TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija – A 21-year-old fresh graduate of B.S. Chemical Engineering from the University of the Philippines- Diliman was named Natatanging Anak of this urbanizing municipality.
Alexander John Cruz, one of 19 summa cum laude graduates having an average of 1.16 last April, was one of only six people conferred with the prestigious award by the town government, headed by Mayor Nerivi Santos-Martinez as part of the Linggo ng Magsasaka festivities of San Isidro Labrador that culminated on Thursday.
Santos said that Cruz’s scholastic history, having entered UP as a scholar of the Department of Science and Technology, serves as inspiration among their people. The other awardees were Aquilino Ferrer (agrilculture), Judith De Vera (spiritual), Jonnie Payoyo (youth leadership), Carlito Fernando (fi nance) and Ricardo Buenaventura (cooperative).
For their contributions to the local government, Vic Abesamis and Reynaldo Villanueva were given special awards.
“He did not only strive to fi nish college, he worked hard to earn knowledge with his mother and sister as well as his country in mind,” Martinez said of Cruz. “I really faced a lot of challenges, financially and emotionally but I made them as inspiration in achieving all my dreams in college,” Cruz said.
He said he realized that he can be a cum laude during the second semester of first year. “Kaya ko pala,” he said, adding that was the time he made graduating with honors one of his goals. Cruz was raised by a single mother who worked hard to provide his needs in his early studies. He never knew his father.
He was the valedictorian of his class at Honorato C. Perez Senior Memorial Science High School in Cabanatuan City where he learned about the scholarship grants being granted to poor but deserving students by the DOST.
In Manila, there were times when he had to eat rice with free soup or topped with menudo at the university’s cooperative canteen to make ends meet. Instead of buying or photocopying books, Cruz regularly borrowed from the library.
While in college, he did research work for some professors in the College of Engineering where he later became a student assistant. He also had to take part-time tutorial jobs for high school students in Ateneo in some subjects such as math, chemistry and physics.
Cruz intends to work for an energy-related company after graduation to help his family and save money so he could pursue graduate studies abroad to enhance his knowledge and then return to the country to be a scientist here.
He said he has no plan to settle or work abroad. “To make ends meet, basically I’m a working student without compromising my academics,” he said. He is keen on taking energy- related work.
