Since her elementary grades, Mickee Marie Agusen, 24, is always striving for academic excellence. She graduated valedictorian in Grade VI at the Sabuanan Elementary School and with high honors in senior high school at the Teodoro Hernaez National High School. She maintained this excellent scholastic record when she recently finished BS in Fisheries at the Central Luzon State University, with Latin honors.

And despite the many challenges she met along the way, she garnered 1.52 GPA, the highest among the 69 BS Fisheries graduates in the university this year.

Agusen acknowledged the value of the Fisheries Scholarship Program (FSP) of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), without which, her chances at getting university education were almost nil because her family cannot finance her education. The youngest of eight siblings lost her father when she was barely two years old, she said. Her mother works in an agricultural farm to put food on the table, and none of her siblings reached college.

“𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐅𝐀𝐑 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐒𝐏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 (𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐆) 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝.

Agusen aced the competitive examination, obtaining the top score under the FILG. Her high school classmate, Shania Paredes, got the second highest score in the exam, and also graduated cum laude alongside her.

During the CLSU’s graduation ceremony, Agusen said she was “very grateful” to the BFAR for the scholarship program which paved the way for her to reach her dream to attain college education. Her mother, “who worked tirelessly in the farms under the scorching sun,” served as her inspiration to pursue the dream of graduating so she can give her a better life that she deserves. The college education “became a dream not only for me but also for my family.” “I believe opportunities show up when we need them the most. When someone introduced and offered us the BFAR scholarship, I saw a new path opening before me. Taking this opportunity was a major step. And it was all worth it,” Agusen said.

All the trials she encountered – missing her mother when she was “alone” at the university dormitory, losing her ATM card which she used to withdraw her scholarship stipend, the pandemic that delayed her thesis, and many others – were all forgotten as she clutched her college diploma.

Agusen is now reviewing for the fisheries licensure examination this coming October, after which she intends to work immediately at the BFAR or companies engaged in the fisheries industry. She said she wanted to experience “hands on work” on different fisheries projects, something that she missed in college because the pandemic forced schools to turn to online classes for two years. Furthermore, somewhere in the near future, she wants to pursue masteral or even doctoral education, and may join the academe.

#𝐁𝐅𝐀𝐑𝐔𝐧𝐨 #𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦