SU student named Best Female ROTC Cadet by Philippine Army

C/MAJ Nurshema A. Upi 2CL of the Silliman University (SU) Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Unit was named the Best Female ROTC Cadet of the Year 2022 by the Philippine Army.

Upi is a second-year student taking up a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree.

In an essay sent to the SU Office of Information and Publications from the SU ROTC Unit, Upi said she underwent a screening process and was interviewed by the Philippine Army last February 14 and 24, 2023.

During the interview, Upi said she talked about her journey of becoming an ROTC officer, how the instructors and senior officers of the SU ROTC Unit nurtured her leadership skills, and how she became motivated to work on her growth and development.

In the second phase of the interview, Upi said she talked about representing the Tausug tribe and how she wanted to break stereotypes about Tausugs.

“Some people are scared of going to Jolo due to what has happened. But we (Tausugs) also live a normal life like everyone else in the country. And so I brought my tribe with me and spoke [on] behalf of them; that we, Tausugs, are also capable of sustaining and securing the peace within our land and that we are also capable of defending it [and we] are also peacemakers…Not everything that we see in the media is the general truth of what’s happening within our land,” said Upi.