Vendor’s son is one of UPV’s summa cum laudes

His voice cracking with emotion, UP Visayas’ School of Technology summa cum laude and graduating student Mark Rudan C. Consular paid tribute to his mother, whom he considered his pillar of strength.

Consular was chosen to give the response on behalf of the Class 2022 graduates of UP Visayas during the Papuri 2022, a university recognition program for honor graduates and special achievement awardees held on July 21, 2022, at the UPV Iloilo City campus.

“What I have right now…all the achievements that I attained was not only for me but for you, Mama, because this is our journey, this is our success,” he pointed out.

Consular, a BS Chemical Engineering student, revealed that his mother is a vendor of banana crackers and peanuts, who raised him alone and wished for nothing more but for her only son to attain a degree.

He also talked about the pillar of courage, recalling the fear he had when he applied for the UP College Admissions Test. He later turned his trepidations into objectives when he passed the test. He said that the pillar of courage empowered him to try his best.

The two other pillars he talked about were of resilience and of hard work.

On resilience, he recalled that when the pandemic hit, and as learning turned to online classes, he was very concerned about internet connectivity.

He was forced to stay in his grandparents’ house on a hillside which had a stronger data connection.

The downside was he had to cross rivers to get there, which was made more difficult when it rained, and the river overflowed.

Through this, he had to find an alternate route while barefoot through rice fields, muddy trails, steep hills, and thick and tall grasses. He also had to care for his grandparents.

On hard work, he narrated that he always made it a point to do advanced readings, come to class prepared, learn as much as he could and consult with his professors while doing tutorial jobs to earn money for his financial needs.

“With courage, resilience and hard work and my mother, I was able to make it this far. Four years ago, I never imagined that I would graduate as one of the summa cum laudes of Class 2022,” he stated. (Mary Lyncen M. Fernandez/IPO)