by| Aira Mae Delgado
Jessadine Rose L. Baluyot, a Civil Engineering student of PSU-Urdaneta, bagged the championship in the essay writing competition of The Replika National Press and Literary Conference 2021, held last October 22-25.
Her winning entry, “Raison D’etre: Built to Fulfill,” discusses the goals you want to achieve in the last quarter of 2021. In her essay, she mentioned three personal goals that she hoped to accomplish by the end of the year. She set one goal for each of her life’s aspects: intellectual, physical, and financial.
With that, she also received the “Best Introduction,” “Most Organized Piece,” “Eye-opener,” and “Judges Choice” awards.
In addition, she also placed fifth in Science and Technology, as well as Column writing. In SciTech, she wrote about rubbing alcohol and its versatility. On the other hand, in her entry for the Column Writing, she argued that candidates have the right to change their minds—meaning it is legal for them to withdraw one’s candidacy any time before the election.
Baluyot talked about how she felt after winning several awards. She stated that it feels surreal and that she certainly wasn’t expecting to win anything at first because she struggled with writer’s block throughout the contest period.
“I woke up at 5 am—three hours before the deadline—and hurriedly wrote my articles. Although I felt like I wasn’t at my best to write anything, I didn’t want to back out; I wanted to fully commit to my participation. So, it was such a delightful surprise to be recognized as one of the winners. I owe this victory to Technoscope, my mentors, and my loved ones for all their guidance and support,” she said.
The competition held its awarding ceremony last November 11.
Replika National Literary Conference, with this year’s theme, “Repleksyon, Resolusyon, Aksyon,” aims to build a stage for aspiring writers nationwide who want to release their hidden thoughts and talents. The said event is participated by different students from the country.
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Editor| Christine Villamater, News Editor
Consultant | Mara Soriben, Managing Editor
Artwork and Creative Works | Lady Megan Barrozo, Creative Editor