Rene Medina scholar puts a premium on hard work

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—As student in a Manila university, San Francisco-based philanthropist-entrepreneur Rene Medina – founder of Bay Area’s Lucky Group of Companies – may have just put in a mediocre academic performance.  Not quite among the top 10 percent of his class, he probably thought street smarts, resourcefulness, and sheer drive to succeed, topped with some luck, were enough to enable him to rise above a life of poverty to which he was born in Arayat, Pampanga.

And Rene Medina thought right, coming to America in the early ‘70s as a restless young man with just a crisp $100 bill, and hurdling all barriers over the years to become one of California’s most successful Filipino entrepreneurs.

But that is not the example of success that Rene Medina would like to impress upon his 100-plus high school and college scholars under the Rene and Mila Medina Foundation Scholarship Program, launched in 2008 at his alma mater, Pampanga High School.

“On the contrary, I think Rene Medina wanted the program not only to help send poor students to school, but also for it to emphasize the importance of diligence and the drive to achieve academic excellence,” said Dr. Imelda Macaspac, Ph.D., PHS principal and administrator of the program.  “I think he would like his scholars to believe that, as a rule, you can’t be a so-so student and expect to be successful later on.  And most, if not all the scholars of the foundation, have caught on with that rule.”

Edcel Pabalan is case in point, among others.  A Rene Medina scholar since high school at PHS, Edcel is in his 4th year of taking up Accountancy at Pampanga’s Holy Angel University, recognized as one of the Philippines’ top universities in terms of academic excellence.  (The status comes on the heels of an international accreditation that HAU successfully sought from  the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education, the only school in the Philippines and the Far East to have done so.)

A self-confessed schoolworkaholic, Edcel does not find contentment in just simply maintaining the grades required to keep him in the scholarship program of Rene Medina; he surpasses them.  He is doing so well a cum laude candidacy next year is imminent.

“I have gone this far as a successful student and scholar of the Medina Foundation,” Edcel said to FilAm Star in Pilipino.  “I might as well go all the way and get the cum laude honors that would help ensure my success in finding good employment as an accountant after I graduate.”

Hard at study is actually both a choice and a default mode for Edcel.  At HAU, he explained, Accountancy students need to take and pass qualifying exams before they move onto the new school year.  “So in effect, I study in order to continue studying,” he said, laughing.  “It is difficult, but it’s a sacrifice that’s well worth it.  I’m used to it.”

What Edcel really meant was that hard work is a staple in the financially-challenged, but otherwise simple life of the Pabalan family.  Both his parents work at PHS – Edwin a school janitor, and Celina a canteen vendor.  Both are grateful to the foundation for sending Edcel not just to a college, but to a private university like HAU.  That in itself is a feat that more than compensates for the Pabalan couple’s failure to pursue their studies after high school.

“Edcel could not be more enthusiastic and passionate about his studies at HAU,” the couple, speaking in Pilipino, told FilAm Star.  “He is really determined to finish at the top of his class next year.”

Still, the scholarly lifestyle does not rob Edcel of his youth and the capacity to enjoy simple things, like hanging out with his friends at the mall or partying with them.

“It would appear that it’s all work for me and no play,” Edcel said, “but I am able to find time to go out with my friends when I’m done with my studies and when there are no exams to prepare for.  I am very cautious and conscious though of spending more than I should.”

According to Edcel, frugality is one other thing that the scholarship has taught him.  He said, “I learned that when you have practically nothing and suddenly, somebody gives you something like a scholarship and an allowance, you tend to value it and make sure it does not go to waste.”

“I will not be surprised if that’s the same frame of mind of Mr. Rene Medina when he was probably my age, because I know he also came from a poor family,” Edcel added.