WHEN DAPHNE JOANNA MARIE I. RANGA woke up yesterday morning, Nov. 23, she knew it was going to be a tight day. She is vice president of the MMSU Kinetics Club which was helping in the preparations for the SCUAA-I Meet. The Batac native knew there were a lot of things to be accomplished, and that things had to go as planned. What she did not know is that the day would be bigger than she thought or imagined.

Things have gone smoothly so far, and Ranga was joyfully watching the opening revelries at the University Oval later in the afternoon, until an error occurred, and the first year Hospitality Management student was thrown into regional limelight.

The lighting of the athletic urn, hyped up by program hosts as \"extraordinary,\" was to showcase an innovation. Instead of an athlete directly lighting up the urn directly with the use of a torch, a ball of fire will be tossed into the urn which contains kerosene—the ignition was supposed to be instant. It has been done in MMSU’s Unigames last September, to the amazement of an appreciative crowd.

Peter Ruiz, a varsity basketball player from the host school, tossed the ball into the urn after a carefully rehearsed ceremony which includes a bicycle and running exhibition, but no fire was seen, not even some faint smoke.

For a short moment, the world of MMSU organizers stood still. Prof. Arsenio Gallego, MMSU’s sports director known for his emphasis on perfection and excellence, was silent. He would later on admit to The Daily Run that he felt tense and was a bit frustrated that things did not go as planned.

But following tradition, the athletic urn, which symbolizes unity among all athletes, had to be lit. Almost all sporting events commence with the ritual introduced in Ancient Greece where fire has divine connotations.

Kinetics Club president Hannah Paraoan asked Ranga to light up the urn. She was to be lifted by Ruiz into his broad shoulders. Ranga was initially hesitant, thinking of the danger the instant assignment posed, but eventually accepted the task \"para makapag-umpisa na\" and \"to show that para sa lahat e kayang-kaya ng mga taga-MMSU.\"

The less-than-one minute it took Ranga to light up the urn seemed to her like eternity. All the while, her twin sister Avegail was instructing her, \"Ilayo mo ‘yang mukha mo.\" Lifted by Ruiz, the 17-year old bent her frail frame like a ballerina in the air.

And after a few attempts, the urn gradually lit up.

Ranga felt euphoric was so happy after completing the task. She saved the day. Friends and strangers applauded the instant star. And the MMSU organizers regained their smile.

Later that night, Ranga, also a member of Nasudi, the famous performing group of MMSU, joined the dance showdown at the Solidarity Night held at the Teatro Ilocandia. In a rave party mood, she hit the dance floor like there was no tomorrow, and why not?

Ranga is dying to inform her parents, who are working in Bahrain, about her incredible experience which she ironically describes as \"cool!\".