Arican Student Obtained Fifth Place in the World Judo Championship in France: He was recognized by National Rectors of the Santo Tomás Institutions
The first-year student of the Kinesiology career at Arica Headquarters was part of the National Deaf Sports Federation that represented the country in the World Championship World Deaf Judo Championship.
In an emotional ceremony, the national rector of the Santo Tomás University, María Olivia Recart Herrera; the national rector of the Technical Training Center and Professional Institute, Juan Pablo Guzmán Aldunate, and the rector of the Institutions Santo Tomás Sede Arica, Ansonia Lillo Tor, awarded the first-year student of the Kinesiology career at Sede Arica, Juan Tapia Choque, for his participation representing our country in the World Deaf Judo Championship, which took place in the city of Versailles – Paris, France, obtaining 5th place.
Juan, who has a hearing disability, has been practicing sports since childhood, achieving excellent results in this area, so when he entered the University he obtained the “Outstanding Athlete” scholarship, which is awarded by the Student Affairs Directorate.
On the occasion, the student had the support of the sign language translator Daniela García, who conveyed her feelings during the ceremony. “I want to thank Santo Tomás, I feel very happy for this award, perhaps it is the first time that you have met a deaf person who is an athlete, but I hope that later on he can participate in the Olympics and can continue to have everyone’s support”, Tapia highlighted.
For her part, the national rector of the Universidad Santo Tomás Sede Arica, María Olivia Recart, stressed that “as a society we have to open ourselves to inclusion in a much broader term. In Santo Tomás we have a lot of inclusion, many young people who have a disability in this case Juan, who is a deaf student, who studies kinesiology and who is an elite athlete, is a judoka and these are stories of personal improvement of people who have many more difficulties to develop in life, they achieve these feats that move us all in the sense of saying perseverance, personality and how they manage to get ahead and are an inspiring symbol for all of us “he said.
Proud parents
Juan’s parents, Angélica and Juan, who also accompanied him to receive this recognition, expressed that “with Juan everything is a surprise, we have always been very proud of him and we are always supporting him in each of his steps together with the whole family. We are very grateful to Santo Tomás for this recognition, and for the support they have given him since he entered the University ”.
The activity was also attended by the vice-rector for Relations with the Environment, Admission and Student Affairs, Patricia Noda Videa, the academic director of the Universidad Santo Tomás Sede Arica, Francisco Zencovich Rodríguez, the academic director of the Professional Institute and President of the Committee of Inclusion of the Santo Tomás Institutions Arica Headquarters, Marcela Valenzuela Flores, the Director of Student Affairs, Cristina Godoy Guldman, the Director of Admission, Karla Pizarro Benavides, and the Director of Communications and Extension, Elizabeth Pastén S Quart.
Comments
.
