Faith, Family, and Adelante: Marichu Ortizo's ETEEAP Journey to a Marketing Communications Degree at USJ-R

Some milestones take four years. Others take a lifetime of showing up, and this one belongs to the second kind.

Marichu I. Ortizo recently walked the stage as an ETEEAP graduate of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) in Cebu City, earning her Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Communications as part of Batch 23. It is the kind of achievement that looks simple from the outside, a name on a diploma, but behind it sits years of work experience, sleepless nights, and a resolve that never let a single setback become the end of the road.

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A milestone years in the making

In her own words, Marichu described her graduation as something that “once seemed like a distant dream.” That phrase alone tells you most of what you need to know about the ETEEAP journey. It rarely starts with a clear, easy runway. It starts with someone who built a career, gathered years of relevant experience, and eventually decided that the missing diploma was not going to stay missing forever.

That decision is where ETEEAP earns its purpose. Instead of asking a working adult to abandon their job and restart four years of lectures, the program evaluates what they already know how to do. Under Republic Act No. 12124, the law that institutionalized ETEEAP nationwide, a candidate’s prior learning, whether it came from the workplace, from training programs, or from everyday professional problem-solving, can be assessed, credited, and converted into an actual bachelor’s degree. Marichu’s Batch 23 diploma is proof that the system works exactly as intended.

The late nights nobody sees

Marichu did not sugarcoat the process. She called it a journey “filled with challenges, sacrifices, and countless late nights,” and admitted there were moments of self-doubt along the way. Anyone who has balanced a full-time job with academic requirements will recognize that honesty immediately. There is no version of this program that is easy. What ETEEAP offers instead is a path that respects the time a working professional has already invested in their career, while still holding them to real academic standards.

That rigor is not a footnote. Under the program’s implementing rules, ETEEAP candidates typically move through portfolio evaluation, written examinations, and practical demonstrations before facing a panel of internal and external assessors in an oral defense, the very panel Marichu specifically thanked in her message. It is a genuine academic gauntlet, not a shortcut, and getting through it while still clocking in at work is exactly why graduates like Marichu describe the process in terms of sacrifice rather than convenience.

A village of support

What stands out most in Marichu’s story is how carefully she named the people behind her success. She thanked her family for their love and patience, her professors, mentors, adviser, and panelists for sharing their knowledge and believing in her growth, and her classmates and batchmates for the friendship and teamwork that carried her through Batch 23.

It is a reminder worth sitting with. ETEEAP is often framed as an individual achievement, and in many ways it is, but almost no graduate gets there alone. A supportive family absorbs the late nights and the missed weekends. A responsive faculty adviser turns a confusing requirement into a manageable task. A cohort of batchmates going through the same grind becomes an informal support group nobody officially assigned. Marichu’s gratitude list is really a snapshot of what it takes, on every side, to get an adult learner across the finish line.

How USJ-R and ETEEAP made it possible

USJ-R is one of the CHED-deputized institutions authorized to run the ETEEAP program, and its presence on our Accredited Schools Directory reflects the same standards laid out in RA 12124 and its implementing rules. Deputized schools like USJ-R are required to maintain a panel of trained assessors, structured evaluation tools, and a clear process for turning demonstrated competence into academic credit, all under the Commission on Higher Education’s oversight.

Marichu is not the only ETEEAP graduate to walk that particular stage. USJ-R’s program has also produced graduates like Engr. Enuario Tesio, whose story we featured in From OFW to Board Topnotcher: Engr. Enuario Tesio’s ETEEAP Story Comes Full Circle at USJ-R, and actor Matteo Guidicelli, who earned a marketing-related degree through the same program, a journey we covered in Beyond the Camera: Matteo Guidicelli Graduates with a Marketing Degree. Different careers, different circumstances, same underlying process: work experience, assessed fairly, turned into a real degree.

If you are curious whether your own background might qualify, the basic requirements under RA 12124 and its implementing rules ask for Filipino citizenship, a minimum age of 23, completion of secondary education, and at least five years of aggregate work experience related to the degree being pursued. Our eligibility and requirements guide breaks each of these down in plain language, including the documents you will likely need to prepare.

Learning has no age limit

Marichu closed her message with a line that USJ-R graduates will recognize instantly: “To God be the Glory, ADELANTE!!!” It is a fitting sign-off, considering the university’s own motto is Caritas et Scientia Adelante, charity and knowledge, moving forward. For a Josenian ETEEAP graduate, that word carries a little extra weight. It is not just a school motto anymore. It is a personal statement about what it took to get there.

She also left behind a line that deserves to stand on its own: “The ETEEAP has proven once again that learning has no age limit and that it is never too late to pursue a dream.” That sentiment is really the entire program summarized in a single sentence. A diploma delayed by circumstance, work, or timing is not a diploma denied. It is simply waiting for the right pathway, and for thousands of Filipino professionals, that pathway has a name.

Congratulations to Marichu I. Ortizo, Batch 23 graduate of the ETEEAP program at the University of San Jose-Recoletos. Her late nights, her doubts, and her decision to keep going anyway are now, officially, a degree.

Inspired by Marichu’s story? Explore more real journeys in our Success Stories section, or find out if your own work experience qualifies by visiting Get Started today.

Photo Credit: Marichu Ortizo