Benguet State University’s (BSU) student publication, The Mountain Collegian (MC), won several awards at the 20th Luzonwide Higher Education Press Conference (LHEPC) held at Batis Aramin, Lucban, Quezon Province last April 2 to 4.
Kalaleng XVII, MC’s literary folio featuring the ups and downs of the BSU students’ everyday lives, collected second Best in Visual Arts, fourth Best in Cover Design, and 10th Best in Page Design.
As a result, it was hailed as the fourth Best Literary Folio out of 64 entries in the various regions.
Meanwhile, in the tabloid category, the news and editorial section of the paper grabbed fourth and ninth places, respectively, out of 57 entries. Likewise, the newsletter landed fourth place in the news section among 50 student newsletters.
As for the special events, Steffy Gwyneth L. Rafael garnered third-place and sixth-place finishes in the Digital Literary Graphics Illustration (English) and Digital Comics Strip Drawing (Filipino) categories, respectively.
“It was very unexpected—to think that there are a lot of talented participants who joined… But despite that, I did the best that I could. I already accepted my fate that I won’t be getting any awards, but again, it was very unexpected that I garnered not only one but two awards out of the three events that I took part in,” Rafael expressed.
She was also the head graphic artist for the multi-awarded Kalaleng XVII.
“I am very honored to receive these awards, special thanks to the graphic team for their endless cooperation in creating the visual face of Kalaleng. I am happy that the literary folio got its spotlight in LHEPC this year, and we’re hoping to achieve more in the next one,” the multimedia associate editor added.
For the writing events, Coren Joy M. Adchao kept her previous results, earning 10th place in News Writing (Filipino) while improving to seventh place in Poetry Writing (English), where she placed 10th in last year’s LHEPC.
Kimberly Gail L. Germano also had a strong showing in Sports Writing (Filipino), where she landed third place in the event from a gold finish last year.
Lastly, Rosella O. Ocampo rounded out the publication’s individual awards with a sixth placement in Feature Writing (Filipino).
In total, the said presscon was attended by 1074 student journalists from 151 different universities all over the seven regions of Luzon and Region VII (Central Visayas).
“Time and again, LHEPC has provided us an avenue to widen our perspective and connections in campus journalism. From regionals to the Luzonwide [presscon], I have always been proud of our members and all the people behind our achievement and our campus paper,” current MC Editor-in-Chief Liezhel Joy T. Ramos enthused.
Joining MC were its neighboring student publications from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), namely: Baguio Central University’s The Flame; Divine Word College of Bangued’s Sparks Publication; Ifugao State University’s The Upland Farm; Kalinga State University-Tabuk Campus’ The Earthline; Kalinga State University-Rizal Campus’ The Organon; Mountain Province State University’s Tala: The Mockingbird; Saint Louis University’s White & Blue; St. Louis College of Bulanao’s The Louisian Today; St. Tonis College Inc.’s Tonisian Reflectors; and the University of the Cordilleras’ The Alternative.
As a region, they were able to clinch the sixth Best Performing Region award, being the seventh in individual awards and sixth in group awards.
Prior to the Luzonwide press conference, The Mountain Collegian (MC) was feted as the Best Performing Publication in the 22th Regionwide Higher Education Press Conference (RHEPC), held at the BSU-Northern Philippines Root Crops Research and Training Center (BSU-NPRCRTC) last February 12 to 14.**by Armi-Jay R. Paragas
