Esguerra, a Batch 2022 scholar who graduated with a degree in agribusiness from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños on 1 July, shared that the scholarship was an important part of her academic journey for changing her life.
“Being an Aboitiz scholar was so much more than the financial support. It was the people I met, the friendships I built, and the mentors who guided me. It was also the learning opportunities that helped me become the kind of leader I hoped to be,” Esguerra said.
After her internship at AboitizPower, she now works for the renewable energy company as a corporate communications specialist, doing press releases, stories and media relations.
“The things I was passionate about in college — pitching, marketing, and communicating narratives — could now be used to tell stories of how AboitizPower helps light up and empower communities across the Philippines,” she said.
Where leadership begins
The foundation president also awarded certificates of scholarship to 11 new scholars and declared them as now part of the Aboitiz family. They are Ian Joseph Reinard Alejar, Maria Angela Bulanadi, Kollin Kate Cayco, Charise Marae Isidro, Anaiah Justo, William Yohan Pinlac, Askia Khryss Roxas, Nicole Daine Salvador, Emanuel Tan Du, Adi Joaquim Tolentino and Miguel Alexander Villarica.
Pinlac said he looks forward to becoming a future leader through the scholarship.
“Sometimes, the only way to discover what we are capable of is to do something we were once afraid to do. And I think that is where leadership begins. Not in knowing exactly what to do, but in having the courage to take the first step despite not knowing what comes next. That is what being an Aboitiz Future Leader means to me,” the mechanical engineering sophomore from University of the Philippines-Diliman said.
He thanked the Aboitiz Group and the Aboitiz Foundation “for believing in us before we have had the chance to prove what we are capable of.”
“Your support means more than helping us continue our education. It gives us the freedom to focus on learning, growing, and becoming what we hope to be,” Pinlac added.
Pinlac also told his batchmates of the optimism the scholarship brings.
“And to my fellow scholars, our dreams and journeys may be different, but today, we share the same opportunity. So let today be our Day One. Day One of pursuing the dreams that scare us.
Day One of stepping into the leaders we are meant to be. And eventually, Day One of giving someone else the courage to start their own journey.”
