Sophia Nicole Aquino, Enderun Colleges’ 2021 class valedictorian, is a woman with great ambition, going above and beyond her scholastic achievements to serve others.
“I was given the opportunity to study in Enderun as a scholar. I came from a very humble family. I was raised by a single mother, and our path was full of many challenges,” says Aquino. Nothing stopped her from striving for success. She was grateful to have the opportunity to grow, to lead, and to go beyond.
Aquino is an Enderun Industry Partner Grant in Cooperation with Microsoft scholar and a consistent Dean’s Lister. Now, with a degree in BSBA major in Technology Management, Aquino landed a managerial position at P&G where she did her internship months before her graduation in August 2021.
In school, Aquino cultivated a wide range of skills, including those related to professional development, academic achievement, and social and civic engagement. She was once invited to speak at Girls in STEM MNL, an ecosystem that inspires women to have equal opportunities to excel in male-dominated STEM areas. “
The Remote Learning Report Aquino created in 2020 was her most significant contribution to Enderun. The study includes student evaluations from the ideal virtual learning environment. It was a crucial step toward Enderun’s current remote learning feedback.
According to Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez, President of Enderun Colleges, “In her outstanding years at Enderun, Sophia has not allowed anything to stand in her way to academic excellence, leadership effectiveness, and early professional achievement: not her youth, not the pandemic, not self-concern. Even while still in school, hers has been a life of purpose and helping other students and the wider community’s members in need. Her professional success started early, even before she graduated, achieving an early managerial position at P&G. But, in my mind, what has really defined Sophia, besides her selflessness and grit, is her natural ability to be a leader across all degree programs, not just her own Technology Management program, which she has certainly now brought to the forefront of Enderun’s drive to keep education relevant to the future.”
To be able to teach in Enderun one day and share her industry knowledge is something that Aquino looks forward to in the far future. “Teaching is definitely one thing that I would try and I think it would be a great opportunity to share my knowledge through the lens of a former Enderun student.”
