Northwestern Visayan Colleges

In a moment of pride for student journalism, Jean T. Gelito, Associate Editor of the Forum publication, was honored with the Batan Outstanding Youth Award (BOYA) in Journalism. The ceremony took place on December 6, 2024, at the Batan Sports Complex.

Gelito’s passion and dedication to journalism were evident in her poignant response during the interview phase of the competition:

“𝑨𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝑩𝑶𝒀𝑨 2024, 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏.”

A seasoned student journalist, Gelito has been contributing to the Forum for three years and is currently serving her second term as Associate Editor. Her journey in journalism began in high school, driven by her belief in the transformative power of truthful storytelling.

Gelito advocates for elevating the status of student journalism, challenging misconceptions that dismiss their work as trivial.

“𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒎𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 ‘𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒚𝒐-𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒚𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈.’ 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒔,” 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.

The BOYA initiative, introduced by the Municipality of Batan, celebrates the achievements of exceptional youth who have made significant contributions in various fields. Gelito’s recognition underscores her role as a changemaker and an inspiring force for aspiring journalists in her community.

Her resolve and commitment continue to raise the banner of local journalism, proving that the voice of youth can indeed drive meaningful change.

Cedrick V. Cusay, EIC