#SummaSablay: Meet the UP students graduating as summa cum laude this 2022
150 students are slated to graduate from the University of the Philippines' (UP) Diliman campus with the highest academic distinction this Sunday, July 31.
In a post shared on July 23, UP Diliman introduced the 150 summa cum laude graduates coming from different colleges and programs. With Summa cum laude translating to "with the greatest honors" in Latin, it serves as UP's highest distinction for students who have a graded weighted average of 1.20.
This year's batch of graduates serves as a huge step-up for the national university's summa cum laudes. For reference, 29 UP Diliman students graduated as summa cum laude in 2021.
Alongside their graduation photos donning the signature UP Sablay, the university also shared the SLC's platitude of hobbies, interests, and personal stories.
Musical faves, from EXO and Taylor Swift
A number of graduates have credited their stan-worthy artists for their SLC posts.
“LIGHTSABER is the only EXO-K song under hard difficulty on SuperStar SM I haven't completed with three full stars," shared Film student and summa cum laude, Miguel Antivola. "Ambilis masyado ni Chanyeol mag-rap, huhuhu, di na kaya ng daliri ko."
Anthropology graduate Regina Kyle Buco also made a Swift reference in her caption, writing: “Taylor Swift owns my heart, my hips, my body, my love !!! (reputation is her best album [kiss emoji])
She added that "I was a so-so student in high school (I even got line of 7 grades!!) but the privilege to major in something that deeply interests and matters to me helped in keeping me motivated."
Favorite shows and books
A few graduates also shared the mediums that kept them going through their university life.
Industrial Engineering graduate Karina Santana Cruz shared that she enjoys reading The Book Thief and watching the series, The Good Place—two entries that are heavy on philosophical thinking and ideals.
Architecture summa cum laude Luis Santos is also a pop culture vulture himself, as he's a fan of The Office, Star Wars, Community, and Star Trek. His tracks of choice also include Bladee, Ecco2K, Black Country, Le Sserafim, and Japanese Breakfast.
Grit and glory
It wouldn't be an Iskolar ng Bayan graduation without the tales of their hardship and struggles through the years. Business Administration and Accountancy graduate, Kirojo Magcalas shared the time his calculator died during a face-to-face finance exam, so he had to manually compute present values and financial ration.
"A very traumatizing experience," the summa cum laude quipped.
Meanwhile, graduating from a prestigious university isn't the only thing that Applied Psychology graduate Chrisdie Ruzol is happily waiting for, as she's also set to be wed this July.
The mom of two also used to work as an overseas worker in Abu Dhabi.
Proving that tenacity is key, Social Work Summa cum laude Gia Evangelista shared how she did not actually pass the UPCAT.
"I did not pass UPCAT, and it has been my greatest insecurity as a UP student," she shared. "But being here today, not as an SCL but simply as a graduating student, means that if there's one thing that UPCAT has failed to measure, it's my grit."
“I would like to share this honor with my family, who have supported me unconditionally (though I think they're secretly clueless about my course)," she added.
Check out the full list of UP Diliman Summa cum laudes here:
This year’s University Graduation to be held at the Amphitheater in UP Diliman will see the return of live graduation rites, after two years of online ceremonies.