“Honor, Competence, and Compassion”—Ryan Yu (XS ’11) Delivers Inspirational Speech at HS Reading of Honors 2019 -

OnJuly 18, 2019, the Annual High School Reading of Honors was held at the HS gymnasium to recognize the annual academic awardees of SY 2018-2019.

Fr. Arturo Borja, SJ, School Chaplain, led the community in prayer, and Ms. Aimee Apolinario, HS Principal, gave her opening address that officially marked the start the program.

The first set of awards presented were the Xavier and Magis awards. The awardees, accompanied by their parents, received their medals on stage. The recipients of these awards are:

MAGIS AWARDEES

1. JAIME MANUEL DY, 8D

2. FARREL SKYLER TIU, 9A

3. RAJ ALEXANDER CHEN, 9C

4. GEORGE JACOB CO, 10D

5. DANIEL MARAMBA, 11G

XAVIER AWARDEES:

1. LANCE PATRICK MERCADO, 7A

2. JOSH WYNN LIM, 8B

3. GIAN PAULO MANGIO, 8F

4. RALPH VINCENT RELUCIO, 9E

5. JEAN MICHEL SARINO, 10C

6. ADRIAN DAR SERAPIO, 11B

After the Xavier and Magis awards were presented, Mr. Exxon Yu (XS ’97), JHS Asst. Principal for Academics, introduced the guest speaker, who, incidentally, was his student in Philippine History in SY 2007-2008. The introductory speech, however, was composed by none other than the guest speaker’s class adviser in his senior year in SY 2010-2011, Mr. Adrian Dy (XS ’04, former HS English Faculty). The introductory speech may be viewed here.

The honored guest speaker for the occasion was Ryan Carl Y. Yu (XS ’11), Class Valedictorian and Summa Cum Laude of his college graduating class of 2015, Ateneo de Manila University.

In his inspirational speech to the awardees, Ryan chose to talk about two of the 6Cs that he deemed must be inseparable. He stated, “Competence without compassion is impatient ruthlessness. Untempered competence, taken to the extreme, could drive us to do more and more without regard for our well-being and that of others,” recounting how this was, in many ways, who he was back in his high school years. As he grew in experience after graduating from college, he came to realize that “Compassionate competence gives us the power to forgive, to understand that progress often takes one step at a time…compassion without competence is emotional wandering.” He shared that with the two combined, “Competence guides compassion to look back and recognize that we are here not only through our own hard work and merits, but also through the love and support of our families and friends.” His ultimate learning is that “Competence directs compassion towards something more, something greater: the service of others.“

Ryan’s message serves as a timely reminder, not only for the awardees, but for the entire Xavier community. His full speech may be viewed here.

After Ryan’s speech, the annual academic awards were presented. The awardees from Grade 7 to Grade 11 of SY 2018-19 are as follows:

GRADE 7

1. LANCE PATRICK S. MERCADO, 7A, FIRST HONORS

2. LUIGI JOSEPH C. REYES, 7B, FIRST HONORS

3. TYRONE KIRK T. SERAPIO, 7B, FIRST HONORS

4. RAFAEL LUIS S. SO, 7C, FIRST HONORS

5. DAVID RAFAEL T. TAN, 7C, FIRST HONORS

6. MARCO ROBERTO D. VALENTON, 7C, FIRST HONORS

7. RENZO ALFONSO C. LEE, 7G, FIRST HONORS

GRADE 8

1. MARCUS SEAN K. TANSIONGKUN, 8A, FIRST HONORS

2. TIM SABIEN C. CHENG, 8B, FIRST HONORS

3. MIKHAIL STEFAN G. BORBE, 8C, FIRST HONORS

4. ENRICO DOMINIC A. SY, 8C, FIRST HONORS

GRADE 9

1. SEAN EUGENE G. CHUA, 9B, FIRST HONORS

2. LANCE PATRICK Q. DY, 9B, FIRST HONORS

3. LUIGI GILBERT S. TAN, 9D, FIRST HONORS

4. GIANCARLO ADRIAN D. NGO, 9I, SECOND HONORS

GRADE 10

1. ROBIN CARY KANG-UYCO, 10A, FIRST HONORS

2. KYLE CHRISTOPHER C. TAN, 10A, FIRST HONORS

3. LANCE KENDRICK O. DY, 10B, FIRST HONORS

4. JOSE CEDRICK C. QUE PUA, 10B, FIRST HONORS

5. RAVI MARTIN S. REYES, 10B, FIRST HONORS

6. MATTHEW SHAWN K. TANSIONGKUN, 10B, FIRST HONORS

7. NATHAN THOMAS G. YANG, 10B, FIRST HONORS

8. RIZALINO ANTONIO D. LABOS, 10C, FIRST HONORS

9. RICHWYNN CEDRIC U. ONG, 10C, ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

GRADE 11

1. ETHAN GEORGE CHARLES H. BENIDY, 11A, SECOND HONORS

2. JOSHUA STEVEN C. CO, 11A, FIRST HONORS

3. PIERCE PATEK NELSEN C. DEE, 11A, FIRST HONORS

4. MATTHEW ALEXANDER A. JOVES, 11A, SECOND HONORS

5. KYLE DARREN L. LEE, 11A, FIRST HONORS

6. GIO RUDOLF T. PALOMA, 11A, SECOND HONORS

7. LANCE PATRICK C. PANGILINAN, 11A, FIRST HONORS

8. TYRELL JONES U. SO, 11A, SECOND HONORS

9. PAULINO NATHAN AUSTYN P. TAN, 11A, SECOND HONORS

10. EMMANUEL JOSEPH LEE D. U, 11A, SECOND HONORS

11. ALFONZ HENDRIK O. UY, 11A, FIRST HONORS

12. SHAWN ELDRICK T. UY, 11A, SECOND HONO

13. JOSHUA L. YU, 11A, FIRST HONORS

14. DEAN CEDRIC L. KOHCHET-CHUA, 11B, FIRST HONORS

15. MATTHEW HARRIS L. NGO, 11B, SECOND HONORS

16. JUSTIN SETH H. SEE, 11B, FIRST HONORS

17. ADRIAN DAR T. SERAPIO, 11B, ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

18. JOEL STOCKTON S. UY, 11B, SECOND HONORS

19. PHILMON SEDRICK K. WEE, 11B, ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

20. HANS TIMOTHY ONG, 11C, FIRST HONORS

21. SEBASTIAN O. CHENGLAY, 11G, FIRST HONORS

22. JOSHUA D. DE MESA, 11G, FIRST HONORS

23. SHAUN AUSTIN L. KHO, 11G, FIRST HONORS

24. TIMOTHY DUSTIN G. BREMER, 11I, FIRST HONORS

25. CHARLES BENEDICT CRUZ, 11I, FIRST HONORS

26. LANCE PATRICK B. TY, 11I, HONORS

The presentation of the academic awards was followed by the oath-taking ceremony of the Student Council Executive Board, the class officers, and the club and committee moderators.

The event was capped off by the closing message of Fr. Aristotle Dy, SJ, School President, reminding everyone to take heed of the things that truly matter, reinforcing the the stirring and truthful message of the guest speaker.