Out of 10 participating Central Luzon colleges and universities, three BS Nursing students led Tarlac State University to win second place overall in the first Regional Battle of the Nightingales, an inter-school nursing quiz bowl, held at SM City San Fernando, Pampanga yesterday (August 25).
Lean Gelomy Raiz, Bryan Gopez, and Andrea Gelle Gemicah Turay, who are in their third-year level, represented TSU and competed in a two-part quiz bee, preliminary and finals, composed of easy, moderate, and hard questions.
"Coming into the competition po, we weren't really expecting much since most of the participants are in their fourth year already, yet kaming tatlo third-year students pa lang. And during the quiz bowl proper, more than half ng mga tanong are derived from the subjects na hindi pa rin namin na-take. Gratefully, we were mentored sufficiently during the review period kaya still, we had a background knowledge sa ibang questions," Raiz said.
TSU advanced to the final round after garnering 43 points in the prelims, the second-highest among the top five scorers.
As the final round concluded, TSU and Centro Escolar University - Malolos ended with a tie. They had to undergo a "sudden death" match composed of five questions where TSU was declared the second placer after being the first school to get the correct answer on the third question.
"We were truly ecstatic (and suprised) nung nakapasok kami sa final round, then finally winning the clincher round against CEU - Malolos," Raiz further said.
As second placers, the group received 12,000 pesos as a cash prize.
"Above all, we are truly grateful to have this kind of experience and opportunity to represent our university," she added.
Ms. Regie Jimenez, Nursing Department chairperson, was the group's coach. They were also mentored by the department's faculty members, including College of Science dean Prof. Mary Jane Rigor, a licensed nurse.
The inaugural quiz competition was held to highlight the importance of nursing in the community and test the knowledge of BS Nursing students, according to Mr. Paolo Vincent Torres, Sacred Heart Hospital of Malolos Deputy Chief Executive Officer.
"This quiz bee for this afternoon is a testament [to] the importance of the knowledge that you have and (your) understanding of the nursing skills," Torres said.
The Sacred Heart Hospital of Malolos, Inc. and Central Luzon Doctors' Hospital of Tarlac City organized the inaugural quiz competition.
Photo credits: Ms. Regie Jimenez, Central Luzon Doctors' Hospital Facebook page livestream
