Alegria working scholar graduates with college honors

Aileen Glinogo (far left) and fellow scholars Rohda Jaron, Leslie Joy Laurito, Francis Duren and Cherry Ann Castañeda attend recognition rites at the Capitol Social Hall. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

Aileen Glinogo was bullied in grade school in a mountain barangay in Alegria town, southern Cebu.

It didn’t get better when she transferred to another school about three kilometers away.

“Because I was shy, my classmates would make fun of me. They’d pound my head every now and then. On my way home from school, they would block my path and chase me away,” she told Cebu Daily News in Cebuano.

When she was 11 years old, Glinogo said she wanted to quit school but her mother  dissuaded her.

Fast forward eleven years later, Glinogo graduated magna cum laude at the Cebu Technological University (CTU) on  April 6.

“What motivated me was my family’s situation. I never thought finishing my education would  be this significant,” said Glinogo, the youngest of six siblings and the first college graduate in her family.

Valedictorian
Glinogo’s siblings  started their own families and move out of their parents’ home.Most of them are farmers, just like their father.

Glinogo has a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology with a major in computer technology.

“My father earns very little and we don’t  own the land we till up to now. There were times when I was little that he would sell vegetables in town,” Glinogo said.

When she had no classes, she would accompany her father to town to  help sell their harvest.

Glinogo graduated valedictorian from Inghoy Elementary School and salutatorian from Santa Filomena National High School.

Expenses
Before heading off to college, Aileen had to look for work to pay for her schooling.

For a year, Aileen worked in a home crafts shop in Lahug, Cebu City, earning P140 a day.

She used her year’s worth of earnings to get herself into CTU.

This course wasn’t her first choice, she said.

“I wanted to be a teacher, majoring in math. But this was the only course my parents could afford. Also, it’s the only one I liked out of the list of courses offered at CTU,” she said.

For eight months, Aileen worked at the university’s canteen to help defray the expenses and alleviate her parents’ burden.

Allowance
She earned P10 per  hour and worked for at least five hours, five days a week.

Since she took night classes, she would work during the day and attend her classes in the evening.

“I had nothing else in mind but to work hard and study hard at the same time. I kept thinking about how to help my parents,” Glinogo said.

At the end of the semester, she qualified for the Salutatorian Scholarship Program of the Cebu provincial government.

Glinogo was then entitled to a P1,500-monthly allowance from the province.

Partnership
The province has two scholarship programs for high school achievers—the valedictorian scholarship program in partnership with the CTU and Cebu Normal University (CNU), and the salutatorian scholarship program in partnership with the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

Sixty-four scholars under both programs, 48 of whom are academic awardees, were recognized at the Capitol Social Hall last Thursday, May 28.

Glinogo received P5,000 for completing her degree and an additional P20,000 for graduating with honors.

“I am very happy. Not only will the amount be of help to my parents, it will also help me in looking for a job,” she said.

Glinogo said she wants to buy a house for her parents.

“There’s nothing more I want in life right now than to give my parents a home since I’m the only one left living with them right now,” she said.

Asked whether she would still pursue teaching if given the chance, she said ‘yes.’

“Of course, I will. Especially now that I’ll be earning, hopefully, I don’t see why not,” she said.