When dreaming stopped being a luxury

Dreaming can feel like a luxury when survival comes first.

Before she became a graduate of the University of the Philippines Los Baños and an Aboitiz Future Leader, Mary Rose Esguerra was more concerned about how to get through college than where her education would take her.

She chose to live independently and fund her own studies while balancing academics with work.

“Back then, dreaming felt like a luxury,” Esguerra said.

Instead of asking what she wanted to become, she found herself asking more practical questions: How would she balance studying during the day and working at night? How would she keep going when both her body and mind were already tired?

“At that point, I was not thinking about how far I could dream. I was simply trying to survive,” she said.

Then came an email from the Aboitiz Foundation.

“Congratulations! You had been chosen as an Aboitiz Future Leader,” the message read.

“In many ways, that moment changed my life — it allowed me to dream again,” Esguerra said.

An Aboitiz Future Leader from Batch 2022, Esguerra graduated from UPLB with a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship. Her professional journey also included internships at AboitizPower and Aboitiz Foods, where she gained exposure to corporate communications, public relations, marketing strategies and stakeholder engagement.

But the scholarship, she said, became much more than financial support.

“It was the people I met, the friendships I built, and the mentors who guided me,” Esguerra said. “It was also the learning opportunities that helped me become the kind of leader I hoped to be.”

One of those opportunities brought her to AboitizPower as an intern.

Esguerra said the experience challenged her to think beyond herself. She heard stories from communities where children could not go outside at night because there was no electricity.

Without electricity, she said, students lose opportunities to learn, hospitals face limitations in delivering care, and communities are deprived of opportunities for economic progress.

“That experience gave my work a deeper purpose,” she said.

Her interests in pitching, marketing and communicating narratives took on a new meaning as she helped tell stories about how AboitizPower works to light up and empower communities across the Philippines.

The company that first welcomed her as an intern eventually became a place she proudly calls home.

Esguerra said her experience reflects what she describes as a “bigger village” — the people and institutions that help young Filipinos believe their circumstances do not have to define how far they can dream.

“To the Aboitiz Foundation and the entire Aboitiz Group, thank you so much for being part of the bigger village that helped me raise my dream,” she said.

Aboitiz Foundation president Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar said being a Future Leader is “not just about being intelligent or getting good grades,” but about becoming “a whole person.”

The program provides scholars with learning opportunities on mental health, safe spaces and financial management, alongside academic and leadership development.

At the Aboitiz Future Leaders Scholars’ Day on 3 October at the Asian Institute of Management Conference Center in Makati City, Aboitiz Group CEO Sabin M. Aboitiz likewise urged scholars to remain curious, adaptable and mindful of their reputation.

“Stay open and curious. Don’t go the easy way out,” Aboitiz said.

He also urged scholars to ask whether they are making things better, solving problems and adding value wherever they go.

Esguerra, meanwhile, urged fellow scholars to maximize opportunities, build relationships, step outside their comfort zones and discover what they are capable of becoming.

“Because ultimately, I believe this is what Aboitiz hopes for us: that we grow into leaders who will one day pay it forward — and become part of the bigger village that helps raise someone else’s dream,” she said.

The Aboitiz Foundation welcomed 11 new scholars to its Future Leaders Scholarship Program this year, which currently supports 273 students.

For someone who once saw dreaming as a luxury, Esguerra now hopes to help make it possible for others to dream, too.

“May this be the beginning of bigger dreams, greater growth, and a lifetime of paying it forward,” she said.