People, especially the younger generation, have always had this fear of disappointing their loved ones, most especially their parents. Not sure if it’s really just a part of our culture, but really—letting our parents down feels like one of the worst things we could do, considering how most of them do so much for us just to succeed in whatever life we choose.
Because of this fear, some of us are drawn to doing things to avoid disappointing people. Even the most unthinkable things become possible when driven by fear, you know. Which probably is the reason behind the actions of one “UP graduate.”
The University of the Philippines held its commencement exercises during the last week of July, which definitely felt like a momentous event for everyone that graduated. However, one “graduate” became social media’s hot topic of the week after their charade had been unraveled.
On July 29, 2024, a certain Neo posted an album where she named “BAMC MEMORIES!” where she shared all of her photos from her supposed graduation day.
This included the caption, “Officially a graduate, and I did it my way – against all odds!” Some of the pictures included her family and were taken at the UP Film Center.
Neo also posted other photos on her profile, which included one with medals, UP diploma, a bouquet, and the iconic UP sablay on top of a laptop. This one picture had the caption, “What, like it’s hard? *nag-relapse*”
Her profile picture on Facebook also had her graduation photo, and in her caption, she wrote that she graduated as a magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in “Mass Communication Major in Journalism”.
Her mother also gave her praises in the comments section of her Facebook profile picture, which showed how proud she was of her daughter.
Filipino social media users, who were possibly bored over the long weekend, saw her posts and it eventually all went downhill for her. Many pointed out some inconsistencies in her photos, which also led to UP making a statement about it as well.
Some of the inconsistencies that were pointed out were: first, her course—there isn’t any “Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication Major in Journalism” in UP.
Second, the photos she’d taken were only from the outside, and there wasn’t any photo of her on stage. If she had graduated as a magna cum laude, she should have had at least one photo of her on stage that sees her receiving a medal for that.
Third, she apparently had a Gawad Oblation medal. This medal is supposedly given to “alumni and friends, including individuals, organizations, and institutions, for their significant efforts in increasing the institutional visibility, international prestige, and recognition of UP as a National University, and for helping UP undertake its mandates under the UP Charter.” A.K.A., she shouldn’t have received that medal in the first place.
The UP College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) then issued a statement on August 25, 2024, which clearly confirms that she was not a graduate from any of their programs, nor was there any program such as the one she claims to have graduated from.
The statement also said that while her graduation photos were indeed taken at the Film Center, she and her group were apparently prevented from joining the recognition ceremony because her name was not on the list of graduates.
Since then, many social media users have been criticizing Neo’s actions and were also making fun of her for doing what she did.
But then, this is not the first time. Remember that one person who also pretended she graduated from UP back in 2021? Yeah. Some are now even calling her the newest “Kathleen Poblete” variant.
Others also expressed concerns for Neo, even saying that she needs help for having the need to do this.
In response to all the hate and criticisms she’s received as well as the post of the UP CMC, Neo posted an apology for “using” the name of the university on Threads (which is now unavailable to view).
A user @cess_neo said, “Pasensya na po sa lahat sa paggamit ko ng pangalan ng school niyo, pinagsisisihan ko po na ginawa ko ‘yun. Lalo ko lang po pinahiya sarili ko. Pasensya na po talaga [I apologize to everyone for using your school’s name; I regret doing that. I only embarrassed myself further. I’m truly sorry.]”
She added, “Alam na po ng nanay ko nangyari] sa dami ng nagme-message sa kanya. Sana po mapatawad [niyo] ‘ko sa ginawa ko. Pasensya [na po] talaga. [My mother already knows what happened, given the number of messages she’s received. I hope you can forgive me for what I did. I’m truly sorry.]
It really is sad that Neo had to think that lying about the school she graduated from was the way to make her parents proud of her, and we get it. Disappointing our parents is already hard enough to think about, what more if it was happening in real time?
She shouldn’t have lied, yes. She deserves to be criticized for deciding to do that, but let’s also stop and think. If we were in her position, where our parents would be placing all their expectations on our shoulders, what would we have done?
Sure, many of us would just say that we’d just tell them straight up that we did all that we could but still didn’t make it. But for those whose parents are everything to them, can they afford to do the same while still keeping the relationship with their parents intact?
It’s a tough decision to make, to be honest.
The fact that she ended up doing that just to save face in front of her parents was sad enough. But for the charade to go on for a month until social media users realized something was up, and for the relatives themselves to find out this way?
Terrible. Love can really make us do stupid things, and in the end, we’ll all have to suffer the consequences of our actions.
We are in no way consenting or approving of Neo’s actions. We are just stating how some fears, or even love, can lead us to make the wrong decisions.
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