“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou
Sunshine and Smiles, Hivers! I am thrilled to share this blog today as it celebrates the academic achievements of my group of friends.
In August 2024, my friends and I received our certificates for being on the dean's list at our school. This certificate represents the fruits of our labor throughout the academic year 2023-2024. We shed too much tears, experience many challenges, and criticisms during this academic year, but it was all completely worth it. Although some of our friends didn't get the opportunity to achieve the dean's list title, we are incredibly proud of one another.
Due to a hectic schedule of upcoming school events, our school is unable to hold a certification ceremony. Consequently, the decision has been made to distribute the dean's list certificates without an official ceremony.
After receiving our certificates, we headed to McDonald's to celebrate our important accomplishments. McDonald's holds a special place in our friendship, as it has been there for us during tough times, allowing us to celebrate our small victories and bond as friends. It serves as our comfort zone. We also took a group photo with our certificates, marking this day as a celebration as dean's listers. We shared so much laughter and conversation while eating at McDonald's, filled with joy! A few of my friends can't make it right now because they are occupied with personal issues. Therefore, we have just received their certificates and will hand them over when we get the chance to meet.
After finishing our meal, we headed to Danao Plaza to keep the celebration going. We took some photos there and enjoyed a little bonding time. A few of our friends were discussing the challenges and struggles they faced while earning this certificate. We discussed how we tend to overthink the possibility of not making the dean's list due to one particular professor. This professor is quite strict and gives low grades, so we are grateful that this time, they gave us fair grades.
Here’s one of my friends, Sheila. I snapped some pictures of her wearing the bucket hat I crafted. That bucket hat was inspired by Gian Bernardino’s bucket hat design. She is a big fan of Gian, the cup of joe vocalist. That’s why she wanted a bucket hat similar to his! I took loads of photos of her since I plan to share some on my business account.
Here I am holding my dean’s lister certificate! I felt a bit disappointed about the certificate because my name wasn’t fully displayed on it. I might try to overlook that error since it took several months to receive this certificate, and perhaps my full name didn’t fit, so it was shortened instead. In that moment, I was extremely happy and emotional because, ultimately, all my hard work, struggles, and sacrifices paid off. If my father were still alive, I believe he would have been so proud of me for achieving the dean's lister. Or perhaps, he was proud even he was in heaven now. Since a few of my friends are heading home, we exchanged our goodbyes after having a mini celebration and bonding at the plaza.
And this marks the end of my blog, hivers! I wish all the students in the Hive achieve the success they deserve in their studies. I'm rooting for each of you to succeed! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! Ciao!