ILOILO CITY — A daughter of a sugarcane farmer from Barangay Agtabo, Passi City, Iloilo finished her college degree as summa cum laude.
Karen M. Gardose, 20, is among the 79 college scholars of the provincial government’s “Iskolar sang Iloilo,” who were recognized on Friday afternoon.
Gardose finished her degree of Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics at the West Visayas State University (WVSU) main campus in this city.
Gardose said that she never expected to gain the highest award.
Recalling all the hardships she gone through since her elementary days, she said that her dream to alleviate her family from poverty motivated her to do best in her studies. She is the second among her four siblings.
She thanked the provincial government for giving her the opportunity to study in college.
“I am really thankful and blessed,” she said.
Gardose said she is planning to further study Actuarial Mathematics as she dreams of working in the government in the near future. “I want to give back to the government,” she said.
But for the meantime, she said that she wanted to teach in senior high school in one of the schools in Passi City.
The provincial government of Iloilo on Friday afternoon recognized its 79 college scholars in a program at Casa Real, Iloilo.
This year, twenty-five of the 79 college scholars graduated with academic honors.
Aside from Gardose, six graduated magna cum laude and 18 others as cum laude.
The summa cum laude received from the provincial government cash award of PHP7,000; magna cum laude, PHP5,000; cum laude, PHP3,000; and the remaining graduates received PHP1,000 each.
The graduates, who are magna cum laude, are Aliyah Jesena of Maasin town (BS in Business Administration); Glenda Palmes, Cabatuan (Bachelor in Special Education); Christian Jay Ponsica, Banate (BS in Business Administration); Jessa Senope, Barotac Nuevo (BS in Business Administration); Emerielle Kaye Sorolla, New Lucena (BS in Biology); and Mellisa Suganob, Cabatuan (BS in Forestry).
The provincial government again called for applicants as they hope to support the educational needs of 125 poor but deserving students for school year 2018-2019.
Interested applicants must be senior high school graduates belonging to the upper 10 percent of the graduating class, with annual gross family income of not more than PHP150,000; a bona fide resident of the province; and must enroll in any state university or college in the province.
Qualified applicants will enjoy free tuition and miscellaneous fees.
They are also entitled to PHP3,500 monthly stipend; PHP2,000 book allowance per semester; and PHP1,000 clothing allowance per semester. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
