SM Scholars gather for Annual General Assembly

Wearing proudly their blue T-shirts that made them stand out from the rest of MOA habitues, 600 SM Foundation college scholars in the NCR region came to the Mall of Asia Arena for the annual Scholars General Assembly.

They were warmly welcomed by SMFI Executive Director for Education Mrs. Carmen Linda Atayde making them feel at ease.  A handful of freshmen scholars, graduates of the experimental Senior High School, were present due to DepEd’s  implementation of the K-12 basic curriculum this school year; plus a few who postponed availment of their scholarship.   SM Foundation scholar alumni were invited to the event & spoke during the program to relate their experiences as SM scholars. Menzie Victoria, Mark Abinsay; and Engr. Christian Acosta, currently working for the SM group rallied everyone to dream big and work hard!

Current scholars Jessica Baclagan, 5th year at the Cavite State University and Jerome Guemo, 4th year BSECE at Asia Pacific College shared their journey of hope & joy as SM scholars.
“Be the master of your fate and the captain of your soul” was what the Guest Speaker of the day, Cora Guidote, SM SVP for Investor Relations and Corporate Communications imparted to the scholars.  She emboldened them to affirm effectively to achieve ones goals and aspirations. She gave ten pointers to the scholars: affirm only for yourself; make a wish list of between five to ten of what you want to be, to have, how you want your life to progress, and/or the values you want to possess; take full responsibility for your wishes; be true to yourself; and go through your wish list for at least two to three days to make sure that they are what you truly want!

Aside from the inspiring messages, the scholars were reminded by Lingling Lansang, SM Foundation AVP for Scholarship Program of their obligations as scholars, their benefits and privileges, as well as the Foundation’s commitment to see them through their college education. .
Also present at the assembly were SMFI’s Executive Director Debbie P. Sy, Mrs. Felicidad “Nang” T. Sy,Mel Elido, Executive Director of FTS Foundation and other officials of the SM Group.

After a sumptuous lunch, the scholars were treated to a movie, “Finding Dory,” at the IMAX theatre.
The SM Scholarship Program supports 1,500 scholars at any given time pursuing four- or five-year degree programs. This school year, the Foundation increased its scholarship grants for tech/voc scholars from 200 to 1,000. Partner schools are Punlaan School, the Don Bosco TVET Center in Makati & Schools of Arts & Trade in various provinces. Education team of the Foundation have been travelling to the provinces to offer these grants to out-of-school youths & to scout for partner schools offering Dual-Tech programs.