“I’m really trying to become someone good enough to reflect that love back.”
Before becoming the Class of 2026’s lone woman summa cum laude, Princess Nicole Oriola was first the daughter of Mayette. A single mother who had every reason to give up, yet never did.
One story was written on a diploma. The other was written on an old yellow pad. Long before the former was ever earned, the latter had already begun telling the story that made it possible.
While helping her mother sort through old belongings, Oriola noticed a stack of old yellow pad papers tucked among them.
Thinking it was a love letter, she reached for it despite her mother’s shy attempt to stop her.
But when she unfolded the first page, she found two unexpected words.
Dear Charo.
It wasn’t the love letter she had expected.
It was the story of a mother whose quiet sacrifices would one day become the foundation of her daughter’s greatest achievements.
Written in 2010, it was her mother’s way of telling the story of her own life, hoping it would one day be featured on Maalaala Mo Kaya and inspire someone else.
For Mayette, education had never come easily. To stay in school, she worked as a helper in different households, earning enough to pay for tuition and daily expenses. Giving up on her education was never an option, no matter how difficult life became.
Years later, that same determination quietly found its way into her daughter.
Since elementary school, Oriola worked hard not because she felt pressured to succeed, but because every achievement brought joy to the person who had sacrificed so much for her.
But education would soon become only one of the many things Mayette had to fight for.
July 31, 2007.
It was her parents’ third wedding anniversary. Neither of them remembered the occasion. Eight months pregnant with their third child, Oriola’s mother stayed home while her husband traveled to their hometown to claim their long-awaited share from a cooperative, money they had hoped would help cover the expenses of the baby’s arrival.
It was only on his way home that he remembered their anniversary. Before the day ended, he still hoped to surprise his wife.
The surprise never reached home.
The anniversary they had both forgotten became a day their family would never forget. On the road home, Oriola’s father died in a vehicular accident. .
“Napaanak siya nang wala sa oras kahit 8 months pa lang yung baby. Nanganganak si mommy sa ospital habang ang tatay ko ay nakaburol.”
Then came a silence that stayed with the family far longer than words ever could. While the family buried Oriola’s father, her newborn brother remained in the hospital, still fighting for his life.
The premature infant passed away a month later, leaving Oriola’s mother to grieve not only the husband she had just lost, but also the child she had barely begun to know.
Looking back, Oriola often wishes she had been older. Maybe then, her mother would not have had to carry so much grief alone.
Grief had barely loosened its grip on the family when another devastating diagnosis arrived. Oriola’s three-year-old younger brother was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. He underwent surgery, and for a while, the family believed he was recovering.
The relief did not last. His fever persisted, and further examinations revealed a brain tumor.
Another surgery was no longer recommended, as the chances of survival were low and recovery would likely leave him bedridden. Financial struggles made every decision even heavier.
Still, Mayette refused to let hope slip away. She knocked on every door she believed might lead to healing, seeking help from relatives, friends, and government offices. She brought her son from one hospital to another, attended church healing services, and clung to every possibility that offered even the smallest chance of recovery.
But hope alone could not stop the illness. Little by little, it took everything from her little brother. He lost the ability to walk, then his sight, until even the strength to keep fighting slowly faded.
Eventually, Oriola’s younger brother also passed away.
After losing her younger brother, her mother reached a point where even continuing felt impossible. Everything she had endured seemed to collapse at once, leaving her with nothing left to hold on to.
“After mawala ng kapatid ko, gustong gusto na sumuko ni mommy.” It was a moment that could have ended everything, until someone from her workplace reminded her that she still had a daughter who depended on her.
Her mother chose to continue. Knowing everything her mother had endured so she could have the life she lives today, Oriola promised herself she would do everything she could to give her mother the happiness and life she had spent years sacrificing for.
“Hindi siya sumuko, hindi niya ako sinukuan.” For Oriola, every achievement has always carried her mother’s story with it. She remains her strength and the quiet reminder that no hardship is too great to overcome.
Behind the title of summa cum laude was the woman whose sacrifices became the foundation of every achievement that followed.
The story may never have reached Maalaala Mo Kaya, but it found something greater. It lived on in the daughter who became its greatest reflection.
