CLASS 2015 valedictorian Ryan Yu has his eyes set on a clear path: A life of service.
In an interview with The GUIDON, the management engineering graduate said that he wanted to apply what he learned in his course “in order to make a substantial impact towards improving the lives of our countrymen.”
Yu is starting out his career in the public sector as a project manager and financial analyst in the Privatization Group of the Department of Finance.
“I felt that taking on a role in the public sector could give me a broad and unique perspective on nation-building that no private sector company would be able to provide,” he said.
Yu added that although his course provided him the necessary skills to perform a few functions at the DOF, he believes that he has much to learn in order to make a difference.
“[So that] I may not only contribute in whatever way I can towards the improvement of the financial systems of our country but also apply those ideas and insights in my future undertakings,” he said.
Achievements
Yu was announced the class 2015 valedictorian in a memorandum by Vice President for the Loyola Schools John Paul Vergara, PhD on March 13.
Yu graduated summa cum laude with a minor in decision science. He was also hailed as program awardee.
As an undergraduate, Yu held many responsibilities in the Ateneo, including being the Sangggunian vice president and acting president.
He also participated in various activities in his home organization, Management Engineering Association, and in the Ateneo Christian Life Community.
Yu garnered a considerable number of achievements, having been recognized as the Most Outstanding Individual in the Loyola Schools Awards for Leadership and Service and the 2014 Most Outstanding José Rizal Model Student of the Philippines.
In addition, Yu was also admitted into Mensa International, a high intelligence quotient society that fosters intellectual exchange between their members.
As of press time, Yu is also a part of the 30 national finalists for the 2015 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philipppines.
“I was very honored to have been selected [as valedictorian], but I felt that I was also challenged to push for greater service for the country,” said Yu.
According to him, his personal passion is in creating shared value (CSV) or linking competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility.
“I believe that financial profitability and social impact are not only exclusive but are in fact mutually reinforcing end goals,” he said.
“[CSV] can be applied in almost any kind of business, such as in the social enterprise that my friends [and I] have started, which sells healthy banana flour and provides income for members of the Gawad Kalinga-Zabarte community,” he added.
Yu is a co-founder and the current vice president for strategy of BeHearty, a social enterprise in cooperation with Gawad Kalinga and with mentorship from management consulting firm Mckinsey & Co.
Moreover, Yu maintained that the key to CSV is in sustainability.
“CSV needs to be incorporated into the main business model and cannot simply be a one-time dole-out, so it will really take a lot of creativity and commitment to make it work well in businesses,” he added.
A systems person
To most of his friends and teachers, Yu is known for his methodical and organized approach to solving problems.
Sanggunian Finance Officer Ray Gomez said these traits showed in Yu’s approach to being last year’s Constitutional Convention head.
“When people generally look at him, [they] think that ‘hindi [siya] tao (he is not a person),’ that he is like a machine,” Gomez said.
Gomez said that as a leader in the Sanggunian, Yu was willing to roll up his sleeves to work with the other officers. “Magaling, pero hindi siya nasa ibang mundo (He was outstanding at his work, but he was not in a different world).”
Yu’s close friend since grade school, Justwyn Ong, said that Yu always knows what he wants from the very start.
“He’s guided by a certain vision that once he sets his mind to it, he will work for it no matter what the challenges will be,” Ong said.
For Yu’s former philosophy instructor Jacqueline Tolentino, she believes it was his intelligence and diligence, as well as his kindness and generosity, that clinched him the status of valedictorian.
“[Yu] was not only driven to succeed, but [he was] also willing to serve,” she said.
According to Tolentino, “Ryan is a perfectionist—to a fault—but I think he eventually partly got over his perfectionism.”
“His friends used to tease him and say that they would buy him a ‘B+ cake’ for his first B+. I don’t know if they really did so or not, because he did eventually get a B+ [but not in my classes]. I hope they bought him that cake,” she recalled.
Yu has been a consistent Dean’s Lister and graduated with a 3.99 cumulative Qualitative Point Index.
At the crossroads
Yu’s friends believe the opportunities for Yu post-graduation are plentiful, owing to his track record.
Gomez said that Yu’s dedication to the policy of sustainability makes him an ideal fit for the corporate world.
“Ususally when you talk about a typical valedictorian, ‘yung cliché valedictorian, sobrang taas ng grades, pupunta sa government, sobrang taas ng grades, magiging teacher (it’s the cliché valedictorian who has exemplary grades and will go find work in the government or become a teacher),” he said.
Gomez explained that Yu stands for not having one sector monopolizing service, and that one can be a man for others in the corporate world.
Accordingly, Yu plans on joining McKinsey and Co. as a Business Analyst after his stint at the DOF.
“I hope to to use my Ateneo education and public sector experience to be able to improve different kinds of companies and industries all over the world in a holistic and sustainable way,” he said.
