IN A bid to encourage grade 12 students to proceed to college, the Cagayan de Oro College (COC) conducted a one-day activity that features booths of different college departments of the school.
The Phinma COC Jam, held at the atrium of Limketkai Mall, Cagayan de Oro City, is a yearly event participated by around 3,000 grade 12 students from various schools in the city, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon.
The event showcases the eight college (criminology, nursing, education, management and accountancy, information technology, etc.) and the senior high school departments of the school wherein the participants were orientated and get to experience the journey of being a college student under the said departments.
"This is to get the students excited. Na college life isn't just about studying and then yun lang yun, nothing else," said Gwendolyn Ybañez, marketing associate of COC Puerto Campus.
"There is fun in studying and that is what we are aiming, to let the students feel na masaya pala yung mag-aral and masaya pala yung college," she added.
Apart from the booths, there were participants who took their scholarship exams for COC. There were also competitions such as Mobile Legends Contest, HipHop Dance Competition, and The Voice, which, according to Ybañez, is the sort of extracurricular activity to balance out the academics.
"We are encouraging them to pursue talaga higher education. That's why we are showcasing opportunities na pwede nilang makamtan," Ybañez said.
The winner for the Sikap Awards, a search for the Most Outstanding Grade 12 student in Northern Mindanao, which is the highlight activity of the day, was also announced during the event.
"Most of our students come from poor families, hindi masyadong maganda yung estado sa buhay but they are persevering, they are working really hard, they're working while studying," Ybañez said.
"Yung mga ganung stories na nakaka-inspire talaga, yung mga ganoong stories ang gusto namin i-showcase para lahat ng mga estudyante makita nila na hindi pala talaga hindrance yung kahirapan sa buhay para mag succeed," she added.
Of the 20 nominees for the Sikap Awards, only one was awarded as the Most Outstanding Grade 12 student who, apart from the award, also received a cash prize worth P5,000 and 75 percent scholarship.
"Education is really the key to suceess. Ang mission ng COC is making lives better through education and we believe talaga na education lang talaga yung key ng mga bata [to succeed]," Ybañez said.
All the nominated Grade 12 students were awarded 50 percent scholarship.
"We hope the students will choose Phinma COC. Bago lang ako sa company but I have felt and I have seen the sincerity of the school to really help yung mga estudyante na hindi makapag-aral," she added.
The Phinma COC Jam lasted for the whole day of Sunday, February 23.