BACK-TO-BACK TRIUMPHS: Student leaders from Ateneo de Naga University made it in two major national searches/competitions, namely the Jose Rizal Model Students of the Philippines (JRMSP) 2015 and the Ayala Young Leaders Congress (AYLC) 2016.

In JRMSP 2015, Val Dominic Monit, senior student taking up Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English, was chosen by the Order of the Knights of Rizal as one of the ten (10) outstanding model students. He becomes the eleventh ADNU student to win JRSMP.

Before being adjudged winner, Monit hurdled the national paper screening, essay writing and, as the search’s final stage, a panel interview on 29 December at the OKR national headquarter in Manila. The next day, on Rizal Day, he joined the Luneta Park wreath-laying ceremony attended by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay, among others.

Monit is a former editor of Kadunong Publication, and a contributor of poems and essays in various local papers. Under his leadership, Kadunong has published tabloid, magazine, and literary folio. He initiated a number of related projects, among them a campus journalism seminar-workshop in his hometown, Magarao. He is a consistent Dean/President’s Lister and a facilitator in many activities for the Samahang Tagapagtaguyod ng Edukasyong Pilipino and Supreme Student Government.

In AYLC 2016, four students from ADNU were selected as delegates after rigorous paper screening and panel interview. They are: Phoebe Anne Bandoy, Bernadette Ong, Jobelle Marie Pascual, and James Nathaniel Refugio. The 18th AYLC will be in February 2016.

The four Ateneans were selected from 680 applicants from top universities and colleges nationwide. After two screening processes, these applicants were trimmed down to 157 who underwent the final phase of the selection, the interviews that were conducted by the executives of Ayala Group of Companies. Finally, the 81 official delegates were announced.