The Boy in Campus Hallway: From Promissory Notes to Wharton

Pivot or Perish: The $8.00 Audit

(1991. Fourth Grade. Quarterly Exams)

I was 4th Grade in Philippines rural school, I sat at my desk, pen poised to write my name, when the tap on the shoulder came. No explanation—just a walk to the hallway. Through the door's small window, I watched my classmates begin taking our quarterly exam at school history class. I was ten years old, and I was being "audited" for being poor.

The cost of my education was $8.00. That was the distance between a seat in the room and the cold tile of the corridor. My parents were heroes, but in 1992, $8.00 was a mountain they couldn't climb.

Then came the lifeline: my sister. As Vice President of the Student Council, she didn't have the money, but she had a pen. She drafted a Promissory Note—a vow that my future was worth the debt.

I was allowed back in with only 30 minutes left on the clock. No extensions. No pity. Just a hungry, confused boy racing against a ticking clock and a system that almost shut him out. I didn't just finish; I passed.

I suppose that was my first lesson in CTO-level resource management: when the system fails you, you rewrite the script. A promissory note.

The Default Mode: From $0.50 to Cloud Executive

After that $8.00 audit in fourth grade, I became a "bomb."

I stopped opening my books. From grade school to high school, my textbooks remained in mint condition—pristine enough to be sold back as new. I was demotivated by the math of poverty: my classmates had $2.00 for lunch; I had $0.50. I concluded that education was a luxury suite for the rich, and I was just loitering in the hallway.

We eventually sold our family home just to fund my college tuition. We moved into a rental, later we couldn't meet the bill--thus we voluntarily left the place out of decency. For some reason, no matter how stubborn I am at school, I kept passing my exams. I graduated as a Computer Engineer by sheer, stubborn instinct but manages to pull it off when needed.

Early on, an internship mentor told me I’d be "better off in multi-level marketing." At the time, I thought he meant Cisco Networking. I realized later it was an insult—he thought I was a salesman, not an engineer.

In 2006, the 'Audit' ended. My parents took one last gamble, borrowing money to send me to a top MBA program. But the real transformation wasn't in a classroom—it was a mistake I made in 2012.

In 2012, my life had changed. I got to introduce into Cloud Computing accidentally when I took a freelancing job where I misunderstood the requirement of cloud as part of the app I am building. It led me no choice but to study cloud.

While the entry was accidental, the mastery was intentional. I kept learning cloud ever since then, it became my profession where i hone my skills day after day that served as a foundation of my profession to this very day achieving the following:

The trajectory since:

• 2018: IT Director (Cloud Planning) in Telecommunications.

• Next: IT Director (Cloud Services) in Aviation.

• Currently: First Vice President for Cloud Platform & Engineering in a Financial Institution.

From $8.00 Dream: To Wharton

It is now 2026, 20 years since my MBA. I am aware that education expires. Many career successes happened. I've learned a lot from my peers in the industry, my mentors, my work experience. And to this date I enjoy my profession. I've reached the peak of what my current toolkit allows. But as a thought leader, I know that to reach the next summit, I need to evolve my perspective.

As a thought leader, I know I need to up skill. I remember back in 1992 I once dreamed of getting into tier 1 schools in USA. But back then I have no right to dream of such if we can't even pay a 8 USD tuition fee.

Things are different now, we were not rich but we were not poor. So I decided to fullfil the dream of a 10 year old boy back then. To go to premier school in USA. The Wharton School, Executive Education Chief Technology Officer Program. I realized how far the path had stretched. While this wasn't the two-year MBA I once dreamed of as a struggling student, this high-impact program represented something even better: the reality of a career built on persistence. Being there felt like a full-circle moment, validating the professional journey that started with a simple promissory note.

The tuition fee is not 8 USD. It has a hefty price tag. As I hesitate and second guess my decision, my mom suddenly call, as if she has super powers, she just told me to finish my unfinished dreams, then no words after that. Thus--I pulled the trigger to apply, 10 days later I got the news I was admitted in the program. I again hesitated to pay the hefty tuition fee, but another sign came, there were economic downturn in the market due to instability in the East.

With the market showing signs of instability, the instinct is to freeze and preserve capital. But the CTO in me saw the 'audit' coming again. I realized that while markets are volatile, the ROI on my own leadership is the only asset I truly control. But I then realized, if I can not control the future, perhaps the best investment is my self. Thus I enrolled.

I am excited to the class. I will be posting regular updates to share my experience of the program so that fellow leaders and peers in industry would follow.

The New Chapter:

The classroom door is finally open.

I am thrilled to begin this journey with the Wharton CTO Program. I am not a graduate yet; I am a student once more, back at the desk where I belong. This time I have the means to pay.

I plan to document this experience in real-time. I’ll be posting regular updates here and insights of the program. My hope is that fellow leaders and industry peers can find value in these lessons as we navigate the future of technology together.

The $8.00 boy is gone. The student of the future has arrived.

I chose the Wharton Executive Education track because it offered the specific global perspective I needed for my current leadership role. It wasn't about the 'prestige' of the name on the wall, but about the specific tools required to manage the scale of business I now handle.

The Lesson: The Compounding Interest of Grit

This is not a rags-to-riches story.

It is simply the story of a boy who dreamed of an education his reality couldn't afford. It is a story of what happens when you apply true grit, perseverance, and a high Adversity Quotient to every obstacle in your path.

For those of you holding a promissory note today, here is the one thing I wish I knew about the hallway...

Life isn't defined by the $8.00 you don’t have today; it is defined by the choices you make while you’re waiting in the hallway. When you make the right choices—even when you’re hungry, even when you’re confused, even at your darkest moment—the results begin to compound.

The label and score you get from class does not define the true outcome, character, and potential of a person. The score and label were based on system that is beyond your control under a predefined controlled environment that fails to account the reality but are meant for those who comply on the rules. True leaders are those who stand on what is right and just beyond measures but for some reason always manages to pull things off.

Even sharks have a weak point. When a systemic challenge or a 'bully' obstacle comes at you, don't scatter. Focus your energy on the single point of failure—the 'nose' of the problem—and strike there with everything you’ve got.

Thirty four years later, the interest on that perseverance has finally paid off. If you stay the course, the dream doesn’t just come true—it becomes inevitable.