Showcasing their talents and prowess in writing, the Accountancy (ACC) Griffins emerged victorious in the essay writing competition, while the Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) Falcons claimed the champion title in the poem writing category of Sulat Tinyo in the Ateneo UFest ‘24.

With the prompt, “Can true contentment be achieved without a personal goal?”, ACC Griffins’ Robert Lastimosa shared that the message he wanted to impart in his essay was that fulfillment is still attainable despite life’s unpredictability.

“There are times that we cannot plan what happens in our life, [but] that doesn’t mean that we cannot reach true contentment, so even if we have the goals that we have set up in life, we know that we are not perfect… This message somewhat [is like] a river, because a river path changes over time, but then again, all rivers still end up in the same ocean.”

Lastimosa shared that training for the competition was not easy due to his demanding schedule prior to the event proper. 

“My mentor and I were both busy… so at that point kay medjo nawad-an na ko ug hope so I just said to my mentor na, ‘Bahala na, Ate’ pero… when the topic was given to me, I believe that I really did not disappoint because the topic was very philosophical and for me I really love philosophical thinking so that really made things easier for me,” Lastimosa said.

On the other hand, NSM Falcons’ Ma. Sophia Antigua also claimed victory with the prompt, “The journey towards self-discovery,” for the poetry category of the competition.

“I wrote more not on the journey itself, but a person’s turmoil while on that journey. Self-discovery is something that requires courage to escape your comfort zone, but sometimes, people tend to stay in a place they’ve overgrown just because they are familiar,” Antigua said. 

Antigua also shared that this was her first time joining a non-collaborative writing competition, and did not expect to win. 

“I’m not a big fan of competitions, as my writings are more emotionally-driven… However, I had a recent realization that it would be a shame if my writings were to never see the light of day. I joined with the intention of gaining experience in competitive writing, and would never have thought to win the whole thing.”

The Computer Studies (CS) Chameleons placed first runner-up in essay writing and poetry, while the Business & Management (B&M) Vipers secured second in the essay category, and the School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) Tigers came in second runner-up for poetry.

The writing competition was held at the Training Room, 7/F CCFC Building, last September 16.