Association of Political Science Majors where we come up with projects for the promotion of our discipline?forums, seminars, community programs, academic tutorials, etc. Since 2007, I have been involved in the proposal and formulation of a human rights curriculum for public elementary schools. I do this together with other Southeast Asian students, spearheaded by the University Scholars Programme of the National University of Singapore.
How do you strike a balance between school and personal life?
A constant reminder that we are human inspires me to balance my school and personal life. Being human implies that we go beyond the formal educational institutions, and learn most of the time through our everyday personal interactions and experiences with others. Being human implies also that we need rest, relaxation and rewards; as much as it means that we can constantly improve on ourselves for others as well. On a more practical note, a very detailed planner helps me. I schedule everything from the important deadlines to the times when I will treat myself to a reward after implementing a project or finishing a tough exam.
Do you consider yourself a nerd?
Definitely! This is because a nerd, for me, is someone who makes his studies relevant outside the classroom and applies it when it helps. S/he therefore has a well-rounded perspective of her/his discipline and how it interacts with other fields of study. There is more to a nerd than what is portrayed in pop culture.
What are your plans for the future?
I hope to serve either in our Department of Foreign Affairs or maybe an agency of the United Nations. My dream career is to be either a Philippine ambassador or a UN officer.
E-mail the author at biancaconsunji@yahoo.com
