THE FACULTY of Arts and Letters (AB) Youth Ambassador and Ambassadress were formally introduced to the Thomasian community, along with the candidates from other colleges and faculties, in the launching of this year’s Thomasian Youth Ambassador and Ambassadress (TYAA).
Showcasing their looks and wits, Legal Management (LM) sophomore Jason Javier and English Language Studies sophomore Rafaella Potestades descended the UST Main Building grand staircase with grace last April 22.
Javier and Potestades were selected in a panel screening for Mr. and Ms. AB last April 1. They were judged based on their personalities, interview answers, talents, essays, and over-all performance.
LM sophomores Joshua Carillo and Ann Catherine Calingasan finished as first runners-up.
In an interview with the Flame, Javier said he aims to raise youth’s awareness on the country’s national issues.
“Kahit hindi mo man pansinin ‘yung mga national issues, it still affects you at a certain capacity. Habang tumatagal, pwedeng lumaki ‘yung mga ‘yun,” he said. “Imbes na hintayin mo pang lumala ‘yung problema, at least sa simula pa lang, alam mo na ang dapat mong gawin or ang hindi mo dapat gawin.”
Potestades, on the other hand, wants to promote feminism by normalizing acts such as women wearing “comfortable” rather than “provocative” clothing and placing great premium on consent.
“It’s the oppressive culture of gender norms right now [that inspired me to pursue this advocacy]. For instance, these are the actions that define you as being a ‘lady’ like you being ‘mahinhin’ or wearing ‘non-provocative’ clothing, or [the] ideologies that subject you to double standards like the act of drinking alcoholic substances, swearing and etcetera,” she said.
All representatives from the University’s colleges and faculties will showcase their talents in TYAA 2016 Talent Night on May 3, while the Awards Night will be held on May 16.
TYAA is the official search for the youth ambassadors in the University, which aims to “find those who will fight for a cause and those who passionately pursue humanitarian work and spreading awareness for a purpose within a local or even a grander scale.” F – Mikkah F. Factor with reports from Kimvirly P. Zayat
