22/07/2025
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒓𝒔
In a world relentlessly spinning toward tomorrow, few moments compel us to pause—to behold brilliance in its becoming. On the 16th of July, the Senior High School Department of General Santos Doctors’ Medical School Foundation, Inc. held their Recognition Ceremony, a gathering not merely of certificates and applause, but of quiet revolutions within the hearts and minds of young achievers destined to shape their world.
Nineteen students ascended the stage to receive With Honors, their names echoing across the hall like carefully written promises. Above them all stood one extraordinary individual, recognized With High Honors, a testament to the heights that perseverance and intellect can reach when married to unrelenting resolve. Together, they form a constellation of twenty stars—each burning uniquely, yet illuminating a single truth: excellence is never accidental.
As the program unfolded, it became impossible not to reflect on the profound ripple effect of their success. As was aptly declared by the SHS principal, Ma’am Ma. Monina M. Duqueza during the ceremony:
“𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙝 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”
Indeed, these honors bear the fingerprints of mentors who refused to let potential go unnoticed, of families who believed even when doubt was louder, and of peers who became each other’s quiet witnesses and cheerleaders in the darkest of academic nights.
Recognition is more than mere ritual; it is a reckoning with what education can and must be—a force, a beacon, a defiance against mediocrity. “Education is the most powerful beacon—which you can use to change the world,” as Dr. Grace Joy Nietes RN quoted from Nelson Mandela, and rightly so. Each name called, each certificate handed, was a signal fire lit not only for the recipients but for the younger cohorts watching, who now see a path that they, too, can walk.
There is, however, an unspoken truth that lingered in the air long after the applause faded. In honoring these twenty, we confront a sobering paradox: while education lifts, it also exposes. It shows us how much there is still to fix, how many more students are waiting for their chance to shine, how urgent it is to ensure that success is not the privilege of the few but the birthright of the many.
In the end, this ceremony was not simply a culmination but a provocation—a call to action for both achievers and spectators alike. For the honorees, to never forget the weight of the torch they now carry. For the community, to keep fanning the flames of ambition in every child, to keep believing that tomorrow can indeed be brighter if we dare to teach, to learn, and to dream bigger.
And so we look to these twenty young torchbearers—not only with pride but with expectation. For the world needs their light more than ever.
Written by: Nicole Hizola, Feature Writer
Pubmat by: Rusty Ampatin, Layout Artist
