Breaking barriers, making history: How a first-generation 4Ps student from VSU became the nation’s highest-rated LEPT topnotcher

For many young Filipinos born into a low-income family, higher education can feel less like a certainty and more like a fragile possibility—something dependent on scholarships, sacrifice, and hope.

For Rashil Rae R. Recorte, education became all three.

Long before she would make national history, Recorte was the eldest in a brood of six growing up in the quiet municipality of Inopacan, raised by parents whose work reflected the realities of many Filipino families struggling to make ends meet. 

Her mother once worked as a kasambahay. Her father earned through on-call labor and chainsaw operations—work that came not with guarantees, but with uncertainty.

Yet amid financial hardship, one dream quietly persisted: attending college. More than that—becoming a teacher.

Recorte would eventually become the first in her immediate family to pursue higher education, making her what educators describe as a first-generation student—someone breaking new ground in a family with no prior college graduates.

It was a milestone heavy with both promise and pressure.

“I cannot afford failure,” she would later say, reflecting on the weight of expectations she carried while preparing for one of the country’s toughest professional examinations.

In many ways, hers is a story not only of personal triumph, but of what becomes possible when determination meets opportunity.

A Dream Sustained by Opportunity

Recorte’s journey was shaped in part by the Philippine government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the country’s flagship poverty reduction and human capital investment initiative designed to help low-income households access education, health care, and nutrition.

A monitored child-beneficiary of the program until Grade 12, Recorte understood early that education was never something to be taken for granted.

For students like her—first-generation learners from economically disadvantaged households—the path toward a university degree is often steep.

But it is precisely for stories like hers that public higher education exists.

As a state university, Visayas State University has long served as a platform for social mobility, opening doors for students whose dreams might otherwise remain out of reach.

Through the university’s student support ecosystem, scholarship facilitation, and government-backed educational assistance, VSU continues to create spaces where underprivileged learners can thrive.

Its Office of the Director of Student Affairs and Services, alongside programs such as the Free Higher Education Law, Tertiary Education Subsidy, Tulong Dunong Program, and other student financial assistance mechanisms, has helped sustain thousands of students across campuses.

In Recorte’s case, opportunity arrived through excellence.

After graduating as valedictorian in senior high school with a 96% general weighted average, she successfully qualified for the CHED Merit Scholarship Program (CMSP), receiving ₱40,000 per semester in financial assistance throughout college.

For a first-generation student carrying both ambition and responsibility, the scholarship meant more than support. It meant possibility. 

It meant staying in school. It meant believing that dreams, no matter how distant, could still be pursued.

The Little Girl Who Wanted to Teach

Long before classrooms became her profession, teaching had already become her dream.

“When we were in our pre-school years, we were asked to portray the career we want to have in the future,” Recorte recalled. “I chose teaching.”

The reason was simple. She loved learning. 

More importantly, she loved helping others learn.

“The feeling of being someone who people can rely on to help them discover and learn new things—it’s fulfilling,” she said. “Almost indescribable.”

Yet somewhere along her university journey, that dream quietly evolved.

At VSU, she encountered stories of past LEPT topnotchers—students who once sat in the same classrooms and later brought pride to the university.

Those stories challenged her to think differently about what might be possible.

“When I enrolled in the education program of VSU, I learned of people who conquered the odds,” she said. “People who rose through the challenge and became topnotchers of the LEPT.”

The thought stayed with her.

“If they can, maybe I am also capable of doing it,” she remembered thinking.

That same determination carried her throughout her years at the university where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2025 with a Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Science—an achievement that already reflected the discipline and academic excellence she would later bring into the national licensure examination.

Still, she remained realistic.

“Honestly, I never expected to top, like be the TOP top,” she admitted. “Being among the examinees who belong to the top 10 was enough.”

In fact, she quietly prayed for only one thing.

“I actually even asked the Lord for just the Top 8th spot,” she said. “But He gave me more than I ever asked for.”

The Weight of Excellence

Success, however, did not arrive easily.

Preparing for the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers meant long days, financial sacrifice, and emotional endurance.

Recorte enrolled in a review center after securing a 100% scholarship through a qualifying examination, easing the burden of tuition costs.

Even then, the challenge remained enormous.

She lived far from home during review season, forcing her family to shoulder accommodation, transportation, and daily expenses.

Review sessions stretched for eight to nine hours daily.

Study time continued late into the evening.

“On average, I think I studied almost 11 to 12 hours a day,” she said.

Yet the most difficult battles often happened internally. Mental exhaustion came in waves.

Amid the long hours came inevitable moments of exhaustion and self-doubt. Despite already allocating the biggest fraction of her time for review, she still thinks she’s not doing enough.

But instead of succumbing to burnout, Recorte chose to learn the value of pausing and grounding herself. She took her time to breathe and to walk away from reviewing by treating herself to a cup of ice cream and visiting nearby churches to pray silently.

“I often visit church to ask guidance from the Almighty to pacify the storms in my mind and heart,” she said.

Even as she sat for the actual boards, she made a conscious effort to silence the noise of anxiety, knowing that panic would only serve to cloud her focus. Yet, in a twist of irony, she admitted that the weight of worry grew even heavier once the pens were down, as she spent the following days replaying questions in her mind and wondering whether she had shaded the circles on the answer sheets correctly.

She had no idea history was already waiting for her.

The Day History Changed

The morning the results were expected to be released felt endless for Recorte. Like thousands of examinees across the country, she spent hours refreshing the PRC website, anxiously waiting for confirmation that her efforts had finally borne fruit. 

“I was really hoping and praying that my name will be included in the roster of examinees who passed the exam,” she said. “I cannot afford failure. I just can’t,” while thinking about her family.

As the afternoon came, she prepared for work while closely monitoring updates online. When the official results were finally uploaded, the website barely loaded under the volume of traffic. So instead of checking the alphabetical list of passers, she opened the list of topnotchers first.

There, staring back at her in capital letters, was her name.

“At the spot with the number 1 in it,” she revealed. “I couldn’t believe it. I felt like my phone was a hot potato that I had to immediately place it on the table.”

Overwhelmed with disbelief and joy, she uttered the words, “Dili ko katuo!”

[“I can’t believe it!”]

Moments later, tears rolled down her eyes. So did the realization that years of hard work, sacrifices, and prayers have culminated in a historic victory–not only for herself, but also for the entire VSU community.

For context, LEPT topnotcher ratings traditionally range between 87% and 94%.

Recorte had exceeded even the highest benchmark.

A Historic Win for VSU

Recorte’s remarkable feat came alongside one of the most successful LEPT performances in the history of VSU. The historic achievement also builds upon the university’s strong showing in the March 2025 LEPT, where VSU produced seven national topnotchers—an accomplishment that already affirmed the university’s growing reputation for excellence in teacher education and board examination performance.

This year, the university produced an exceptional roster of topnotchers across its campuses, with VSU Main Campus alone securing multiple placements in the national Top 10 rankings for the Secondary Level examination.

Among the top performers were Romulo G. Belen, Jr. (Top 4), Marianne Abegail P. Garin (Top 5) and Paulo Tumamak (Top 5), along with several others who secured places in the national rankings. 

VSU Tolosa Campus also produced outstanding topnotchers, while the university’s Elementary Level passers likewise delivered stellar performances.

Adding to the university’s historic run, VSU Main ranked Top 4 among the country’s top-performing schools in the Secondary Level category with a remarkable 96.99% passing rate, while VSU Alangalang placed Top 3 among top-performing schools in the Elementary Level category.

The results further strengthened VSU’s long-standing reputation for excellence in teacher education and its commitment to producing educators who are academically competent, service-oriented, and socially responsive.

Nationally, the March 2026 LEPT also posted the highest passing rate in modern history, with 63,377 passers out of 94,357 examinees.

For a state university committed to accessible, quality education, the results reflected more than academic excellence.

They make an impact.

Because in the story of one first-generation student from a 4Ps household lies the very reason public universities exist—to make success possible for those willing to work for it.

More Than a Title

Today, Recorte carries distinctions few could ever imagine: first-generation college graduate, former 4Ps beneficiary, national topnotcher, and holder of the highest LEPT rating in history.

Yet success, for her, remains grounded in service.

“LPT, for me, is a promise,” she reflected. “A promise of being a noble professional, of being someone who can bring change to the lives of young children, and be the beacon of hope to the  hope of the country.”

Her advice to future educators is equally clear: “A goal without action is just a faraway dream,” she said. “If you want to become a topnotcher, make sure your efforts will help you get there.”

In the end, Recorte’s story is not only about breaking records. It is about breaking barriers.

A reminder that when opportunity meets determination, even the quiet dreams of a first-generation student from a small town in Leyte can one day rise as the nation’s best.

This article is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 1: No Poverty; SDG No. 4: Quality Education; SDG No. 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG No. 10: Reduced Inequalities; and SDG No. 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

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