A silver lining: the One UPV origin story
An essay by Former UPV Vice Chancellor of Administration Ann Gumban
One UPV Foundation (USA) Inc. was born out of a commitment of fellow “Iskos” and Iskas” to give chances to students who are financially challenged. I say that “We don’t have much, but the LITTLE that we share comes from BIG willing hearts”. This is what makes a difference in the lives of people and this is what gives everyone a Silver Lining to go on despite the financial difficulties and challenges in their studies. There are a lot of success stories of students who are financially challenged in UPV and may I share this with the rest of the world and with my fellow alumni.
One day, in my work as the Dean of the College of Management, I was out of town driving on the mega highway of NLEX from Baguio City. A former classmate and a benefactor of One UPV Foundation (USA) Inc. who is now a top executive residing in HongKong, called me asking if I can give him a scholar whom he wants to provide financial assistance to. I was surprised by that call because I did not expect him to call me and the purpose of that call was quite shocking to me. It was totally unexpected from him, whom I haven’t heard from for years, and then this call with this purpose. For one hour we talked about his offer and discussed with him the “Poor but Deserving” criteria. I told him that almost 95% of students who come to UPV are poor and deserving. He said “you choose the poorest of those poor but with the drive to excel”. So when I returned to my office I immediately asked for an electronic record of the students with the top GWA (General Weighted Average) and examined the “poor background” of the students. I chose a student who was the oldest among a brood of siblings, whose mother was a “lavandera” (laundrywoman) and father was a “trisikad (tricycle) driver”. The student was called to the office and notified that an alumnus wants to give him P5,000 a month for 3 years until he graduates and pass the Accountancy Board Exam. He was emotionally shocked and in tears because this was totally unexpected and he could not believe what he just heard. To cut the story short, the student graduated with flying colors and is now a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) working successfully in one of the Accounting firms in Manila.
There was also the story of a survivor of the typhoon disaster “Haiyan” who lost his home, livelihood and members of his family. After the disaster, he continued to meet the demands of finishing a degree by washing clothes and cleaning houses for his classmates on the weekends and eating food leftovers and scraps. After graduating with flying colors, he became a CPA Board passer wannabe but didn’t have the means to finance the intensive review classes. I dialed an alumnus from California who is also a member of One UPV Foundation to solicit the funds for this student’s review. The funds were sent immediately. The student was able to attend the review classes, passed the Board Exam and is now working in one of the largest networked banks in the country.
The Foundation is one avenue where financial benefactors such as those above converge and put together financial resources to give hope to people who wanted to make a difference in their lives. It also touches the lives not only of our preselected beneficiaries but ripples through the members of their families as well. Finally, I have realized that there are a lot of people who are just waiting to be tapped to share whatever little they have to benefit the right people for the right reasons. This is what defines the continued existence of “One UPV Foundation (USA) Inc.” – giving chances, giving HOPE and changing lives!