WITH NO END in the pandemic in sight, the biggest student event in the campus still pushed through, but in a different format.
The Supreme Student Council(SSC) of Lingayen Campus was unstoppable as they brought back the Students’ Festival on March 25-26, bannering the theme: ‘#QuaranThings: PSUnians fresh beginning’ in a virtual platform.
Said event which is a history in the making for being the first virtual Students’ Fest in the university, was actively participated by the students and other spectators gathering over 20,000 views with 17,000 comments and 1,300 reacts in Facebook.
Through the years, the event which is considered as one of the sought-after events, is known as the home of different activities like Binibining Ikatlong Lahi, Clash of the Colleges (Talent Contest), Bingo Bonanza, Fun Booths, Battle of the Bands, among others.
Due to the pandemic, the fest staged the activities through Zoom platform and Facebook live to adhere with the safety protocol set by the CoVID-19 Inter-Agency Taskforce.
“As we adapt to online interactions, we learn more ways of utilizing the internet we use for our learning,” said by Shayzon Mayr delos Santos, over-all Chairperson of the event.
It can be recalled that last March 9 (Tuesday), the council announced the comeback of the fest to give break and bring relief from all the stresses and pressures from the online classes. From that, a memorandum was made to suspend all synchronous and asynchronous classes during the conduct of the said event.
“The Student Fest can be an outlet to help students express themselves in a creative and productive manner despite the struggles they face on their online classes,” delos Santos said.
Some of the most awaited events from last year’s festival were carried in the online platforms like the mainstream Taraki tan Limgas na PSU wherein students from the College of Hospitality Management, Rizwan Ali Syed; and College of Education, Gica Mhay Cristal, were hailed as winners.
Aside from the mainstream competition, the council also conducted quarantine go-to activities such as TikTok video challenges, Kansyon Online Singing Competition and an online forum dubbed as “Tara, Kape, Usap Ulit Tayo”.
Moreover, some student organizations spearheaded events in line with the celebration which include: ‘Language Festival’ of the Linguist’ Guild; ‘Juana Laban sa Pandemya:Kaya!’ of the Junior Social Workers Association of the Philippines; and ‘Bio-net’ of the Students’ Alliance of Future Biologists.
From the inspirational message of the University President, Dr. Dexter R. Buted said that the event is a proof that nothing, not even the pandemic, can stop the zealousness that the students have to start up fresh.
He expressed, “My dear students, always bear in mind that life does not get better when we just sit and do nothing nor rely by chance. Begin still suggests that changes are needed but we can start to look for how we will move forward positively.”
The University President reminded to make use of the opportune time to try new things, unleash talents and discover new opportunities that will bring fresh breath of hope in life.
Over-all, the event was successful with the leadership of the SSC President and the con-current Student Regent, Hon. Je-ann de Vera. /mmpd