The graduation season marks a new chapter in many young lives. This year, it seems, more and more inspiring stories have come to light, thanks to the wonders of social media. There’s the fisherman’s daughter who graduated magna cum laude; the security guard who graduated cum laude from the school he guards; the son of a tricycle driver who topped the medical board exam—to name a few.
The latest inspiring story is that of Jireh Bautista, the shoe repairman’s son who finished college with the highest possible accomplishment.
21-year-old Jireh Bautista of Cebu city truly made his parents proud when he completed his bachelor’s degree in computer science at the Cebu Institute of Technology-University with summa cum laude honors.
The exemplary student also received the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence and the ABS-CBN Medal of Excellence.
According to ABS-CBN news, Jireh’s mom is a housewife and he manages to help his family through the monthly allowance he receives from various scholarship grants from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Real Life Foundation of Victory Christian Fellowship, Cebu City National Science High School Alumni Foundation, and Cebu City Government. The diligent student is also a scholar of his alma mater, CIT-U.
“Never give up.”
photo: Facebook
He credits these scholarships for making it possible for him to go to school in an interview with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), adding that his 38-year-old dad Pantaleon earns less than P8,000 a month.
Jireh’s older sister had to put her studies on hold due to financial difficulties, but now his four siblings are also scholars. He is the second youngest in the family.
The dutiful son collected medals and awards throughout his school life.
His secret? Diligence and prayer
“Never give up and always put God first,” he told ABS-CBN news, adding that his secret truly is diligence and prayer. He plans to rest after graduation while he fields offers from different companies until he finds the best company where he can work as a software engineer.
Despite the many accolades, he remains grounded and focused on what he believes truly matters.
“Yes, graduating with honors may sound so overwhelming and is such a great achievement. But academics and school only take a portion of your entire life. It might give you an edge if you did well but there is more to life and you should not feel sad or less of yourself if you are not part of the honor list. What truly matters is your life story,” he told DOST.
Continuing, he said, “You might be struggling now with a number of things – school or even financial struggles or your relationships or problems within the family. But what makes a great testimony are not literally the achievements but the amazing stories of integrity, of breakthroughs over your struggles and of victories over your hardships.”
“So what then is your life story to tell?” he added in the interview. “To your future children? To the next generations to come? We are all recipients of God’s tremendous blessings.”
Learn more about him in the video below.
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