Nagkakaroon lang siya ng baon kapag nanalo ang lola sa Tong-its.

“I thrived without my parents, guided by disabled guardians,” ani Yancy Panugon, summa cum laude from West Visayas State University. 
PHOTO/S: Yancy Panugon

Mala-teleserye ang success story ni Yancy Panugon, isang university valedictorian at summa cum laude mula sa West Visayas State University sa Iloilo City.

Natapos niya ang kursong Bachelor of Secondary Education, major in Mathematics.

Lumaki siyang wala ang mga magulang, at itinaguyod ng kanyang lola at tiyuhin na parehong PWDs (Persons With Disabilities).

“I thrived without my parents, guided by disabled guardians in a home with no electricity, and relied on free education, scholarships, and the kindness of people I met along the way. Now, graduating as University Valedictorian, achieving Summa Cum laude,” bahagi ng kanyang mahabang Facebook post, na hinugot mula sa kanyang valedictory speech.

Sabi ni Yancy, ang kanyang kuwento ay katulad ng mga napapanood na survival stories at thriller fiction.

“My father left without a trace when my mother discovered she was pregnant at an early age, forcing her to take all parenting responsibilities,” pagbabahagi ni Yancy.

Bunsod nito, napilitang makipagsapalaran sa Maynila ang kanyang ina para kumita ng pera, pero “reality hit hard like a ten-wheeler truck; the odds were not in our favor.”

Hindi na nagdetalye pa si Yancy ukol sa hirap na pinagdaanan ng kanyang ina.

Kinupkop si Yancy ng kanyang lola “who can only see with one eye, and my uncle, who is partially deaf.”

Aniya pa, “We all squeezed into a tiny, dimly lit home without electricity. We didn’t own a bed to sleep in, a table to eat on, or even access to water.”

Dahil walang kuryente, ang gamit nila ay flashlights at mga kandila.

CHALLENGES AS A STUDENT

Sa murang edad, natutunan na raw ni Yancy na kailangang paghirapan ang mga luho sa buhay.

Halimbawa, noong bata pa siya, kasama niya ang mga kaibigang bata sa Brgy. Duran para mamulot ng mga basura at ibenta ang mga ito kapag may nais silang bilhing laruan.

Sa elementarya, ang pagkakaroon niya ng baon ay nakadepende kung susuwertehin ang kanyang lola sa Tong-its.

“If she failed to win, I would skip school to play Tetris Battle or card games that involved money, hoping to pocket a few coins for school.”

Kilo-kilometro naman daw ang nilalakad ng kanyang 73 anyos na lola para um-attend sa parents-teachers assembly o kaya ay kunin ang report card ni Yancy.

Pero nagbunga ang pagsisikap noon ni Yancy, “as I graduated as the top student, the class valedictorian, from A. Montes I Elementary School.”

Malaking bahagi ng motivation ni Yancy ay galingsa paniniwala ng kanyang lola sa kakayahan niya.

In-enroll siya nito sa Iloilo National High School sa kabila ng kanilang pagiging salat.

“I remember my grandma had to hold a flashlight for long hours so I could study, and when her arms grew tired, I had to learn the art of multitasking: a flashlight in one hand, the other taking messy notes on a Mara-Clara-covered notebook.”

Kapag nauubusan na ng baterya ang flashlight ay kandila ang pinang-iilaw niya kapag ginagawa ang mga aralin sa gabi.

“No wonder my teachers questioned why my outputs sometimes had candle wax on them.”

Sa kagustuhang magkapera, sumasali raw noon si Yancy sa mga quiz bee, “hoping to have some pocket money to survive high school and hang out with my friends at nearby fishball stands.”

Malaking tulong din kay Yancy ang paging scholar niya sa Department of Science and Technology.

Nagtataka raw ang kanyang mga kapitbahay kung bakit niya mas lalong pinapahirapan ang sarili sa pag-aaral gayong hirap na sila sa buhay.

“The answer was simple: school was my escape from the painful realities of this survival game we call life,” post ni Yancy.

Hindi naman nasayang ang pagpupursige ni Yancy na nagtapos bilang class salutatorian sa Iloilo National High School.

At ngayon nga ay nagtapos siya ng kolehiyo bilang summa cum laude na may 1.1 general weighted average.

May makahulugang panawagan si Yancy sa kanyang mga kapwa graduates:

“To contribute to building a society where success for every young, struggling dreamer is more of a promise that can be delivered instead of just a one-in-a-million possibility, let’s create a culture where collaboration overpowers competition in this survival game called life.”