...on the 78th Foundation Anniversary of PAEF.
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by PAM
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| Reconnecting with friends and fellow Fulbright Scholars and Humphrey Fellows under PAEF, Inc. Among them are: Hon. Shirley Agrupis, Ph.D. (Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education), Tony Lambino, Ph.D. (President, Ayala Foundation, Inc.) and Karol Mark Yee, Ph.D. (Executive Director of EDCOM 2). |
I have a feeling that the 24th day of March in the year 2026 will be etched in my mind... and heart, and shall be remembered with much fondness, indeed, for a long time. I participated in the celebration of the 78th anniversary of the Philippine-American Educational Foundation (PAEF) - the Fulbright Commission in the Philippines.
It was a joyful and quite emotional occasion for me. So many memories - very good ones, came rushing in, and it was overwhelming. I received a Fulbright Scholarship under the Fulbright-Philippine Agriculture Scholarship Program (FPASP) in 2002 to study for my Ph.D. degree at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA. The FPASP gave me a very generous five-year scholarship, and I am forever grateful. The experience was, indeed, life-changing - to say the least. It opened so many doors of opportunities for me... as well as my loved ones, and the Institution that I now serve. I returned to the Philippines (and to the University of Santo Tomas, or "UST") in 2007 where I became the 2nd woman Dean of the first Engineering School in the Philippines, the UST Faculty of Engineering, in November 2012. I served in this capacity for nearly one decade, which were some of the best and most productive years of my life. I will let history account the ups and downs, and the tremendous gains of the Faculty in those years that now became a 'norm' in its daily pursuits. For these rare opportunities, I am, indeed, grateful to God.
In Academic Year (AY) 2021-2022, I became a recipient of the Hubert H. Humphrey (HHH) Fellowship, also under PAEF. As a Humphrey Fellow, I spent nearly a year at the Pennsylvania State University ("Penn State") where I held my local Professional Affiliation (PA) at their Innovation Park at Penn State. It also gave me the opportunity to return to Cornell for my non-local PA and work with former professors and colleagues for six weeks. I also got to spend another six weeks at the Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, specifically at their Engineering Innovation Studio. That gave me the opportunity to take a step back after a tremendous ride as Dean of UST Faculty of Engineering... and determine my next 'mission', especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, I returned to UST to lead the newly launched "Office of the Assistant to the Rector for UST Santa Rosa". Four years later, we have reached milestone after milestone... and I am very grateful to God.
PAEF's March 24, 2026 event has given me the opportunity to take stack of the highlights of my professional and personal journey since the day I became a Fulbright Scholar for the first time in 2002, joining the likes of Tony Lambino that year, who is now the President of the Ayala Foundation, Inc., among others. And, in 2021, after a grueling screening process, I was chosen by PAEF's Selection Committee to become one of the five nominees of the Philippines for a Humphrey Fellowship. A few weeks later, in a world competition at the Washington, D.C., I emerged as one of the two Filipinos chosen by Washington, D.C. to finally receive the Humphrey Fellowship for AY 2021-2022. It felt extremely surreal that time. I don't think I have gotten over the thrill of receiving that good news.
I am not sure if I have done enough to deserve the honor of being a two-time PAEF scholarship recipient. I am certainly been trying very hard. Some days I feel that, perhaps, I should spread my wings wider and try a different avenue, and see how else I can serve my country and the world in a way that befits the honor and recognition that I received from PAEF, the Philippine government, and the USA. These days, I feel that this contemplation is turning the tide... and I cannot wait what awaits me elsewhere. I give my full trust to the Lord, and I surrender all the days of my life to Him and in service to Him.
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Image credit: All photos in this post belong to me.
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