06/06/2026
๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ก | A student forged through years of struggle
On education beyond the classroom
by Edward Alipio | Musings of a Perfectionist
When we hear the word struggle, two things may come into mind: hardship or a fight for justice. My college journey was defined by both. Almost six years in college, even though it took longer than expected, here I am standing tall with pride, screaming at the top of my lungs that I finally made it.
Entering college, I never really knew what to expect, but given the pandemic and online setup, the first few years were undeniably rough. I tried to hype myself up with so much enthusiasm and ambition, and tried to overachieve so many things as had become my second nature ever since high school. But then the inevitable came: family problems, financial strain, heartbreaks, until my academic performance began to deteriorate as well. It was in this convergence of pressures that I reached my lowest point. I have always been accustomed to believing that my failures will define me, so throughout college, I carried that weight and beat myself up so much that it became very hard to recover.
I have always carried this weight of internal conflict. I often felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for becoming a burden to my family, especially my mother and my older sisters, who sacrificed so much just to help me finish college. At the same time, I was grappling with my own mental struggles, as I sought to affirm my worth and prove, if only to myself, that the pressure I was under was far from easy to endure. But given the situation, how could I, right? People have always carelessly said that life is not a race, but in reality, it often feels like one, especially when you are not born into privilege, or at least for me. I found myself slipping into hopelessness, gradually becoming more pessimistic about many aspects of life.
Read more here: https://thepillarspub.com/article/a-student-forged-through-years-of-struggle-1780743186585
๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟโ๐ ๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฒ: Edward Alipio, one of the publication's Senior Editors, graduates with the Class of 2026 and is among the recipients of the Bro. Sergio Adriatico, SJ Gold Medallion โFifth Pillarโ Award.
