18/06/2025
BANA-AG | The Dream Herself: The Technopacer-Talisay’s Game Changer
Dragging a sack nearly her size, the little girl ran beside her mother through the busy streets of Panaad Park and Stadium. While other children clutched balls and pedaled bicycles, she held tight to a sack filled with bottles, cans, bent nails, and other things that were trash to most but a means of survival they hoped to trade for a meal. She was once a daughter watching from the sidelines, hoping to step into a life where she would no longer have to choose between playing and surviving.
Despite everything, she still hoped. Drei dreamed.
Dierdre Rossell Azucena, Editor-in-Chief of The Technopacer-Talisay, is now a graduate of Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English at Carlos Hilado Memorial State University. Once a little girl with dreams of her own, she is now ready to provide shelter and light to young dreamers reaching toward the horizon.
Before she steps into her role as an educator, she is already a beacon, lighting the way for young journalists to find their voice. As she walks into a new classroom, once-quiet writers, artists, and students will remember that during her college years, she built a room, a space, and a home where people felt seen, heard, and empowered. For three consecutive years, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the publication.
“My college journey as Editor-in-Chief was nothing short of transformative. It wasn’t just about holding a position—it was about becoming a person who could lead through both chaos and clarity. I entered the publication with curiosity and a writer’s heart, but I leave it with a deeper sense of purpose, sharpened by late-night edits, fearless stances, relentless deadlines, and the privilege of leading some of the most talented, passionate minds I’ve ever met,” she said.
Once a child dragging sacks beneath the sun to survive, Drei would later carry a different weight, quietly leading a publication through the shadows of scarcity. There is an unseen weight that comes with leadership, especially when the budget barely stretches enough to print a few pages. Behind the praises, awards, and published outputs were quiet battles. Among the most persistent was the limited resources. There were moments when the team had to reuse old materials, borrow laptops and cameras from friends, share a single working printer, or hold meetings in cramped and sometimes borrowed spaces. There were delays in releases, not because the team ran out of stories but because they ran out of papers. And still, the stories found their way to the pages, the voices of struggling students were heard, and victories were celebrated. Drei led with the least but gave the most. The team didn’t stop because she never did.
"We learned to be resourceful, to exhaust every possibility, to maximize every little thing we had. I empowered my team to create boldly, despite the limits. And I reminded myself—always—that purpose doesn’t come with a price tag. We may have lacked funding, but we never lacked fire. And that made all the difference." she added.
Her byline may no longer appear in the next issue. Roles may change, and pages may fade, but her name will leave echoes, and her spirit will leave a legacy. She may now be leaving the university grounds, but the people she nurtured within will still carry the imprint of her braveness, her passion, and her enduring spirit. Drei’s departure marks the end of a chapter but not the end of her story. She may no longer be the one pressing “send” on the final layout, catching errors in the last hour before printing or posting, but her presence remains. The people she leaves behind will continue to share her story, how she led, how she gave, and how she won every battle with grace and grit. Her leadership will echo through generations of students who follow.
Drei’s dreams will remain. They stay in the hearts of those who continue the work.
“Leaving feels like saying goodbye to a part of myself. But I hold on to the hope that I’m leaving behind a legacy built on courage, compassion, and truth—and that the next ones will carry that forward, even louder,” she quoted.
Despite everything, she still hoped. Drei dreamed.
She didn’t come from privilege. Her childhood was not filled with playrooms or picture books. Instead, she once walked the sunlit streets of Panaad Park and Stadium beside her mother, dragging a sack nearly her size filled not with toys but with bottles, cans, and scraps they hoped to sell for a single meal. While other children clutched balls and chased the carefree afternoons of youth, Drei held tightly to a different kind of hope, one forged in silence, shaped by necessity, and carried with quiet determination. That same hope later shaped her leadership as Editor-in-Chief of the university publication. In Drei’s life, scarcity was not unfamiliar; it was a constant companion. There were no extras, no safety nets, no shortcuts. And still—she led. She hoped. She dreamed. She survived.
The little girl who once carried sacks of plastic bottles grew into a leader who carried a team with direction and purpose. The same girl who studied in a dim corner, lit only by a candle’s glow, walked through the stage, bathed in light, as she received her diploma, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She no longer carries a sack of recyclables but instead holds a medal and a degree, weighted not just with achievement but with stories, sacrifice, and unwavering perseverance.
Drei’s dreams have come true, not only for herself but for the community she built, the publication she uplifted, and the legacy she now leaves behind.
Some dreams begin not in comfort but in courage. But, to The Technopacer-Talisay, Drei was not just a dreamer—she was the dream come true.
After everything, she hoped. She dreamed.
Drei is no longer the girl chasing dreams. She became one.
Feature | Tanya Aguirre
Layout and Graphics | Anne Buenaflor
