Int’l students get spotlight in OUR essay, video contest
Date Posted: December 17, 2020 at 02:13 PM
The Office for University Relations (OUR) featured different faces of international students as it held an essay writing and video-making contest focused life during the pandemic. Results were released last December 15.
The essay writing contest which responded to the questions How Covid-19 affected me as an international student; what future do I see for myself? featured an all-Nigerian winning cast with Solomon Supuruchukwu Abanobi, a Master of Business Admnistration student, bagging first, followed by Kabirat Abimbola Oderinde, and Hazel Motunrayo Ola-Abideen, both taking up BS Pharmacy.
The only non-Nigerian winner of the two OUR-sponsored contests secured the first prize of the three-minute video contest. John Junior Tubian of Papua New Guinea who is taking up BA Communication swayed the judges to his side with a feature of his home in Espana Boulevard where he has stayed since the beginning of the lockdown and the pandemic. The competition carried the theme Meet my Family for students who are back at their country of origin, and Meet my neighbors for students who remained in the Philippines.
Bethesda Owuama-Njoku (BS Computer Science), and Ayobami Elizabeth Ojo-Gbenga (BS Nursing), both Nigerians, took home the second and third prize, respectively.
The Board of Judges for both competitions are Sr. Maruja Padre Juan, MSCS, OUR Director, Mr. Richmond Yap, Guidance Director, and Mrs. Carmela Racelis, Director of the Information Technology Center (ITC).
Sr. Maru told the Adamson News the OUR has always strived to encourage Adamsonian international students to engage in the office’s activities, and the number of entries in the recently-concluded tilts signify their development activities’ popularity among its intended patrons.
“From the contestant’s entries in the essay writing contest, we can see their concrete experiences of coping with the Covid-19 pandemic – how each of them try their best to make their days fruitful. It also reflects how these students matured as international students, as well as their willingness to grow and be more sensitive to their parents,” she said.
“Meanwhile, for the video making contest, the entries showed us who they are with, their immediate environment and how it affects them during the pandemic,” she furthered. “It also showed how they view the Filipinos’ coping mechanism with Covid-19 and how much they have been a part of these adjustments, including the situations in their neighborhood and their impression of their immediate surroundings.”
