Inspiring

Whiz Kid Wows Everyone after Graduating from College at 16 as Summa Cum Laude

With summa cum laude being the highest honor that anyone graduating from college could ever receive, everyone is surely impressed with anyone who receives that distinction. But one young lady topped everyone else when she graduated from college as summa cum laude at age 16!

In the Philippines where schools often refuse to accept you to a grade or year level if you don’t meet the age requirements, it is surprising that child prodigy Mikaela Irene Fudolig was allowed to enroll in college and finish her degree at such a young age.

Photo credit: Gineers Now

Allowed to enroll in BS Physics at the University of the Philippines – Diliman under an experimental program for gifted children called the Early College Placement Program (ECPP), Mikaela was actually just 11 years old when she started joining classes at the university. But it was only a year later that she was officially enrolled.

Enrolled at Quezon City Science High School but working on her college lessons at UP Diliman, Mikaela was a well-known but puzzling figure in campus. Many thought at first that she was a teacher’s daughter visiting the school, what with her girlish clothes and doll shoes, but it was soon clear to everyone that this small girl meant business.

Thankfully, her parents had an agreement with the university to keep the girl out of the media’s prying eyes to allow her to enjoy her college life like any other ordinary student. She isn’t an ordinary student, of course.

Photo credit: Gineers Now

Feeling intimidated on her first day of class, she failed in her first test. The young girl was shocked to receive a grade of 72 on her first test. But this challenged her to try harder – and by the time they got to the second test, she was acing the exams and getting the highest scores in class!

As an official BS Physics student at the UP National Institute of Physics, Mikaela graduated at the top of her class, completing the degree as summa cum laude. She also received the Best BS Physics Student award and the Dean’s Medallion for Excellence in Undergraduate Studies at the UP College of Science.

At just 16 years old, the age that kids graduate from junior high school, this was certainly a huge achievement in the academic community.

Photo credit: Gineers Now

But her education didn’t stop there. Mikaela would soon complete her master’s degree and Ph.D. shortly afterwards as she became a Fulbright scholar in Economics at the University of California-Irvine.

The young woman would also become a full-time faculty at the University of the Philippines Institute of Physics, a job that might be daunting considering she’s teaching students older than herself but Mikaela readily faced those challenges with ease.

“Many people think that a child, even if equipped with the mental abilities, is not emotionally prepared to enter college. I am glad to have proven them wrong,” Mikaela said.

Inspiring

Delivery Rider Walks to Bring Customer’s Food after Someone Took His Bike, Receives New One

After a delivery rider walks to bring the customer’s order when someone took his bike while he was picking up the food, his story went viral – and someone got him a new bike!

What a wonderful turn of events…

Delivery Rider Receives New Bike after Walking to Deliver Customer’s Order

It’s sad that there are people who take advantage of others for their own gain.

While that’s a reality that we face every single day, our faith in humanity was restored after learning about the story of a delivery rider who walked to his customer’s houses to deliver their food after someone took his bike.

It all started when netizen Danica Samson shared the story of FoodPanda delivery rider Paulo Tayam Pichay.

delivery rider loses bike — Photo credit: Danica Samson

According to Danica, she was wondering it took so long for her food to arrive from a Jollibee outlet in Malabon.

It was a good thing she didn’t cancel the order because the guy bringing her food was actually walking to their house.

delivery rider — Photo credit: Danica Samson

The rider (well, hiker now) explained that someone took his bike while he was picking up his customer’s order.

Despite losing his bike, he decided to continue delivering the orders because he felt bad about the money he could earn with the deliveries.

A surprised Danica snapped some photos of the tired rider who looked so tired.

“Paglingon ko sa kanya, napasandal nalang sya sa pader – hapong hapo at pawis na pawis,” she wrote.
“Kinakamusta ko sya kung nakita nya na sa cctv yung nagnakaw ng bike nya, nagdedeliver padin sya kahit naglalakad nalang siya. Nanghihinayang daw sya sa pumapasok na orders sa kanya kaya dinedeliver nya padin kahit lakad nalang.”

The sad story turned into a happy one after someone got Paulo a new bike. He now has something to use for his deliveries again.

How to Prevent Someone from Taking Your Bike

A bike lock is the most common option for preventing someone from taking your bike. However, it can be cut or picked by pros.

Another option is to choose a tough lock, then secure the bike to something where it’s more difficult to simply move the chain to take the bike.

Inspiring

Siblings Go Viral for Being #1 in Their Respective Board Exams

Siblings go viral for being #1 in their respective board exams – and we’re all quite amazed! Aren’t they impressive?

Siblings, Top #1 in Board Exams

It is said that certain traits or talents run in the family – and that’s exactly what the Ramirez family of Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental proved.

Recently, Abigail Ramirez ranked #1 in the November 2022 Nurse Licensure Examination with a rating of 90%. She completed her nursing degree from SPUD (St. Paul University Dumaguete) as magna cum laude.

That’s an incredible feat for this young lady. But what’s even more incredible is that her older brother, Alec Benjamin Ramirez, was also the #1 when he took the 2017 Geologist Licensure Examination. He finished his college education from NORSU (Negros Oriental State University), a public school in Dumaguete City.

Siblings — Photo credit: DuScian Gateway

It isn’t surprising that Abigail looks up to her brother.

“I made him as my role model. I wanted to be like him, so talagang sumikap ako in my own way. Inspirasyon ko rin naman iyong ibang mga kapatid ko, pero dahil kami yung mas magkakalapit ng edad, siya ang mas nakita kong motivation,” the registered nurse said.

The two are from a family of achievers and had grown up receiving support from their parents, especially in everything relating to academics.

Since elementary, the siblings have been consistent honor students. They also graduated from the Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial – Dumaguete Science High School, a public school for advanced students.

Abigail plans to teach at her college alma mater as a way of giving back.

“Nursing is really a hard profession. It may break you a couple of times. But just the process, trust the hardships that you are going to face, because these will help you become stronger,” she advices aspiring nurses.
“Have faith in God and trust in God. Offer everything to Him. Whenever you’re down, whenever you feel like giving up, just pray. God will answer all your prayers in one way or another.”

What’s a Science High School?

In the Philippines, science high schools are public schools open to gifted, advanced students who take up subjects that are one or several levels more than what regular schools offer.

These schools also have stricter admission and retention policies than most schools, particularly in academic terms.

Inspiring

Bodybuilder Shares Inspiring Story after Changing Bad Habits

A bodybuilder shares his inspiring story after changing his bad habits and is now a champion. Isn’t that wonderful?

Bodybuilder Shares Inspiring Story of Change

It’s not uncommon for many guys in the Philippines to hang out with friends for some drinks, yet many are doing this regularly and out of habit.

What’s sad is that this can be a costly and unhealthy habit that can affect their bodies.

bodybuilder — Photo credit: Tutoy Godeloson / Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho

But there are some people who were able to turn their lives around and change from following these habits into something better.

Take for example Tutoy Godeloson, a 44-year-old guy who had this bad habit. Thankfully, he managed to turn this around and change for the better.

Back in the day, he weighed just 43 kg due to his unhealthy habits.

It came to a point when he became dependent to drinking, then his health dropped.

“Naranasan ko na one time ‘yung hinang-hina ako. Gumapang ako nang mag-isa para lang makainom ng tubig. Sabi ko hindi na ako iinom. Eh nung nawala, bumalik lakas, game na naman,” he narrated.

His life changed when he started working as a utility worker at a gym in Manila in 2015. He was allowed to use the gym equipment.

This made him think that it was time for him to change his habits.

It wasn’t easy because he had already been dependent on his bad habits, and friends would call him for a drink.

Thankfully, he managed to resist these temptations and began his journey for recovery.

From 43 kg, he managed to bulk up to 55 kg.

Amazingly, it came to a point when he joined his first bodybuilding competition in Lipa City, Batangas – and he actually won! He bested 19 other contestants, making his wife and two kids proud.

“Sobrang saya! ‘Yun kasi ‘yung gustong-gusto ng anak ko na mag-champion ako. Kaya pinush ko talaga ‘yung sarili ko na maging champion,” he recounted.