Almost four years ago, Grade 6 pupil Erin Patricia Del Rosario in Cabanatuan City defied the odds by applying for Grade 7 admission to a premier government-run science high school away from her hometown but disappointingly got waitlisted for a slot as an alternate qualifier. Ultimately, however, the Philippine Science High School-Central Luzon Campus at the Clark Freeport, Zone, Pampanga accepted the persistent Erin and she went on receive the highest honors on her graduation this year--held virtually owing to the corona virus pandemic--with a cumulative general weighted average (GWA) of 1.12 from Grade 7 to 12.
Top science high school graduate Erin Patricia Del Rosario with her parents and brother
upon participating at home in the recent virtual graduation ceremonies of the Philippine
Science High School-Central Luzon Campus at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga.
Erin bested 85 batchmates across three sections at Pisay-CLC, the school's monicker. She admits that she had always been competitive in academics since she was a little girl, but having had a sheltered childhood, it was an aunt of hers who got her interested in science and math.
She recalls: "I was
'kikay' and loved reading
Disney Princess magazines, but my
tita (auntie) said,
'Ay sayang oras mo diyan!' So she gave me a science encyclopedia for kids when I was in kinder and I was quickly fascinated with the solar system and all that. But I balanced [my studies] with my
'kikay' stuff
kasi syempre bata," she added with a chuckle.
"You'll hear other stories from valedictorians or salutatorians from their elementary schools [getting in], but with me, I was waitlisted. So, I was very scared at that time. I was like, 'Do I even deserve to be here?'"
But when she was accepted at Pisay-CLC, she made every effort to prove that she deserved it, landing in the Director's List in her very first quarter of Grade 7 and sustained her sterling performance all the way till her 4th year."
Read the full story "With Highest Honors, Philippine Science's top graduate defies the pandemic's challenges" in The Manila Times now!
