01/06/2026
𝐎𝐟 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞:
𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐡
The life of an engineering student has never been easy. It asks a lot from you—your physical health, your mental well-being, and your overall resolve. It is not a joke when they tell people that it will take the life out of you. It will make you ask yourself: am I really up for this engineering degree?
With the holder of the highest general point average in the batch of the Department of Civil Engineering graduates this 74th Annual Commencement Exercises, in the name of Ms. Sofia Micah Nicole I. Isla, let us be inspired to continuously build our foundation and pillars of strength as we get to know the story behind her unwavering fortitude despite the struggles brought by civil engineering.
“𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆, 𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝘆𝗮 ‘𝘆𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗴𝗮 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗸𝗼 𝗻𝗼’𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗸𝗼.”
In her interview, Ms. Isla admitted that civil engineering was not very much of her dream course. She only chose this program because aside from her junior and senior high school teachers who saw her potential to become an engineer due to her mathematical prowess, her aunt is also a civil engineer. For her, it was a “𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯” when she took this program. However, she never doubted herself, because as she experienced what civil engineering really is, she enjoyed her experience and never regretted her choice.
“𝗔𝗸𝗼 '𝘆𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗮 𝘀𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲.”
Being an eldest daughter herself, Ms. Isla understood that she will one day become her family’s breadwinner. “𝘗𝘢-𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘴𝘪 𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘰, 𝘴𝘰, 𝘴𝘪𝘺𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳,” she said, citing that this is her primary inspiration on why she should finish the program. Aside from this, something that drives Ms. Isla to continue was the fact that she is already experiencing it as a student: “‘𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘢 𝘯𝘢, 𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯, 𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦, 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘵 𝘬𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭?”
“𝗜𝗽𝗮𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺.”
When asked about her plans after graduation, Ms. Isla answered, “𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘺𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳. 𝘓𝘢𝘭𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘭 𝘮𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘬𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘢 𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘺𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘬𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰.” After passing the licensure exam, Ms. Isla aims to target for a job within the field, preferring it over the academe route.
“𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗮 𝗻𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗽𝗮𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝘀𝗮 𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.”
Alongside her time as a civil engineering student, Ms. Isla was a student journalist and served the studentry as a layout artist of the CLSU Collegian, the official student publication of the university, for four years. Being an active member of the publication, she was required to split her time. “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘢 𝘰𝘳𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.”
Apart from her duties, she also struggled to determine her own learning style, adding that it is an important factor for a college student, especially for one who is adjusting after a devastating pandemic. “𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪 𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦-𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘰 𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦. '𝘠𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘣𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘰. '𝘠𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘣𝘢, 𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺. '𝘠𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘣𝘢, 𝘬𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘨-𝘵𝘶-𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘢.” Despite this, she eventually found hers and it was what made her studying more efficient.
Besides these, Ms. Isla also had challenges with financial aspects, “𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘯𝘪𝘺𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯, 𝘭𝘢𝘭𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘰’𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘯𝘢 ‘𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘴.” Despite the burden, her brilliance led Ms. Isla to qualify and become one of the 2,696 awardees of the 2024 Department of Science and Technology Junior Level Science Scholarships (DOST JLSS), relieving her financial burden.
“𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀.”
For on-going and incoming college students, she stated, “𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢 𝘬𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘢. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘒𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘢.” She reassured her fellow students that “𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘬𝘢𝘴𝘪 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦.” Adding to this, she encouraged them to explore and find something they will enjoy during their college years because it is the last chance to live their lives more freely as a student before entering the working world.
As for her civil engineering juniors, she reiterated, “𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.” Even as a Cum Laude awardee, Ms. Isla told a story of how she received a 0/100 in her exam. Her takeaway from this is that CE students should not be discouraged with these scores, as they should be used as a fuel to go beyond our limits: “𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢.𝘬.𝘢. 𝘨𝘢-𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘬𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘬𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘢, 𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘌. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰 𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘮𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰 𝘯𝘢, “𝘢𝘩, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯.””
“𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.”
Even though Ms. Isla never dreamt of becoming an engineer in her earlier years as a student, she said that she will still choose this program after being asked if she were given the opportunity to go back in time. According to her, “𝘋𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘬𝘢𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘬𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘯 ‘𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘰, 𝘪𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺.” With confidence, she stated that she is a better person now than she was four years ago. For her, she will not trade this program for the world, “𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘵 𝘥-𝘪𝘯-𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘯𝘪 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.”
Indeed, Ms, Isla thrived and found her strength as a civil engineering student throughout her college life in Central Luzon State University—using her experiences to build a spirit with formidable foundation that she will carry as she begins to brave the world outside the academy and learn the ways of a civil engineer. It has been a tough yet fulfilling four years for her—a feat that Ms. Isla will hold close to her heart as she finishes this chapter in her life and opens a new one.
