A female Filipino college student’s inspiring story of determination and triumph has recently been making the rounds on local social media in the Philippines.

Despite being called “bobo” (which means stupid) and “ambisyosa” (a negative form of ambitious in Filipino) by her detractors, Wynona Pauline Catapang graduated with three college degrees in the span of five years.

Catapang finished a 5-year LIA program at St. Scholastica’s College, earning herself a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication with a minor in Development Communication, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and Bachelor of Arts in Guidance and Counseling.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Catapang shared how she endured years of hardships and constant struggles just to achieve such an astounding feat.

She noted how difficult it was to keep focused while maintaining her hectic schedule which involved attending classes in the morning, doing school productions from afternoon until evening, and then finding time to complete her thesis once she gets home.



In addition to the challenges of balancing a tight schedule, Catapang shared that her specialized course required her to maintain a certain grade, making things much more challenging for her.

As if that wasn’t enough, Catapang also faced a family tragedy earlier this year. Just as she was trying to meet the deadline of her theses in February, her beloved grandmother passed away.

She shared that during her 5-year academic journey through college, she constantly heard statements such as “Ay bobo 5 years na sa college” (How stupid that you’ve spent five years in college), “Wala ka pang napapatunayan” (You haven’t proven anything), and “Masyadong ambisyosa” (Overly ambitious), among others.

Catapang wrote that despite hearing such statements, she believes that “this would be my greatest achievement in life as of now- to receive 3 degrees at the age of 21.”

Her inspirational post has since been shared over 28, 000 times and earned over 25,000 reactions and 1,100 comments as of this writing.