‘Character over intelligence’: Franzuela shares story behind AY Nat’l Discipline Award FRANCINE IVANNA GABAY UNIVERSITY OF NUEVA Caceres (UNC) Debate Circle Minister for Training and Membership and STEM 12 learner John Dominic A. Franzuela was hailed as one of the recipients of the Alfonso Yuchengco National Discipline Award, along with other high school students across the country.
Photo by UNC SHS
Photo by John Dominic Franzuela
12 NEWS FEATURE
The National Discipline Awards program was established in 1990 in response to Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco’s call to instill national discipline in the country’s youth. According to the AY Foundation’s official website, it is not a scholarship program but it encourages awardees to pursue their studies by giving a cash award of P7,500 to help defray their college tuition together with the San Lorenzo Ruiz gold medal. “I learned about the program during the moment when Mr. Paulo Panergayo was asking for my permission to be nominated... When I knew that the award can once again recognize all the efforts and time we (I, my co-leaders during projects, and my mentors) spent to serve the studentry and community from JHS to SHS, I heard the heartbeat to accept the nomination”, Franzuela shared in an interview. According to Franzuela, he participated in the nomination process for his efforts and support from his mentors to be acknowledged, to bring pride to the institution, and to open further opportunities for the growth and development of his peers and the community. “Some specific qualifications that further helped in the selection process are my burning passion... My optimism although I would admit that I get easily frustrated when the going does not go as planned... and I am determined to face whatever struggles come my way in achieving my goal, the best part of this is the humility to accept both victory and defeat,” Franzuela continued. In the same interview, he also said that he’s not new with community programs since he’d been to some already just like the relief operation in Balog, Camarines Sur after the Typhoon Rolly havoc. “Their gratitude through simply smiling and saying “thank you” makes all the struggle that the committee experienced beyond worth it,” he said. Franzuela, being the class prime minister of STEM-L for two consecutive years, also initiated the Project Lingkayod where they donated face shields, face masks, sanitizers, and COVID-19 educational posters after witnessing that pedicab drivers in Sta. Cruz, Naga City is just wearing alternatives like handkerchiefs to somehow protect themselves. He also shared that these projects that helped him qualify for the said program were made possible with the help of his co-volunteers in and off the campus and university administrators from both Junior High School and SHS. “These moments that I will truly treasure will not be possible without the support from the donors that made our projects successful... when I was in JHS, our own Asst. Principal for Student Affairs and Discipline, Ma’am Remy Cuyo. Meanwhile, our STEM-ENG and Natural Science learning supervisor, Ms. Sharmie Ann Abalan, and our class adviser, Ma’am Odessa Balmes, during my senior high school years,” Franzuela shared. Despite knowing the harms brought by the pandemic, this never stopped Franzuela from extending help for other people since he believes that we still differ in the severity of conditions. “We were worried that there might be little-to-no donations since everyone is in need. But we trusted the process...We directly encourage the public to support and participate in our projects through sending personal letters and using social media platforms as an instrument to spread the urgency and persuade them to support,” he stressed. He also added that the best way to encourage other students is to be a blueprint or by showing them that serving the community does not make them less of a person or less of a person they desire to be. Franzuela, who will be in college next school year, also said that he’s still going to live by the motto ‘Character over Intelligence’ by committing himself to the virtue of discipline, self-sacrifice, integrity, and courage until his last breath.
