In 2014, two Filipinas — Lara Andrea Montales and Janelle Micaela S. Panganiban — embarked on their respective journeys to study in well-known universities in the mainland United States.
Four years later, both graduated with highest honors.
Montales, now 21, graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics, major in finance and business analytics from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, which is listed as Forbes’ 2017 Best Business School in the U.S.
Prior to her stint at the university, Montales was the valedictorian in elementary school at the Colegio San Agustin-Makati and graduated with honors at Philippine Science High School before enrolling at Wharton.
Panganiban, on the other hand, graduated summa cum laude from New York University with three majors: global public health, public policy, sociology (honors).
Panganiban received the prestigious Alexander L. Shluger Award for Excellence in Sociology, which is given to a senior student who has majored in sociology and excelled in the study of the subject.
She was likewise a consistent Dean’s Lister and a Founders’ Day Awardee of her graduating class.
Panganiban is from the Gaddang indigenous group in Isabela.
“As a Filipino, I feel like I have the obligation to bring all of these back to the Philippines and at the same time, as a descendant of the Gaddangs, I find myself impassioned for indigenous resurgence as a step to combat the long and embedded history of colonization,” media reports quoted her as saying.
Montales and Panganiban got to the universities of their choice with help from CAMP (College Admissions Mentors for Peers) Philippines, an organization that provides and expands international education opportunities for young Filipinos.
