• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Where knowledge reigns, true excellence always rises.
For Wilma Delos Reyes, this journey began deep in the rural, mountain city of Canlaon, Negros Oriental, where she quietly nurtured a dream of a better future while helping her family navigate the daily realities of financial hardship.
Years later, those quiet dreams culminated in a historic milestone when Bacolod City College (BCC) conferred its first-ever summa cum laude honor on June 15. Standing proudly at the top of the 1,154-strong graduating class of 2026 was Wilma, now an Entrepreneurship graduate.
The reality of her historic feat took days to break through the fog of her exhaustion. Deeply embedded in campus life as a student leader and the governor of her college department, she never expected to top her class, let alone make history.
The milestone brought pure, overwhelming joy to her family, serving as a beacon of light for her parents, particularly her father, who was dealing with poor health when the announcement was made.
“It was all God’s will; when I found out, I was just crying all by myself, wondering if this was all a dream because my only hope was for them to finish their studies, but what the Lord gave us was overwhelming. It is truly a prayer granted,” said Marianita Delos Reyes, Wilma’s mother.
Where Dreams Take Root
Before achieving the historic milestone as BCC’s first-ever summa cum laude in 26 years, Wilma began her journey along the dirt roads of Canlaon, where she and her four siblings walked to Panubigan Elementary School, because motorcycle fares were too expensive for a large, young family relying solely on their father’s meagre income.
As the eldest child, Wilma began helping her mother by Grade 3 to glean leftover grains from harvested fields to turn into rice, while also gathering ‘takway’ and ‘kangkong’ to leave with a school vendor, who sold them as viands.
“My mother told us that we have to take turns going to school because we couldn’t afford it all at once, but thankfully, she became a member of the 4Ps program, which allowed all of us to study. I also had a high school teacher, who generously shouldered my miscellaneous fees all the way from Grade 8 to Grade 12,” she said.
After finishing senior high school, a brief period of studying in Manila led to a temporary stop, prompting her move to Bacolod in 2020 to find a summer job and register her new address.
Invisible Weight
She stayed with her aunt, helping with household chores in exchange for schooling and an allowance, a crucial support system that allowed her to graduate from BCC while simultaneously serving as a busy college governor and student organization leader.
To stretch her paper-thin budget, she balanced her heavy course load as student assistant, grinding through 30 mandatory hours a week for a meager allowance of 150 pesos a day.
Deep down, her ultimate dream was to conquer the corporate and legal worlds as a CPA-Lawyer, a soaring ambition she eventually had to shelve for a more immediate reality: survival.
With a retired father bringing home P2,000 a week, and a mother earning just P200 a day as a housekeeper in a small hotel, entering the workforce was never a choice, but a necessity. Even with a sibling working in Cadiz, that salary alone could not sustain the family’s mounting expenses.
The public only ever saw the radiant smile of the student governor, the effortless poise of a campus leader who seemed to sail through every academic storm. But beneath her smiles, Wilma recalled battling with crippling anxiety. There were lonely, agonizing midnights when she would wake up weeping, calling her mother.
“The hardest part was my third year because that was when so many expenses piled up, and most of our major subjects were happening all at once. It was a good thing that I had a bit of help with my allowance as a student assistant, but there were just so many miscellaneous fees, and on top of that, my younger sibling had to undergo surgery while my other sibling was a fourth-year college student,” Wilma said.
“There were times when I would tell myself that I should just go home and stop, but whenever I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore, someone unexpected would always arrive to help me,” she added.
Hard-Earned Harvest
Recognizing her hard work and historic achievement, Mayor Greg Gasataya offered her a direct path to permanent employment.
He promised her a secure city government regular position within two months, noting that her priority is funding her sibling’s education while inspiring the youth.
“Right now, I am still thinking it over because my decision is already fixed. After graduation, I will really rest for two months because my brain cells can no longer take it—I am just so completely exhausted,” Wilma said.
As she takes her well-deserved rest, her advice to those still fighting their own quiet battles remains simple: Keep moving forward, because God is always present even when you feel you have absolutely nothing left.
She believes that no hardship is ever a reason to stop, and urged others to transform their trials into a guide and a source of inspiration. For Wilma, the ultimate truth that sustained her is that the Lord never gives a challenge that is too heavy to overcome. | TMD/BCCO photos
