Story By Beatrice Anne S. Dingcong, CST-R Batch 2020
Photos By CST-R CMO
About six years ago, I stepped into the premises of CST-R not knowing the challenges and obstacles that I’d be overcoming. Everything that I’ve experienced and learned here will is now part of me. This I bring as I inch toward my dreams.
I started as a girl with no plans on how to spend my freshmen year until the Girl Scouts of CST-R recruited me. I was uncertain but I passed the training and got to wear the iconic green pencil-cut dress uniform on Wednesdays. One thing I will remember of my first scouting year when I became the barker and in front of me were senior boys. As I shouted the last “Attentiooooon!” one guy suddenly said, “Ayaw kog syagiti, miga!” I did not expect that to happen because it was still my first time to give orders. I was still on the process of shaping my confidence.
Scouting opened unexpected opportunities for me as I became an eighth grader. I became the GSP treasurer. I experienced jogging around the field and that was the first and most memorable punishment I’ve ever experienced. Along with other Thomasian scouts, I got my new GSP uniform and joined the Solidarity Day in full battalion. In ninth grade, I became an adjutant and a Senior Patrol Leader in Grade 10.
While scouting, I was slowly developing my youth leadership skills. Becoming the Supreme Student Council secretary while at Grade 9 gave me the opportunity to develop time management skills. I learned to value punctuality in accomplishing tasks on time while ensuring accuracy. At some point, I felt stressed but from a wide viewpoint, I knew I was helping the school and my fellow Thomasians. This thought helped me be a better individual.
Experiencing the Students’ Congress of Recollect Schools (SCORES) was the biggest opportunity of my junior high school years. I met various students from Recollect schools nationwide. That level of interaction lured me out of my comfort zone. I made friends and created life-long memories with my foster family. SCORES was a week like no other.
My senior high school life was full of unexpected experiences that happened especially in12th grade. I should say that senior high is tough yet fun. It’s a smorgasbord of academics, research work and oral defense, unique performance tasks and swimming class. Singing in front of the whole class and acting out a realistic “dumog scene” with my classmate was one PT I could not forget. We reached that part of the scene when he slapped me. The class was shocked but laughed anyway.
Our Entrepreneurship Week was also one treasured experience when we opened and operated our own small business. Meanwhile, work immersion brought me into the reality of employment. I enjoyed working at the laboratory. I felt giddy to go “to work” everyday. Perhaps the love I poured into my lab won me the Best in Work Immersion award for STEM.
The best of my senior high school opportunities was representing San Carlos City at Provincial Tour Guiding Competition 2019. It was when TG BEA came to life. It was a tough process to get on that stage and perform. I was in 11th grade, when our oral communication instructor recruited me for the San Carlos City Tour Guiding Contest. It was new to me. I did not see myself studying all the places of Negros Occidental. In total, I studied 16 towns and cities to prepare for the competition. Any one of the 16 could be picked right on the stage and clues appeared in form of photos on a screen. Contestants would give a virtual tour of the place they picked.
During my first contest, I gave a virtual tour of E.B. Magalona. I won second place and it was our school’s first time to place in the top three. A year later, my coach asked me, “Bey, are you still up for the, you know.” Even though she wanted to sound coy, I already knew what she was talking about. I said yes, with zero doubts. Then, TG Bea was back on stage to talk about Silay. I won first place and represented the city to the provincial level. I had to prepare in just one week and it was nerve-wracking as I missed out on academics and exams.
I was pulled out of the classroom to study at the SDPC all day. During the competition, the sight of other competitors from different LGUs of Negros Occidental made me nervous. One contestant reached out to me and conversation flowed. All of us shared our tour guiding contest stories. We shared facts about our places and I didn’t notice that I was having fun with them.
Unexpectedly, I again picked SILAY! Upon stepping on the stage, I went blank knowing that I could not identify some photo-cues on the screen. However, I managed to perform my best. The other contestants cheered as if I didn’t make a single mistake. I was flattered by their compliments. Even though I didn’t win it was still one of the best events of my high school life, ever. I went home with a smile on my face and a happy heart because I met new people. Representing my city and my school to the provincial competition was one of the greatest honors I have ever received. I could not have done it without my tour guiding family who supported and helped me throughout that memorable journey. Some may see it as a normal competition but I saw it as an opportunity to grow, to learn from others. Tour guiding for me is a treasure and a success.
Perhaps, a thousand words could not fully express the six years of memorable moments, countless days of working hard to get all things done, and the trust that my Thomasian family gave me on several occasions. Those six years saw my confidence blossom. The training, mistakes and loses I’ve experienced in this journey made me the person who I am today. The combination of all those gave me life lessons. Here I am, a member of Batch 2020, the batch whose graduation is stalled by a pandemic. But, I’m more than ready to face college with the “Caritas et Scientia,” love and knowledge, that CST-R instilled in me. My learnings I all owe to my Alma Mater and the inspiring men and women behind it.
Daghang Salamat, Thomasian Community!
