University officials urged this year’s new batch of Thomasians to unlock their potentials and maximize their talents, and at the same time find Jesus Christ on campus.
“Potential can be tapped, talents can be honed, and the secret of excellence is education. You came here to be educated [and] you show a great deal of promise,” Vice Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. said in his homily at the Eucharistic celebration for Grade 11 students of UST Senior High School in the morning of Aug. 4.
An estimated 4,000 Grade 11 students passed through the Arch of the Centuries, marking the start of their lives as Thomasians.
More than 2,000 freshmen from the different faculties and colleges of the University entered the arch in the afternoon.
UST Rector Fr. Hermino Dagohoy, O.P. called on college freshmen to find Jesus in their hearts as they go through their lives in the University.
“As you begin your journey to the academe, it is important that you understand [that] Jesus is the heart of Catholic education who walks with you. Someone who will rejoice with your victories, and cry with you in moments of failures. Someone who will assure you in your doubts and uncertainties, and encourage you when you feel giving up the hope you cherish,” said Dagohoy in his homily during the afternoon Mass.
As a Catholic university, UST not only aims to form the minds of students but also transform their hearts, he added.
“[S]ometimes, that which is ordinary we do not often notice. We don’t pay particular attention to something familiar so we seek elsewhere. I hope that during your stay in the University, you’ll be able to find Jesus in your life as a student,” he said.
The traditional Welcome Walk began in 2002, with freshmen passing through the historic Arch of the Centuries in a Thomasian rite of passage.
