Dear World - "Why Did I Take Someone Else's Spot?"

Warning before you proceed, this is probably one of the deepest and most meaningful posts I will have written in years, so don't read on if you want something "light and cheerful" but read on if you want a glimpse of the "Big Why" in my life.

During the Social Innovation Summit at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018, the organization "Dear World" challenged us to reflect on a time in your life that changed you - a time that until now that moment still has a large impact on your values and how you make life decisions.  They also urged us to write down a phrase that you remember the most from that specific moment. Honestly, this was one of the most powerful exercises I had in any conference, and the funny thing is, it was inside the largest technology show in the world. A very heart centered summit in a sea of data-centered discussions.

For this one in particular, I reflected on why my life mission -  "maximizing human potential" - is such a deep and meaningful mission for me, and there was one story came up over and over in my mind as one of the pivotal experiences that has stuck to me for close to 20 years. In the risk of showing off my vulnerability in public, I would like to share this story to you.

Since I was a young child, I was always curious about who my grand father was. He was the patriarch of the "Valencia Family" someone who I haven't met, but seems I had so much connection to. He was not from a wealthy family and from a small town called Guagua, Pampanga, about 90 kms from Manila. He got a scholarship to go to civil engineering school at the University of the Philippines, the top engineering school in the country, and to make ends meet and survive the big city, he had to do janitorial work to earn money during his school years.  Years after graduating, with a wife, and six kids, he ended up starting a civil engineering and logging businesses starting in the southern city of Davao. He grew this business into a diversified conglomerate with over $50M in revenue/year in the 50s, 60s and 70s. According to Google, with inflation, that $50M/year would be equivalent to $350M/year in today's worth with inflation.

After building his businesses, same man wanted to focus his energy in the public sector and ended up becoming the Minister of Public Works and Communications of the Philippines under President Macapagal. Imagine this, from a scholar-janitor boy, to holding the "top engineering post" in the country in a life time. That's what getting and taking advantage of opportunities can bring someone. Unfortunately I never met the man that all my uncles and aunties talk about so fondly, when I was born, 6 months after, he passed away. Because of this, my grandmother always said I looked l like my grandfather and maybe part of his spirit lives within me. I am a direct beneficiary of someone who received a life-changing opportunity and how opportunities can change the trajectory that last generations.

Fast forward to when I was 16, I in a very different circumstance, where because of my grandfather's legacy, I grew up in what we might call a "semi-charmed" life, with country clubs, private schools and being raised in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the Philippines called Ayala Alabang. In fact, my wife now, who I grew up with, cant believe that I did not play in the streets or I thought that going to trips abroad every year was normal. 

My life took a serious turn when I wanted to go to the same school and college my grandfather went to, the University of the Philippines, where unlike his circumstances of hardship and struggle, I had the opposite experience. I had a car, an allowance and a dorm on campus with air-conditioning when the normal dorm didn't have any. I, however, had classmates from many different socio-economic classes. UP was a true meritocracy - there was an entrance test - and what your percentile in the test determines which department you can be eligible for, it was called the infamous "course quota" - the amount of slots a course has the capacity to take in. For my program - Electronics and Communications Engineering - you had to score in the top 2% in the math section to be eligible to qualify. That's the top 1400 math scores out of 70,000 test takers.

My classmates were brilliant even though they had very different circumstances as me, and some of them shared with me that they were sons of taxi drivers and of farmers. They were so smart and hardworking that often got higher marks than me. This was the first time that I had friends that "weren't like me and my friends growing up." I remember that on weekends, I would typically go out "clubbing" or at least watch a movie in our high-end mall, but on Friday, when I asked some of my classmates what will they do during weekends, and one replied to my surprise said "I have to work and help out earn for my family." While I thought at that time that the major decisions on my college years revolves around what to do during the weekend, some had to think of survival during those times. 

Now I had reflected, looking at my own personal history, that some of these classmates of mine could have been like my grandfather - first generation scholars that maybe this education change the trajectories of their families for the better. It may have been that this was the same exact circumstance that my grand father had - in the same exact school, in the same exact college, walking thesame exact footsteps - but just 70 years before I stepped foot on the same campus as he did. 

Two years after I went to college, when I spoke to my brother who went to the US, he encouraged me to apply to transfer to a US university, because of the vast number of opportunities I might have if I might have been exposed at an early age to the latest technical research as an engineering undergrad in a major US university. I applied to around 10 schools - from Princeton, Stanford, Caltech, MIT and others.  After months of waiting, all schools rejected me except for 2 schools - the University of Michigan and the University of New Hampshire both with conditional acceptances, with one school that didn't reply yet - Boston University.

I accepted the offer to go the University of Michigan, a top 5 Electrical Engineering program and already chanted their famous "Go Blue!" and couldn't wait to leave the Philippines. I thought I was home free, and because of that, I didnt really care about my own grades now in college because I was US-bound. I was overconfident and took 3rd year courses even if I was a 2nd year. Because of my overconfidence, I had the first F in my life, but at that time I really didn't care.

The admissions in Michigan finally asked for my final transcript to show my final marks in sophomore year, but upon review, they informed me that I failed to meet their minimum GPA requirement by .1 (a converted 3.4 vs. a 3.5) they rescinded my conditional offer and rejected me. I was heart broken, and close to depression, continued on to my 3rd year of school. In August, after my mid-term exam resigned that I will have to finish my studies in Manila, I got a "large envelope" in the mail, with an acceptance from BU.  Apparently, it got lost in the mail for 3 months and lucky for me, when I called back they said that even if the Semester will start in 4 weeks, I can still come. I remember my mom worrying about how to pay since they only had 1 year of US tuition saved up for me, but I promised "just pay for the first year, and I'll get a scholarship for the rest."

Now comes the time to tell the Electrical Engineering Department Chair, Dr. Rowena "Gev" Guevara, a PhD graduate from the University of Michigan. Because of her love for country, she came back to the  country after she received her PhD even if she could get a tenure track faculty position anywhere. She was one of the most progressive academics I know, where she transformed the department with joint initiatives with industry and elevated the stature of the program.   I was suppose to just say that I was going to transfer and go to Boston to continue my studies. I was nervous since everybody knew she was strict, but I just thought I'd say goodbye for 5 minutes and let her sign my papers and go. That 5 minutes turned into 1 hour of scolding, discussion, and lecturing.

What she said in there for 1 hour I don't really remember, but one line has stuck with me until this day, a line that I will never forget. She said, "Why Did You Take Someone Else's Spot?" 

She said, I could have gone to another private college, where my family could afford it. You see, in the Philippines, in the top 10 colleges, UP was ranked #1 then #2-9 are private colleges, and #10 is a public institution.  The tuition of these colleges is around P150,000 per year or about $3,000 per year.  Note that the GDP per capita in the Philippines is around $2950. This is why the "rich get richer" in most emerging markets because even quality education is a privilege and not right.   She was implying that because of the limited spots they had,  my slot could have gone to someone else that could have benefited more - that could have changed their life and I chose to take the spot and after two years, dump it.

Those words just didn't change my life - but solidified the appreciation on how education, investment, and someone "taking a chance" on someone can change a trajectory of a human being. This is why every day I aim to figure out how to create meritocracy in the world - that may be I might give my spot back to that woman or man that needs it the most.  

People ask why I'm so obsessed in creating impact through innovation. Why I need to build and work for companies that aim to "level the playing field." On why when we build an accelerator where we took out names and affiliations when we do evaluations. Why I travelled every weekend, around the Philippines and Southeast Asia to give talks, to students in mostly public universities. This is why for years I never gave up the vision that maybe the Philippine government would catch on the Innovation trend, even if people repeatedly told me that it would be a "waste of time" dealing with the public sector. This is why I go to the World Economic Forum events to realize that there are other people that care about creating global change. Even if I am in the US, with late night or early morning calls, I still continue to advice founders and companies in the impact and innovation spaces in emerging markets. This is why my goal that maybe in my lifetime, I'd be able to impact a billion people and help them maximize their potential.

Some people call me crazy for believing that I can make a difference. Some people call me an idealist that I think meritocracy is possible. Looking back to see how a stroke of luck and hard work gave me the opportunities I had my entire life - I see a calling, an obligation to do something, to maybe be some one. I will give back that spot not just to one person, but millions more. 

About the Author:

Earl is a venture advisor and corporation innovation leader. He is currently in the R&D Team of a Fortune 50 technology company and has advised hundreds of start-up companies in his career. He is a Stanford MBA graduate and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Find out more about Earl at earlvalencia.com and his blog at innovationphilippines.wordpress.com.