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Fulfilling infinite possibilities

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Just like all other Iskolar ng Bayan, there is a story behind this hard-earned sablay on my shoulder. Believe it or not, this cum laude graduate was a vagabond as early as first grade.

I was five years old then and I really didn’t look forward to going to school every day. I refused to listen to my teachers. As the popular joke would go, my favorite subject was recess. In fact, I would always escape from class and go home to watch Mr. Bean on television. My parents were at their wits’ end convincing me to go to school.

That was until one fateful day in July 2005. I can still vividly remember when a sparkling white van came to our elementary school. A pretty, well-mannered lady in a crisp white polo, along with her companions, got off the van and distributed school supplies and snacks to me and my schoolmates.

I didn’t know who they were and where they came from, but I was simply excited with the prospect of receiving any kind of gift. I thought back then that it was not so bad to be in school after all. At first, I simply enjoyed going to school because of these bags of goodies that we would receive every so often. Eventually, I started looking up to these adults who were always enthusiastic and energetic. In my mind, they were very successful at what they did and they seemed very happy and content with their lives.

Months passed by and guess what? I enjoyed studying so much that I became first honor in our class. I didn’t know what happened but somehow I felt motivated to take my studies seriously. Deep inside, I wanted to be just like that pretty lady who would be rich enough to go around schools and give away free stuff!

I can still remember how happy my parents were during recognition day. For the first time, I saw how proud they were of me. I promised myself from that time on that I will keep studying hard to make them happy. Years passed by and I realized even more through various circumstances how important a good education was for me to earn money to provide for my family.

I grew up in an extended family. We were poor but I didn’t give it much thought growing up because there was always so much love and caring in our family. Unfortunately, I eventually realized love was not enough to cure my sick family members. My grandfather, uncle and nanay-nanayan all passed away one by one due to lingering illnesses just a few months before my high school graduation.

There is always that regret in my mind that if we just had the means, we would have been able to have them treated and they would have been around long enough to see me graduate and deliver my valedictory address. That dream was so close yet it was snatched very far away from me.

In high school, some familiar faces came back not to haunt me but to give me new hope. It turns out that the pretty lady I admired when I was younger would play an even bigger role in my future. I learned that she and her team were employees of a well-known geothermal energy company in our province of Negros Oriental, and that it was their mission to help people in our communities.

To my surprise and excitement, I found out that they have a College Admission Review and Readiness (CAReeRs) program that assists high school students in entering top state universities. I was even more excited to learn that they also provide scholarships. I knew this was the opportunity I had been waiting for all my life.

I applied and fortunately got into the program. With all my energy, passion, hard work and dedication, I took to heart all the learnings and guidance our mentors provided. When I saw my name in the roster of accepted students at the University of the Philippines—Cebu for schoolyear 2015, it was simply the best feeling in the world.

Now, after four years, that feeling is only topped by another achievement, and that is finally completing my studies and being able to garner an academic distinction. Throughout all the hardships of my youth, I feel I am ready to take on the adult world not only to finally be able to earn a living but most importantly, to prove my worth and put to action all the knowledge I have learned.

It brings tears to my eyes when I look back at the blessings I’ve received throughout this whole college journey–how my CAReeRs mentors never gave up on me; how every single peso from the stipend I received from them bought me so many things; how their lessons in values formation and personality development molded me into the person who I am today.

Just imagine more than a decade ago, who would have thought that I possessed such potential to succeed? It is this mission to make young people like me realize our infinite possibilities that really make a big difference, and I will forever be grateful to the pretty lady who sparked that change in me. Soon, I myself will be that same pretty lady smiling at a lost and confused child, and it is my only hope that I can spark the same change in her. (Mary Grace Tito)

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The author graduated cum laude with a degree in BA major in Mass Communications from the University of the Philippines-Cebu, under the Energy Development Corp.’s CAReeRs scholarship program.

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