CONGRATULATIONS, Nathan Wayne Ariston, member of Class 2021 of the Philippine Science High School – Central Mindanao Campus (PSHS-CMC), for receiving admission offers from the Yale University (USA), Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), University of California – Irvine (USA), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore).
Taking pride in his Teduray indigenous roots, Nathan Wayne F. Ariston shall study in Yale University where he is planning to major in physics.
His full-ride scholarship will cover the yearly estimated cost of attendance for four years.
“I feel so lucky for being part of the Yale Class of 2025. And it just excites me that I am given the opportunity to explore beyond anywhere I’ve been so far to learn and to contribute to the community there and eventually here as well,” Ariston said.
He is the first graduate of PSHS-CMC to be accepted at Yale University, an Ivy League school. He graduated from Nuro Central Elementary School in Maguindanao and decided to study at PSHS-CMC in Baloi, Lanao del Norte.
“Pisay certainly contributed a great deal to my development both in intellect and in character, and I shall not graduate without having to thank Pisay and the people who supported me,” he said.
“I am prouder of where I came from than my academic achievements. I am proud of my ethnic identity,” he said.
A proud son of a farmer and an elementary school teacher, Ariston said that science and technology have always been close to his heart, no less so are the people who surround him in his community.
“The best way that I could give back to our country is through offering my soon-to-be expertise in STEM that I could acquire through this education grant to serve in whatever way I can the people immediately around, specifically in Maguindanao and the other Muslim Mindanao areas,” he said.
Ariston has brought honors to our country when he won the silver medal in the International Earth Science Olympiad organized in Daegu, South Korea and the bronze medal in the 2020 International Chemistry Olympiad organized in Istanbul, Turkey. Both competitions were organized virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked about his advice to Filipino students on the challenges of remote/online learning, he said, “The most important value that every Filipino learner should embody, to me at least, is the unceasing drive to learn and to remain curious and to discover new ideas and principles,” Ariston said.