Despite hunger/poverty: success, service, significance

Sharing below the 2025 graduation addresses within the University of the Philippines (UP) System to inspire the present marginalized youth experiencing hunger/ poverty:

- Cherry Piquero-Ballescas

About to give up because of continuing challenges/ hardships faced while studying, she observed, while talking to her single parent father, that his hair had grown white, that he had also become thinner. She also saw/remembered that her siblings were depending on her, being the eldest.

Ma. Harriet Aven Victoria Nuñeza diligently persisted, finished her BS Mathematics, summa cum laude. Valedictorian of Class 2025, UP Cebu.

Despite running the unequal race that life presents, she is grateful to all those who helped carry her through.

She shared that “success is not just about how far we get, but who gets to come with us.”

Mark Andy Pedere, summa cum laude, BA Philippine Studies, College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman, shared (in Filipino) that he is “apo ng magsasaka at anak ng mga manggagawa nawalan ng trabaho ng mag Covid, naubos ang kanilang ipon, nabaon kami sa utang.”

To continue studying, “dumiskarte ako, I wrote for newspapers, created a social media page, became a tutor.”