EUGENE DELA CRUZ's journey, graduating from Ateneo de Manila University with flying colors was nothing but inspiring—but what truly captivated the hearts of the netizens was that Eugene once begged for coins in the unforgiving streets of Metro Manila.
“I wasn’t supposed to make it here. Not to Ateneo. Not to any graduation. Not even to this very day,” Eugene began, still unable to believe how he achieved what he once felt impossible.
Robbed of childhood
“At twelve, I ceased to be a child. I became a ghost in the city—roaming Metro Manila’s unforgiving streets, not from bravery, but because I had nowhere else to go," he began.
"I begged for coins, rationed a single stale bread across three desperate meals, and found refuge wherever night fell, drenched beneath tricycles when it poured, curled up in dark alleyways when it didn’t. Public restrooms became my sanctuary: where I washed my body, my clothes, and tried, vainly, to scrub away the shame,” he wrote.
While other teenagers were living the best years of their lives, Eugene fought to survive a life no child should ever experience.
“No one noticed when I vanished from school. No one asked where I had gone. And for the longest time, I stopped asking, too. Four years of my youth vanished, never to return. As the world raced on, I became invisible. Survival wasn’t about dreaming; it was a daily battle to simply breathe,” he recalled.
A second chance
What makes life special is not knowing what comes next.
Eugene has been fighting his own “One Big Fight” all his life, but little did he know that fate will lead him to Ateneo—a university that will give him a new beginning.
Everything aligned for Eugene to find his way back to education and finish college thanks to Ateneo’s Office of Admission and Aid and the Ateneo Alumni Scholars Association that had faith in him.
But he nearly turned away.
“When a lifeline came, a chance to return to school, I almost turned away. I was behind, underprepared, haunted by memories I couldn’t name. “Who am I,” I wondered, “to hope for a future?’ Eugene revealed.
“Then, by some miracle, Ateneo saw beyond my tattered story and took a chance on someone like me. They didn’t see empty forms, just a child desperate for a second chance. They didn’t ask for polished essays or connections. They offered me something far more precious: belief. From that moment, I clung to hope with all I had,” he wrote.
To support himself while studying, Eugene worked hard and tutored strangers for rent and choreographed festival dances to cover his daily needs.
"You matter"
Eugene may not come from an affluent background, but his passion, perseverance, and the warm community that stood by him spoke louder than his self-doubts.
“I walked into classrooms, weighed down by notebooks in one hand, invisible scars in the other. Some days, I trembled, convinced I didn’t belong beside my blockmates and coursemates, who were nothing short of amazing."
"I worried my poverty would echo too loudly in those hallowed halls. But I stayed because, at the very least, the people that I have encountered throughout my Ateneo journey made me feel that I belong and said, “You matter.” he reflected.
Eugene earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics (Honors Program) specializing in Financial Economics and was recognized with the Third Best Undergraduate Thesis in Economics.
“You might not have a roaring stadium behind you. You might feel abandoned. But I hope you know this: You are seen by the ones who choose to stay. You are carried by love that never falters. You possess a strength no hardship can steal."
"Because that strength carried me past broken dreams, past every “no,” past every night I thought I couldn’t survive, straight to this very moment. I wasn’t meant to make it here, but by some grace, I did. And if you are still fighting, still breathing, still daring to hope…Then perhaps, so will you,” he concluded.
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