Fil-Am bares US scholarship opportunities

Where else can you get a bigger inspiration than from your parents?

Filipino-American, Zholl Tablante, took inspiration from his late father whose endeavors to help schools in their hometown in Angeles City, Pampanga, were unknown to him until he visited him in 2010, just before he passed away.

“I didn’t know him well, but everyone said he had a heart of gold. He was a major player in rebuilding some schools in Pampanga. I was told he was very active (behind the scenes) in the PTA and spearheaded various projects for the benefit of low-income students. This inspired me, and I realized the value and impact people can make in education. I have always wanted to use my skills and resources to help people,” he shared in an interview with Cebu Daily News.

“My family from my papa’s side said I remind them a lot of him, so I guess, in a way, I’m honoring his legacy,” he added.

His mother Lorna and father Benny got separated when he was young. Tablante, his older brother, Lou, and his mother moved to the United States when he was 7. He hadn’t heard from his father since then.

It wasn’t until 2010 when a relative contacted his brother, Lou, on Facebook informing him that his father was ill. The brother flew home in July 2010 to see their father on his deathbed. The day after his visit, their father passed away.

At that time, Tablante was pursuing a degree in Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine. He eventually moved to Shanghai where he taught himself Mandarin fluently. Tablante, a lover of languages, participated in a Fulbright Scholarship and eventually received a master’s degree from Harvard University in Language and Literacy.

Shortly after graduation in 2017, Tablante ultimately found the perfect career fit at Dartmouth College, where he is now a senior assistant director of admissions. He is tasked with the job of being the territory manager for Asia and expanding the college’s footprint in the region.

He was in Cebu yesterday as one of the speakers for the first Guidance Counselor Conference that was organized by the US Embassy in Manila. He explained the holistic admission process and how each student is read in context through an interactive case study that highlighted the importance of the student’s narrative. The conference was highly attended by a majority of guidance counselors from public and private high schools in Cebu including one from Bohol.

Apart from the expected academic excellence, he said Ivy League schools like Dartmouth are looking for a good mix of talent, citizenship, and potential to make an impact in the community. Cebuano high school students can now dream and take a shot at landing a scholarship in an Ivy League school in the U.S.

Asked what advice he can give to aspiring students, he said “The best advice I can give to students is they have to be their own biggest fan. If they’re not rooting for themselves to succeed, then why would anybody else? If they’re afraid of the spotlight, then how are they going to shine bright enough for us to see them when we read their application?”

This is the first time that an admissions officer from any Ivy League school has come to promote higher education in Cebu. Tablante was also the first Ivy League admissions officer to go on a continuous 50-day tour all over Asia, which is seemingly the longest travel recorded in Ivy League history. Staying true to their mission, Dartmouth is leading the charge in the Ivy League to create a global diversity and getting diversity within diversity by visiting places that they’ve never been to before.

As the school’s admissions officer for Asia since last year, Tablante said that Dartmouth College is expected to continue to tell the enchanting story of Dartmouth and the opportunities it has to offer throughout Asia–including the Philippines and Cebu. He noted that in the past two years there has been a rising trend in the number of applicants from the Philippines to Dartmouth and wants to make sure that trend continues.

Tablante plans to come back to Cebu in the Fall to personally visit more high schools in the province where he can talk about Dartmouth College and the opportunity to pursue the American dream.