FROM being a Southeast Asian and Asian Games champion to Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, weightlifter Hidylin Diaz-Naranjo has added another feather to her bulging cap, an award that perhaps she relishes most of all: a college diploma.
After six years of juggling her training, competition and studies, the petite and pretty pride of Zamboanga City graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, major in Management, from the De La Salle College of St. Benilde.
With the same dedication, discipline and hard work she gave to excel in her sport, she proved once again that nothing is impossible if put your heart into it.
“I am already 32 years old and I was able to prove that, even though I stopped schooling, I can still come back, I can still study, and I can still graduate,” she shared.
“Mahirap i-balance,” she admitted. “Pero dahil sa sobrang understanding ng Benilde sa mga student-athletes, kahit na mahirap, na-babalance namin at nakaka-graduate kami.”
Under former Benilde President Bro. Dennis Magbanua FSC, Diaz-Naranjo was awarded a scholarship to the institution when it was learned that she wanted to complete her college schooling after winning a silver medal a year before the Rio Olympic Games.
She enrolled at Benilde under the Blessed Arnould Study Assistance Program (BASAP), a financial grant awarded to BSBA Marketing Management and BSBA Business Management applicants. The scholarship allowed her to attend evening classes.
Completing her degree took longer than usual. She filed a leave in 2018 from the school so she could focus on her training for the Tokyo Olympics, finally winning the country’s breakthrough gold in the quadrennial games in 2021.
She earlier received the Benilde Medallion, the college’s highest expression of recognition to individuals with extraordinary achievements, after clinching her Olympic mint.
In recognition of her academic accomplishment, the school also renamed its existing athletic program to the Benilde Hidylin Diaz Scholarship for Athletes.
“To all my fellow Benildeans, do your best in everything you do,” she encouraged her fellow graduates. “You will excel in life and you will be extraordinary.”
