Newsletter
SM scholars may come from different provinces nationwide and schools, but there’s one thing they sure have in common—their aspiration to uplift the economic status of their lives and of their families.
SM Foundation serves as a bridge to its scholars toward realizing their dreams. Its scholarship program stretches from Luzon up to Mindanao. In one of the covered areas in the South, the Davao Region, the program has produced 75 SM scholar graduates. To help them in providing quality education to scholar beneficiaries, SM Foundation partnered with esteemed universities in the said region. Among the partner, universities are the Ateneo de Davao University, University of Immaculate Conception, University of Mindanao – Main, Tagum, University of Southeastern Philippines, and the University of the Philippines Mindanao - Davao City. There are 45 SM scholars currently enrolled in these schools.
Some of the current SM scholars and alumni from Davao shared how the program helped uplift their lives—setting them and their families free from the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
April Madarang Salazar graduated with a BS Electronics and Communications Engineering degree in 2007 from the Ateneo de Davao University.
Aside from her college diploma, the scholarship opened many opportunities for Salazar even while she was still a student. As a 5th year ECE student, she qualified for three companies during the university job fair. After passing the board exam, she joined a Japanese manufacturing company in Cebu and had the opportunity to be trained in Japan. She went back to Davao after four years and started teaching at the Ateneo de Davao University-Electronics and Communications Engineering Department. She was also given a chance to take up her masters’ degree at the Ateneo de Manila University. She is currently the Chairperson of the Scholarship, Retention, and Recruitment Committee of AdDU School
of Engineering and Architecture.
“These opportunities wouldn’t have come my way if not for the scholarship I received from SM Foundation. SM has provided me with a solid foundation that enabled me to pursue higher learning since aside from the free tuition and allowance, they also have various activities that mold us to be better - to dream and do well in our chosen fields” she said.