Features Archives - The Flame

Paskuhan 2025: How downpours turned into puddles of light and hope

30

Dec

By The Flame Features and The Flame Culture

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Paskuhan 2025: How downpours turned into puddles of light and hope

DESPITE REPORTS about rampant corruption and abuse of power, there was no stopping the Paskuhan festivities in UST, which was capped by the Dec. 19 grand concert that filled Thomasians' shoes with mud and their hearts with a renewed appreciation of the value of faith in the midst of difficulties.…

‘I lived enough:’ An AB valedictorian’s journey with borderline personality disorder

04

Jul

By Lauren Ainella Tagle

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‘I lived enough:’ An AB valedictorian’s journey with borderline personality disorder

IT ALL had been a constant drowning. The past semester, Kazzandra Ysabel Baysa navigated the extremes of her borderline personality disorder (BPD) and the grief of her grandfather’s death in December 2024. Academics were sidelined, forming a pool of absences and breaking the streaks of flat unos she maintained throughout…

So long, rainy España: Thomasian graduates weather ‘final storm’ to end college journey

09

Jun

By Jade Alecksandra Bagas and Lorraine Belle Baguio

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So long, rainy España: Thomasian graduates weather ‘final storm’ to end college journey

HEAVY RAINS may have pushed the exit of this year’s graduating class a day later than expected, but the sun still shone brightly upon Artlets seniors as they exited the Arch of the Centuries to cap off their college journeys. For the first time since 2016, the graduating students illuminated…

Just another break: How Thomasian atheists spent the Holy Week

23

Apr

By Yelah Israel

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Just another break: How Thomasian atheists spent the Holy Week

AFTER SOME time, Enzo (not his real name), a Political Science freshman, finally had the chance to come home to Batangas, thanks to the Easter break. He had planned to make the most of it by spending the week soaking up lazy mornings, visiting friends and family and feeling the…

When love leaves: A 21-year-old’s journey after the death of her former lover

19

Apr

By The Flame Features

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When love leaves: A 21-year-old’s journey after the death of her former lover

IT CAME out as a whisper, followed by a muted reaction. “Shad…” A brief pause. “He’s dead.” Rose* sat frozen, unable to properly comprehend what had been revealed. Her thoughts began to scatter as she tried to grasp onto the remaining image of his broad, uniformed back. Rose could feel…

Leading in heels: How three women deans shaped AB’s history

31

Mar

By Lorraine Belle Baguio, Titus Reaiah Dayrit and Yelah Israel

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Leading in heels: How three women deans shaped AB’s history

THE PORTRAITS of past deans line the hall on the ground floor of the St. Raymund de Peñafort Building, their monochrome gazes frozen in time, watching over generations of students who pass beneath them. Each frame tells a silent story — of leadership, vision and the indelible marks each dean…

Sky painters: How two Thomasian alumni mastered the art of pyrotechnics

12

Feb

By Eugene Paul Lorenzo, Yelah Israel and Justine Nicole Malonzo

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Sky painters: How two Thomasian alumni mastered the art of pyrotechnics

FIREWORKS BURST across a small laptop screen. In a classroom at the Beato Angelico Building, two teenagers sat side by side, watching the patterns rise and fall, dance and evanesce. This was how they spent most of their time. They do not know it yet, but years later, they will…

What’s next for the 64-year-old UST Journalism student who went viral after his thesis defense

16

Jan

By The Flame Features

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What’s next for the 64-year-old UST Journalism student who went viral after his thesis defense

A NEW term has just started, and some Thomasians are anxious about the academic load and drama that await them. Not Roberto Solis. After taking a break from his studies in the 80s, the 64-year-old Journalism student and fashion expert is finally in the final stretch of earning his degree.…

More than words: A mother’s Christmas wish for her daughter with speech delay

31

Dec

By The Flame Features

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More than words: A mother’s Christmas wish for her daughter with speech delay

PEACHY SAT beside her mother on a bench at Benavides Park. Her hair was neatly tied back in a ponytail, and her hands were busy playing with the fallen leaves she had gathered from the grassy edge of the path. It was early December, and the ornaments for the year’s…

‘He’s the same EJ:’ Security guards reminisce EJ Obiena’s university days

05

Dec

By Shayne Lee Andreas Macaraeg and Mc Neil Zyh Serrano

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‘He’s the same EJ:’ Security guards reminisce EJ Obiena’s university days

IT WAS an ordinary yet eagerly anticipated day for two longtime security guards stationed at the University of Santo Tomas' engineering building. Elmer Vea and his partner Joevie Lumontod knew that EJ Obiena—the pride of UST and Asia’s top pole-vaulter—would visit the campus. But the itinerary was already set: just…