From San Roque to Stanford University and beyond!
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in the category Estudyante Blues
Six years ago, two girls from two public high schools signed up for a summer school held at the Ateneo. Aylin Bello and Jennifer Robles were high school sophomores and both 14 at the time.
They joined Pathways’ summer school program simply for fun. It was something different. Instead of just staying home for summer, they were eager to meet students from other public high schools in the Marikina and Quezon City areas. They were also excited to meet their “teachers” – Ateneo college students who were also there for the “fun” of it – gamely volunteering their time to teach advanced classes in Math, English and Science. Cool classmates, even cooler teachers and a prestigious venue – it certainly sounded like a lot of fun!
Aylin was from Concepcion HS while Jennifer came from Santa Elena HS. Both of them lived in San Roque, Marikina, but did not know each other until then. Little did they know that that summer would change the course of their lives beyond their wildest expectations. That was in 2004.
Last March 27, 2010, Inside Miriam College’s covered courts, Aylin Bello and Jennifer Robles’ names are called out. They now join Miriam College’s Graduates of 2010.
No one could be more ecstatic than Aylin and Jennifer themselves. It all seems cut and dried now. “All’s well that ends well” is an expression that comes to mind. But the road that led to Graduation day has been long and arduous for both. These girls showed courage and sheer determination that has become rare these days.
Aylin is the eldest of seven siblings. Her parents only got as far as elementary in the province before having to work to supplement their families’ financial needs. Her father now works as a construction worker getting odd jobs every now and then, while her mother is a housewife who cares for seven children, the youngest only seven years old.
With Aylin’s father earning only P 380/day when there was work, it was very likely that Aylin would repeat her parents’ fate of not finishing school and be forced to work prematurely to help the family.
Jennifer or Efer as she is more fondly called, is also the eldest of two. Her father is a high school graduate who used to be employed as a factory worker in Valenzuela before getting retrenched. Her mother is a vocational graduate and a stay-at-home mother.
Since getting laid off, it has been difficult for her father to find another job since he is beyond the age limit prescribed by companies. Her family therefore had to rely on her lola’s sari-sari store and carinderia to make ends meet.
Though both Aylin and Efer had the potential for college, the likelihood of them pursuing higher education was practically nil.
However, as a result of their involvement in Pathways starting with that summer school in 2004, Aylin and Efer performed even better the following academic year. They also grew more confident and learned to aspire for higher goals. They were also able to take entrance exams in Pathways‘partner colleges and universities for free.
Miriam College admitted them in BS Psychology. Efer was offered a scholarship funded by a generous benefactor of the college, while Aylin was gifted with a scholarship by esteemed alum, Dr. Josefina Jayme-Card, now a Fil-Am who established JCAP, a partnership between the Jayme and Card families, Ayala Foundation and Ateneo Pathways to enable her to “give back” to the Philippines.
College in itself is already a challenge for any freshman. But Aylin and Efer came from public schools, that were non-sectarian and co-ed in nature; Miriam on the other hand, was an all-girls private Catholic school. While gratefully, Miriam College had a support system in place for scholars, there were still many challenges the girls needed to hurdle.
Of course, there were financial challenges. Even with a full scholarship, there were still the day to day needs of baon and pamasahe as well as expenses for projects. It certainly helped that generous donors like USSC-RCPI and KC de Venecia Foundation offered an allowance for Efer and Aylin respectively. This helped tide them over.
Apart from the financial issue, there was also the realization that while they may have been the better students in their schools, now they were in the “big league”, they had to work harder to compete with the best students from other schools as well.
But Aylin and Efer blossomed in college. In her freshman year, Efer wanted to run for student council but was intimidated by the cost to run a school campaign. However, with some prodding from her classmates, she ran the following year utilizing scratch paper and the back side of used cartolinas as posters. She was elected Treasurer of their Sanggunian that year. The year after, she was elected Secretary.
Aylin on the other hand, joined many organizations in and out of school, because she understood the value of extra-curricular activities to further enrich her college experience. She joined Aklatan ni Mika, a story-telling program for kids afflicted with cancer. She, along with Efer, also learned sign language to teach prayers to the hearing-impaired. They also joined immersion sessions with Aetas and taught them alternative cooking methods, basic hygiene and played educational games with the Aeta children. She also became the overall head of the Pathways Volunteers (PVolt), the group overseeing the Pathways after school program every Saturday throughout the school year.
In their senior year, they teamed up for their thesis. Aylin wanted to work on a clinical psychology topic while Efer lived in an environment where practically all her neighbors and relative smoked. That’s how they decided to tackle addition and study the variables that affect the smoker’s will to quit.
Their thesis on “Cognitive and Affective Factors that Predict Relapse in Filipino Adult Smokers” was recognized as Best Thesis by Miriam College. They accomplished this feat with neither of them owning a computer. They relied solely on school resources and the trusty neighborhood computer shops where they worked till the wee hours of the morning.
But all their hard work paid off. Apart from the recognition Miriam bestowed, they have already had the privilege of presenting their thesis in two national conferences in Miriam and UP. And now, Stanford University has selected their thesis for oral presentation at the prestigious Stanford Undergraduate Psychology Conference on May 21-22 in Palo Alto, California!
They only used to joke about this. On late nights, while working on their thesis, Aylin and Efer would often kid around about presenting their findings in Stanford. Little did they know that those jokes to help ease the stress away would actually come true.
On their graduation, Aylin also received the Miriam College Departmental Award for Service for the outstanding efforts she gave in her various endeavors. Efer on the other hand, received the Departmental Award for Leadership. The blessings have just kept pouring in.
Aylin and Efer realized the rare opportunity they had -– the gift of a good education and took full advantage of it. By immersing themselves in all the possibilities that were offered them, they were able to fully nurture their entire person to become the competent and confident young ladies that they are today.
Things are certainly looking up for these two girls from San Roque who now have the chance to go to Stanford and who knows, where else?
Their exposure to the many people, organizations and experiences has helped them chart their own paths to a better life. Most importantly, it has taught them to dream again and to believe that dreams can come true if you work hard for it.
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This year, Aylin and Efer join 33 other Pathways participants (our fourth batch of students) who will be graduating from different colleges this year – a real dream come true for all of them. We hope to be able to help more students like them fulfill their dreams of a college education.
This year, another batch of 80 college freshmen will begin their pursuit of their own college degree. We invite YOU to JOIN us in making this DREAM COME TRUE and help CHANGE the LIVES of the Aylins and Jennifers of this country.
The generosity of supporters and friends like you significantly improves the chances of our public high school participants to enjoy the quality education that they deserve.
For as low as P 1,000 per month, you can help another Aylin or Jennifer with their food and transportation expenses, or donate any amount that when pooled with other donations, will go a long way in helping another student fulfill his dreams of earning a college degree.
For more information, please refer to the Donor Form 2009.doc. You may also get in touch with us at 426.6001 loc. 4044 – 4049 or send an email to info.pathways@gmail.com.
Thank you so much for your time. Have a Blessed Holy Week and Advanced Happy Easter!
