A 13-year-old student from Catanduanes National High School recently snagged the top prize at the Philippine leg of the 54th Universal Postal Union International Letter Writing Competition. Now, her letter is heading all the way to Berne, Switzerland to compete against entries from 192 countries.
The challenge was to write a letter as if participants were the ocean, asking humans to take better care of them. Mikaela Ashika Vargas nailed it with her powerful piece, beating out hundreds of young writers nationwide, according to the Philippine Postal Corp. in a statement.
Mikaela’s winning letter was chosen by the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) to represent the country.
Joining her on the national winner’s list were Aime Renny Suon of Agusan National High School (second prize) and Jayden Lyle Darcy Tonosgan of Antique Vocational School (third prize). All winners bagged cash prizes, medals, and certificates for their efforts.
Beyond bragging rights, the competition pushed students to flex their creativity, sharpen their writing skills, and get real about serious issues like ocean conservation. Plus, it also highlighted how postal services still play a major role in connecting people and ideas worldwide.
For her part, Mikaela thanked the organizers for providing the youth a platform to be heard.
“To the judges, thank you for believing in my letter. And to all the students who joined the competition, thank you for writing with me. Your voices matter too,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“Let’s keep writing, sharing, and helping protect our oceans—one letter at a time!” she added.
