I really expected to see this scenario: UP students and graduates unselfishly spending their precious time with the rural community, sharing their knowledge and organizing the people. But it was different to actually see them in action. There they are, products of the country’s premier school, actually eating what the people eat, living without the comforts of city life, living a simple life while earning a very modest salary. They are considered by the people as part of their community, adopted sons and daughters of the villagers. It is not an easy thing to spend the days of your youth in the boondocks or in coastal communities while empowering the community with knowledge on how to preserve the environment, teaching them about sustainable development, while your contemporaries go to work in Ayala or Ortigas in the morning and gather at Starbucks after partying at night. I salute Pao, Zoe and other Iskolar ng Bayan who live with the communities for the sacrifice they are making to be able to live the life of a true iskolar ng bayan. They make me proud I am their schoolmate.