[Third in a series: This Commencement 2024, UNP awarded three graduates with the distinct honor of Summa Cum Laude. In this series, we feature their incredible journeys of juggling their academic pursuits and personal lives.]

When you tell the little girl who was usually scolded by her teacher 12 years ago that she will be the Batch Valedictorian, she will probably laugh and brush it off as a joke, much like Cinderella if she was told she would become a princess while scrubbing their abode’s floor.

Hailing from the coastal town of Caoayan in the Heritage Province of Ilocos Sur where mothers weave hope through Abel Iluko, I was raised by my abel weaver grandmother and calesa driver grandfather as both my parents worked overseas.

Before becoming the “Mary Hope” which my friends call me for serving as a convent personnel at Our Lady of Hope Parish in Caoayan for three years, I was known as the tiny girl who rode calesa to school and upon going home with her lolo and lola.

I still remember how I envied my classmates in elementary who were usually sent off and fetched by cars. Just like any other kids, I thought cars were way cooler than calesas.

There was even a time where my younger self would ask my grandpa to cover the windows so people would not see me having lunch in our calesa by the side of Vigan Cathedral, afraid of being teased about it.

Good thing I got over it. I was wrong. And if there’s something I’d like to share on this, it’s that I should be proud of my possessions: honor, joy, and privilege.

Privilege to help reduce pollution by riding our traditional transportation. Privilege to be living our identity as Ilokana living in a Heritage City.

Privilege to be riding the calesa that sent thousands of students to school and toured them around Vigan after class. Privilege to be seen riding the calesa that helped my grandparents send their children to school and in return, led me to where I am today. Thus, it was always my dream to give back to my grandparents who showed me nothing but selfless love.

As a child, nakatira po ako sa farm on weekends where I worked hard to scrub the bamboo floors of our kalapaw (bahay kubo). Electricity was only a dream back then. I still remember vividly how I would listen to the news and entertainment programs of Bombo Radyo where I first learned that laughing by myself was a thing.

Never did I imagine that years later, I will not only meet the people behind the radio before, but they also became my teachers and mentors as a Communication student. And just recently, they interviewed me as one of the Summa Cum Laudes of our University. And unknown to many, I also became one of their volunteer reporters.

Attaining the highest honors was never easy. In fact, I always wished to be a kid again where I would be able to sleep undermining the tasks at hand to accomplish.

There was even a time where my friends’ only wish was to have a sleepover where academic requirements weren’t the reason. Time also came when our homes already became our dorms, as we were always out to do our requirements.

However, as always, God is good all the time. He is compassionate and loving. At times where I can no longer endure it, He never failed to let His presence felt. When everything becomes unbearable, I just follow what Mother Teresa shared and say: “Mama Mary, right now please be a mother to me.” Cliche you’ll say, but it works.

He knew it would be a tough road ahead, so he sent me angels in the forms of my friends and

mentors to ease my burdens. And as I always say, the thing that I’m most grateful of the University of Northern Philippines is meeting these people.

I know there will still be a lot of challenges as we face the real world, but at the end of the day, I know that God will let me have my happily ever after.

It might still be a long way, but in this chapter, the tiny girl who rode calesa everyday brought her grandparents onstage and presented them her diploma as the Class of 2024 Valedictorian.