26/04/2025
𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 | 𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐅 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍
An epitome of intelligence, beauty, and virtuous, these words simply describe the student, the daughter, the friend, and the leader who just successfully finished a chapter as a Senior High School student at Saint Francis College of Allen N. Samar, Inc. She is Venice Kamryn Serdeña Ausente, 17 years of age and currently residing in Brgy. Londres, Allen, Northern Samar. She had recently graduated as the Veledictorian of Batch 2024-2025.
Since day one, many had already believed in her skills and capabilities and up until this day, she's still proving them all right. However, her experiences did not come as easy as everyone thought it did. She also encountered some challenges such as when it came to time management, "I struggled in terms of time management since I tend to procrastinate sometimes...Also, I can't work properly during the day since mas comfortable ako tuwing gabi," she mentioned." To address this issue, she came up with a solution that also serves a tip that she could give to students who struggle in terms of managing their tasks, "I'm a very organized yet forgetful person so I always have a checklist of everything that I have to do. That's one thing that really helped me in completing tasks and accomplishing goals."
Today, she stands as the Editor in Chief of La Verna and the president of the English Club. She is also this school year's student body Secretary and the STEM 12 classroom Vice President. Amidst all of these responsibilities, she never allowed anything to stop nor hinder her from focusing on her academics and she even became the batch valedictorian. When asked regarding her advice to student who aspire to excel in both their academics and extracurriculars, she stated, "Manage your time well and always be responsible. In terms of acads, you don't always have to be the best, as long as you try your best, that's more than enough. In terms of extracurriculars naman, choose those that could serve as your escape from your academics para hindi siya maging burden sayo and makapagenjoy ka talaga."
In a recent interview, she also talked about the articles she wrote, "The most memorable article I've written was entitled "Press Freedom Vs. Institutional Reputation". I mostly tackled about how press freedom is both a privilege and a right for student journalists. Halos lahat naman ng mga editorial articles ko ay memorable para sakin since naiilabas ko talaga dun yung mga viewpoints ko and at the same time mas nadadagdagan din yung knowledge ko everytime na nagreresearch ako. Memorable din sakin yung mga literary articles ko since I love writing literary pieces, especially poems where I get to express myself through creative and poetic terms or words."
As she journeys to the next chapter of her life, Venice leaves remarkable memories and a strong bond with the students and teachers in SFC. She sets an example for those who were doubted and were told that they weren't capable of achieving various things, because she herself survived. At the same time, she also had moments of laziness, procrastination, and cramming which became a barrier in her journey but despite that, she still managed to successfully conquer all the battles she faced.
When asked regarding who or what inspired her in her journey, this is her response, "My mother was the one who really inspired me in terms of journalism dahil nung bata pa daw siya, part din siya ng student publication sa school niya dati and she once dreamt of becoming a journalist. It really started when I was in Grade 6 and I was chosen to represent my school and compete in the category of Feature Writing. More than the actual competition, I really enjoyed the process and the training. I was also inspired by Ma'am Naty, the adviser of La Verna, who really devotes time to show her support towards us and impart great knowledge to us." She also mentioned that along the many people and even things that continues to inspire her, she's also motivated by her past achievements, dreams and aspirations, and most especially by her family.
As of now, she's still not certain regarding the path that she will be taking for the next chapter of her journey but one thing's for sure, journalism will always be a part of who she is, "No matter how far I get, my pen will always be filled with ink, ready to write, and burning with the desire to produce something powerful and beautiful," she said. In concluding her valedictory speech, she shared a very significant quote to her fellow graduates, "Fall in love with what you do and everything else will follow," she also mentioned."
SFCians are genuinely proud of success and will always be rooting for her as she depart from the walls of her alma mater. May she continue to be a beacon of light to others through her stories, battles, and achievements. She will always be remembered as one of the most remarkable students of SFC.
𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒚 Kathleen Apple Guerrero
𝑳𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒚 Trisha Yzobel R. Florano
