Street dweller-turned-scholar graduates with honors from Ateneo

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MANILA, Philippines — Eugene Dela Cruz’s past did not prevent him from rising above his years living in the streets of Manila. This year, he graduated with honors from Ateneo de Manila University—a milestone that, for much of his life, seemed impossibly out of reach.

Among the Class of 2025, Dela Cruz distinguished himself with accolades: Third Best Undergraduate Thesis in Economics and Honorable Mention for his degree in Bachelor of Arts in Economics (Honors Program), with a Specialization in Financial Economics and a Minor in Decision Science.

On Facebook, where he often shares his reflections and milestones, Dela Cruz recalled the long road he took to graduation. On Sunday, he wrote:

“I wasn't supposed to make it here. Not to Ateneo. Not to any graduation. Not even to this very day.

“At 12, 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. 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.”

In a 2019 post, Eugene recounted how he lived independently after both parents started new families, leaving him to survive on his own.

“I will never say that living this life alone is easy because I know that it isn't, but still, I chose to become a hero to myself,” he wrote then. “I saved myself from crossing the line between dying and living... I saved myself from drowning in the abyss of suicidal thoughts, and I saved myself to the people who almost destroyed me to the point that I am already beyond repair.”

That same year, despite his parents’ absence at his junior high school moving-up ceremony, Eugene graduated with highest honors and awards in English, Filipino, Math, Science, and Social Science.

Earning honors, earning hope. Two years later, in 2021, he completed senior high school at Hilongos National Vocational School in Leyte, graduating again with highest honors.

Eugene wrote in his 2021 Facebook post:

“I finished up my secondary education in 10 years. It may be 4 years late, but I’m glad that I didn’t give up. At first, I thought that because I am a product of a broken family, I would not be able to reach this far in life. Some people even told me that what I experienced is actually what I deserve. Regardless of what I had experienced and my family’s situation, I never once saw myself as someone who is unworthy of love, care, respect and a better tomorrow. That is why I chose to love myself, to take care of myself, to respect myself, and to work hard for me to become my own light during the darkest of times for me to have a brighter tomorrow."

Three years later, he thanked the people who helped him get through college through the Ateneo Alumni Scholars Association–Fr. William H. Kreutz SJ Endowment Scholarship. 

“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,” Eugene continued in his post last Sunday. 

He recalled how he choreographed festival dances to earn his next meal and tutored strangers to afford rent. 

“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 added. 

He closed his most recent post with a message of strength and quiet resilience—one that resonated beyond the confines of his personal story.

“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.”

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