February 25, 2009

All Around

It is almost 2 in the morning. A graduating student is kept up by three men: Dwight Perkins, Steven Radelet, and David Lindauer. The student wards off sleep by drinking coffee. With his thick copy of Economics of Development propped in front of him and the image of his professor on his mind, he continues to read and comprehend.

In an hour, he tells himself, he will sleep. But will rouse again at 6 to review what the three men have been teaching him for the past few days.

Kevin is a graduating student in the University of the Philippines School of Economics. He is a candidate for Magna cum Laude. This comes to him as a surprise because he was an average student in high school. "Back in high school I was content with being mediocre. I never wanted to excel academically and it showed in my grades. I was content with being an average student, hoping that the name of my school would be enough to impress people. All I wanted to do back in high school was play sports and continue to work on my guitar skills. I always felt that my passions were my top priority."

UP was Kevin�s ideal university. In his UPCAT form, he applied for UP Diliman and UP Manila but was not admitted to either. He applied for a reconsideration and was admitted to UP Baguio. He was given a choice between BS Math and BA Social Sciences Major in Economics or Social Anthropology. He chose the latter. During his stay there, he was impelled to do well so he could transfer to UP Diliman.

"I developed good study habits when I was on my own for a year in UPB. I developed a greater sense of responsibility after being alone for a year and decided I should take my studies seriously in order for me to transfer to UP Diliman. When I transferred to UP Diliman, my study habits stuck with me and I realized I had an opportunity to achieve something." Achieve he did. Kevin maintained his excellent grades and was a consistent University scholar. At present, his General Weighted Average is 1.41.

There is however, a challenge to his success. �My biggest challenge was maintaining my GWA under all the pressure to succeed. At times I wish I did not have a grade to maintain because it was just very stressful, but I took the challenge and have been successful thus far.�

Adam Smith, father of Economics, believed that the division of labor or specialization in one aspect of production will lead to greater productivity and then to the progress or wealth of a nation. Kevin, however, deviates from this belief of the father of his discipline.

He has dabbled into numerous disciplines that will perplex Adam Smith. Aside from academics, he is part of the the Basketball Varsity of the School of Economics. He is also an active member of the Vol Corps of the Sports Committee of the School of Economics Student Council.

Aside from sports, he has experimented in different forms of art as well. �I've always felt the need for artistic expression, it kept me human and it was something I enjoyed doing. I enjoy music, drawing, and tried a little bit of writing� I have not been successful at any but I still keep on trying to improve.�

Last school year, Kevin was inducted into the UP Pi Gamma Mu International Honors Society. The organization invites those who excel in the Social Sciences.

This semester, he was invited by the School of Economics to apply for a scholarship for MA in Economics; the Scholarship entails a monthly stipend and free tuition. Scholars are called teaching fellows and are to assist professors in classes in their second semester of studying.

When asked as to how he keeps anchored he replied, �The fact that there is always someone smarter, better, and more capable than I out there keeps me humble. Knowing that i have to maintain my edge and keep on working hard to be better at everything I do keep me grounded and makes me work harder in order to reach a level that i am content with.�