One-hundred senior high school (SHS) students of the University of the Philippines High School in Iloilo (UPHSI) graduated last July 14, 2023, during its 42nd Graduation Exercises held at the UP Visayas Auditorium, Iloilo City campus.
Prof. Edelia Braga, UPHSI Principal, presented the UPHSI class of 2023 candidates for graduation to Dr. Alice Joan Ferrer, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who confirmed their graduation.
Ferrer and Braga distributed the diplomas to the graduates, who were then inducted into the UP Alumni Association (UPAA) Iloilo Chapter by its President, Atty. Rene John Nuñez.
Chancellor Clement Camposano, who earned his PhD in Philippine Studies (Anthropology) from the Tri-College Program and MA in Political Science from UP Diliman, was the guest speaker of the graduation rites where he spoke about “excellence” during his speech.
“I speak here of a prolonged process of formation and cultivation, where students not so much gain an understanding of excellence as an ideal, as they begin to embody it. They learn excellence by having it inscribed in their bodies in the form of habits and dispositions,” said the Chancellor, who is also a UPHSI and UPV alumnus.
“The exemplary professionals, luminaries in the various fields, and leaders that have emerged from this University were products not only of its formal curriculum but also, and more significantly, of the general environment it provided for its students,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ace Navarra, UPHSI 2023 class valedictorian with highest honors, spoke of his time as a student of UPHSI during his speech on behalf of his class.
He talked about the challenge of waking up and going to school from Miagao town to Iloilo City and then back; adjusting to online classes when the pandemic hit; and juggling his academics and non-curricular endeavors while stepping out of his comfort zone.
Navarra also encouraged his batchmates as they embark on a new journey, saying “As we proceed to the next chapter of our lives, know that being a better person really means realizing the 'we,' in the past, and the 'we,' in the present, are not the same anymore and that we have grown.”
“But compared to seconds, hours, months, or even years ago, we may not know what this new chapter of our life will bring us – new pressures? Maybe. But I hope this will not stop us from becoming a better person by exercising what it means to be an ‘iskolar ng bayan,’ which is to serve the people while upholding honor and excellence,” he said.
As part of the program, the Academic Excellence Awardees of grades 7 to 11 were recognized. They received their awards from Ferrer and Braga. Prof. Pepito Fernandez, Jr. Chairperson of the Division of Professional Education, and Ferrer also distributed the same awards to the graduating student-awardees.
