UPMin's summa cum laude dedicates success to the Filipino people
From ‘Escaping’ Mindanao to Championing Its Stories:
UPMin’s Summa Cum Laude Dedicates Success to the Filipino People
Kyndra Lei B. Yunting, the fourth summa cum laude to graduate from the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin), dedicates her success to the Filipino people.
A BA English (Creative Writing) major, Yunting garnered a cumulative weighted average grade (CWAG) of 1.1170, out of the highest possible grade of 1.000, earning her the Latin honor of summa cum laude. She is the fourth summa cum laude of UP Mindanao and the first from the BA English (Creative Writing) program. Since 2019, the three summa cum laude were from the BS Food Technology program.
Yunting’s UP Mindanao journey is a long and winding story. She originally started her college education at UP Diliman, where she spent one semester studying BA Psychology. Halfway through the school year, she cultivated a passion for learning on her English general electives where she got higher grades more than her actual psychology major subjects. Just a typical UP experience, she decided she no longer wanted to study psychology for the next four years. Besides not liking her major, she was unhappy living in an unfamiliar city. That’s when she made the bold decision to go back home and pursue BA English (Creative writing) in UP Mindanao.
Getting the highest average grade was not her priority, until she was told by her professor that she had the potential to graduate as summa cum laude because she earned high GWAs from the previous semesters. This sparked an interest in her to achieve the title. Aside from making up for the lost time from being delayed, she decided to use this as a way to honor the sacrifices of her parents and the sacrifices of the taxpayers that afforded her the quality and free education.
“When you understand that you are here and you are a product of the labor of other people, it sharpens your focus. At least it did for me. Because I knew that I was here because of the taxes of my fellow Filipinos, and because of the sacrifices of my parents, the sacrifices of their parents. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the people. So we have to do our best for the people.”
She grew up in a small town in Zamboanga del Sur—a kind of place untouched by new roads, where violent politics was a norm. Growing up, she viewed Mindanao as a place to escape from—a sentiment ingrained from living in a small town where leaving was considered the ‘gold star’, especially going abroad. Up until she entered UP Mindanao, she carried this mindset, and it took her coming to UP Mindanao to unlearn this. She recalled how her writing was heavily influenced by the West; and even if writing about the Philippines, the narratives often centered on Manila and Luzon.
“It wasn't until I arrived at UP Mindanao that I encountered a profound emphasis on regional literature, history, and culture. Confronting this reality forced me to question myself: why was I always focused on others' stories and not my own?”
This realization significantly shaped her thesis where it predominantly explores her experiences in Mindanao.Entitled God and Other Villains, her thesis is a collection of seven short stories, each tackling a different aspect of what it is like to live in postcolonial Philippines—“from the weaponization of faith, state-sponsored violence and generational trauma, to the celebration of queer identity, reclamation of religion and the continued struggle for true freedom—all told against the backdrop of sleepy valley towns, neon-lit cities and the unpredictable terrain of the Filipino mountainside.” She received the best thesis in fiction with the guidance of her thesis adviser Mx. Sigrid Marianne Gayangos of the Department of Humanities.
The UPMin Literary Society’s mantra perfectly reflects Yunting’s realization—‘Writers from Mindanao, writing for Mindanao.’ She said that this personal growth is evident in her writing; comparing her early work to now, there's a palpable love and appreciation for Mindanao that was absent before.
In her graduation speech, she courageously addresses the harsh realities the graduates have faced, including political turmoil, human rights violations, economic instability, pandemic impacts, climate crises, and social injustices, illustrating the world they are set to inherit. Despite acknowledging a prevailing sense of hopelessness, she emphasizes resilience, urging her peers to defy the status quo and actively engage in creating positive change, despite inevitable setbacks.
"Surrendering is a luxury we simply cannot afford, because as iskolars ng bayan, we have to remember that we owe our education to the Filipino people."
She added, "If nothing else motivates you, at least, at the very least, allow some spite. If absolutely nothing else gets you going, let it be the desire to prove them all wrong. To prove that no, all is not lost. The world can be changed yet. We are not letting them win. So have some spite in your heart. Spite, better known by her other name—hope. After all, what is spite if not the impassioned hope that things can and should be better?"
Having passed the Law Aptitude Examination (LAE) 2024, Yunting will pursue law studies at the UP College of Law in the upcoming academic year. As a fiction writer, she wanted to make a difference beyond fiction. For her, being a lawyer is one of the most direct ways she could think of to help her country and fellow Filipinos.
Yunting, along with sixty-nine (69) magna cum laude and one-hundred sixteen (116) cum laude graduates, led the 303 graduates at UP Mindanao’s 26th Commencement Exercises held on July 19, 2024 at the University Atrium, UP Mindanao Administration Building, Mintal Davao City.
Written by: KC Ann Neljane Abella
(When using the photos, kindly credit: UP Media and Public Relations Office)
Ms. Kyndra Lei Yunting’s Sablay Photo