Aliena-chan, omedetou gozaimasu!

Her name is Aliena Mari P. Miranda.  Alie for short.

In case her name doesn't ring a bell yet, I'm pretty sure it soon will.

Here's why:

with Hanami Sensei

with classmate Eloisa

sharing her reflection one afternoon in Nihongo class

She's smart, cute, responsible and even more.  A born leader.  A scientist in the making.  A consistent academic achiever.  And yes, she has always been the Top 1 student of her batch ---- the kind of protege you'd be so proud to introduce to everyone, and the kind of child that makes her parents cry tears of joy.  But wait, there's more.

Guess what?

Having gone through a very thorough and intense selection process, she will be the LONE representative of her school and city to the AFS Intercultural Program in Japan, which is in cooperation with the Japanese Embassy in Manila, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Jenesys programme of the Japanese government.  With 54 other students all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao chosen from among 400 ++ applicants , she'll be touring three cities in Japan, exchanging views with other international high school students, and sharing about her country's cultural heritage and history.  Yes, it's sort of playing the role of an ambassador of Pasig and of the Philippines for a short-term period.

Alie will be leaving for Japan on December 6 this year, and might even stay at home with a Japanese host family, and attend a real Japanese high school during her two-week stay in にほん!!!

And that's just another feather to her cap.  And we're so proud of her that we're actually beyond words.

She's a true blue Pasigueña.  A student from Pasig City Science High School.  And her name is Aliena.

アリナーちゃん、おめでとう　ございます！！！！