Scholarships to three ‘apo’ by top US schools

Please indulge this ancient grandfather as he revels in the simultaneous but separate grants of master’s degree scholarships by top schools in the United States to his three grandchildren, Andrea P. Manalac, University of Michigan (UMich), Master of Business Administration, Rafa P. Yaptangco, Fordham University, MBA, and Victoria P. Hannett, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Master of Biotechnology.

A NATURAL ARTIST, ANDREA BEGAN SINGING AT AGE THREE and hasn’t stopped. Her original lists were from Barney and Disney songs. Today, with her mom, she is most known to sing “Till” during family events. Her love for musicals and singing was nurtured by her school in Hoboken, New Jersey, where, at five, she was given lead singer roles. To this day, Andrea loves watching musicals. In fact, she has seen “Hamilton” five times in three countries, but “Ageless Passion” remains her favorite. Hahaha!

Andrea is the Panganiban Disney expert. She rode 36 out of 47 Walt Disney World attractions continuously from 8 a.m. until 1 a.m. the next day. In 12 months between 2011 and 2012, she visited Disney Parks in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, and Orlando. Last December, she led the Panganiban family on a Disneyland tour in LA.

From high school to college, she was (like her Lolo, ehem) very active in extracurricular activities that led her to pursue a career in human capital development. At Shopee, she started as a recruiter and was quickly promoted within a year of working. She was an HR business partner prior to working at PwC as a senior consultant for workforce transformation.

Though offered scholarships by several schools, she eagerly chose UMich, following her mom’s footsteps. She is excited to learn more about different industries and to develop her leadership skills. Indeed, her Mama Lin, Papa Tong, Lolo Art, Lola Leni (from heaven), her parents Noy and Tet are mighty proud of her.

RAFA GREW UP IN OUR MAKATI HOME. I always thought he was cool and quiet, preferring to stay under the radar. However, after moving to Alabang, his parents Alex and Len (and Lola Nena) discovered he was quiet but not shy. He gladly accepted lead roles at Ridgefield Kindergarten. By the time he was at Southridge, he had become a great dancer with a natural sense of rhythm and timing. Just before graduating college from Ateneo in June 2019, he proudly announced: “Dad and Mom, I passed my Filipino final exams! I will graduate as scheduled.”

Rafa held a golf club at age three. And why not? His parents spent lots of time playing golf with him. During the COVID era, his golf handicap improved from 30 to 10 in one year. Today, three years later, he carries a single-digit handicap. Just like that. He arrived a few days ago after playing at his friend’s invitation, at the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Club.

As a young boy, he suffered from pesky tonsilitis that forced him to stay home and be confined to his desktop. This unlikely scenario started his lifelong romance with gadgets, gaming, and technology, becoming a tech support to his friends, classmates, teachers, and family. Who said letting a child spend too much time on a computer is bad? It turned out to be Rafa’s competitive advantage.

After graduation, Rafa worked at Lazada as a user growth analyst; and then at TikTok as an e-commerce growth marketing manager. To the delight of Fr. Bobby Yap, he chose to pursue his MBA at Fordham which offered him a formidable “dean’s scholarship.”

VICTORIA WAS BORN AND RAISED IN GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT. She was an avid dancer from age 2 to 17. She attended dance classes every day and lost herself in dance as self-expression. She loves music; rarely does she not have AirPods on. Spotify ranks her as a top 0.1 percent Taylor Swift fan. Little did we know she is also a math and science whiz. She was handpicked to skip sixth-grade math, going directly from fifth- to seventh-grade math. She finished high school with high honors and graduated from Georgetown University two weeks ago with a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology (the study of the brain and nervous system).

Fascinated by the brain, Victoria decided to pursue a master’s in biotechnology, which, I am told is the use of biology to develop products and methods to improve human health and society. She is focused on drug discovery, the creation of new treatments and delivery systems for neuro disorders, and the improvement of patients’ quality of life. Examples of neuro disorders that she hopes to treat are migraine (which her mom suffers from), stroke (the cause of death of both her paternal grandparents), dementia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Victoria applied to graduate programs in seven top US universities. She was not only accepted to all but also offered scholarships in five of them! How blessed is she to have the privilege of picking one diamond (Penn) among five equally valuable diamonds.

To borrow Taylor Swift’s words, Victoria had champagne problems! Mabuhay!Amazing indeed, all my three “apo” applied merely for admissions but were offered multiple scholarships. My Leni joins me from heaven in thanking our Lord for His grant of these incalculable blessings to my family.

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