SOPHIA Nicole Aquino, Enderun Colleges’ 2021 class valedictorian, is a woman with great ambition who goes above and beyond her scholastic feats to serve others.
“I was given the opportunity to study in Enderun as a scholar,” said Aquino. “I came from a very humble family. I was raised by a single mother, and our path was full of…challenges.”
Nothing stopped her from striving for success. She was grateful to have had the opportunity to grow, to lead, and to go beyond.
Aquino is a scholar of the Enderun Industry-Partner Grant in cooperation with Microsoft, and a consistent Dean’s Lister. With a general point average of 1.14, the valedictorian was always at the top of her class. She was also chosen to be part of Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) Next Business Case competition.
With a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Major in Technology Management degree, Aquino was able to land a managerial post at P&G, where she had her internship months prior to graduation in August. She has been handling significant initiatives, and leading key projects in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa as an information technology manager. The milestone has allowed her to “combine business and technical expertise with global leadership”—competencies she learned in Enderun.
In school, Aquino cultivated a wide range of skills—including those related to professional development, academic achievement, as well as social and civic engagements. She was once invited to speak at Girls in STEM MNL, an ecosystem that inspires women to have equal opportunities to excel in male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas.
The Remote Learning Report created in 2020 was Aquino’s most significant contribution to Enderun. The study included student evaluations from the ideal virtual learning environment. It was a crucial step toward Enderun’s current remote-learning feedback. She also managed “Project Pangkabuhayan,” a program designed to assist Enderun staff in starting their own sari-sari store. It also teaches them the fundamentals of the said business as a secondary and sustainable source of income during the pandemic. The project was able to raise funds for two beneficiaries.
“In her outstanding years at Enderun, [Aquino] has not allowed anything to stand in her way to [achieve] academic excellence, leadership effectiveness, and early professional achievement; not her youth, not the pandemic, not [even] self-concern,” President Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez of Enderun Colleges commented. “Even while still in school, hers has been a life of purpose, [as well as] helping other students and the wider community’s members in need. Her professional success started early, even before she graduated, [as she was able to land an] early managerial position at P&G.”
Rodriguez added, “In my mind, what…really defined [Aquino], besides her selflessness and grit, is her natural ability to be a leader across all degree programs, not just [in] Technology Management…which she has [now certainly] brought to the forefront of Enderun’s drive to keep education relevant in the future.”
To be able to teach in Enderun one day and share her industry knowledge is something that Aquino looks forward to: “Teaching is definitely one thing…I would try, and I think it would be a great opportunity to share my knowledge through the lens of a former Enderun student.”
Leading with courage was the most crucial lesson she learned: “It helps me to reflect on myself, and what I must do in order for this endeavor to be a success.”
Finally, Aquino makes it a point to always transform possibilities that come her way in order to create more opportunities for others: “I want my classmates to remember that they should make the most of every chance they have, whether [it was given at birth, or earned…along the way. Then use such] to open more doors for others. Accept obstacles that will come our way, and learn from them, because some of the most devastating challenges can really teach us something.”