Chapter 6: The Ripple and the Reward

The weekend after his presentation felt like the calm after a storm—but under the surface, emotions brewed.

News of Elias's system spread across the department like wildfire. Some classmates approached him with admiration.

"Bro, that was insane," Ken said, slapping him on the shoulder. "You should've seen Prof. Miranda's face. That never happens."

"Did you really deploy it to Azure?" asked Camacho, eyes wide with a mixture of awe and disbelief.

Others weren't as kind.

"Tch. He probably had help," someone muttered near the vending machine. "No way he did all that himself."

"He's just showing off," another whispered. "Web hosting? CI/CD? It's overkill for a school task."

Elias heard every word. He didn't respond.

Instead, he walked with quiet pride. Not arrogance—certainty. He knew what he had built.

That evening, he returned home to the small but cozy apartment his family shared. His younger brother, Elian, ran to greet him. His older sister, Marian, peeked from the kitchen.

"Kuya!" Elian beamed. "How was your big day?"

Their father, seated in his wheelchair near the window, looked up. He didn't speak often anymore, but his eyes held a question.

Elias smiled and knelt beside him.

"I did it, Pa. I really did it. They saw the system, the real thing—hosted, deployed, working. Even the Metrobank people were impressed."

His father's hand moved slightly. A soft squeeze of Elias's arm. A silent but powerful acknowledgment.

Dinner that night was light, but laughter filled the apartment. For a moment, their struggles—his father's condition, the bills, the tight space—faded into the background. They had hope.

Elias didn't rest.

On Saturday, while his classmates recovered or gossiped, he set up his laptop in the corner of the local library and dove deeper.

He installed Node.js, explored React, Angular, and Vue learned the difference between component-based architectures and traditional MVC.

He practiced creating RESTful APIs using ASP.NET Core Web API, experimented with Postman, and set up mock backends. He explored JWT authentication, CORS policies, and even set up a basic OpenAPI Swagger UI to document his endpoints.

He watched videos on frontend-backend decoupling, tried building a single-page GPA calculator frontend, and brainstormed ideas for enterprise-grade dashboards.

He was no longer studying for grades. He was studying to build.

Monday morning broke with routine. Until the intercom cracked alive.

"Elías Angeles, please proceed to the Academic Affairs Office. Immediately."

The classroom fell into a vacuum of silence.

Even the hum of the ceiling fan felt louder than usual as heads turned toward Elias.

From the back row, someone whispered, "What now?"

"Did he do something wrong?" another muttered.

"No way. It's probably another award," Ken grinned. "The guy's been on fire since Friday."

Emil gave Elias a silent thumbs up. Jayson leaned back in his chair and muttered, "Here comes the legend again."

Elias didn't react much—just calmly closed his laptop, slipped it into his bag, and rose to his feet. He gave a quick nod to Prof. Dumlao, who merely smiled knowingly and gestured for him to go.

The hallway was unusually quiet as he walked. The further he got from the classroom, the heavier the air felt.

He had no idea what was waiting for him—but instinct told him this wasn't a reprimand. This felt… significant.

He arrived at the door to the Academic Affairs Office.

It was slightly ajar. He knocked anyway.

"Come in," came a crisp voice from inside.

Elias stepped through the door—and stopped.

What he saw inside told him everything.

This was not a routine academic meeting.

At the long conference table sat five people.

To his left was Prof. Dumlao, seated proudly, hands clasped before him. Calm. Watchful.

Beside him was Dr. Alvarez, the Academic Head, his usual warmth replaced by a more serious expression. His fingers were steepled, elbows resting on the table.

Next to him, seated with commanding posture, was Prof. Elcano, the IT Department Head. Her gaze was sharp behind her glasses, and her body language told Elias one thing: this was serious business.

But it was the two guests at the end of the table who caused Elias to pause for half a beat.

A woman in a perfectly tailored navy blazer. Hair neatly twisted into a bun. Glasses with thin silver frames. Her Metrobank ID badge was clipped to her lapel.

Next to her, a man with a neat fade haircut, dark-rimmed glasses, and a Metrobank lanyard. He had a high-end tablet in front of him, already lit up.

The woman stood and extended a hand.

"Elías Angeles," she said with a confident smile. "I'm Andrea Reyes, Director of the Innovations and Technology Division at Metrobank."

He shook her hand firmly.

"This is Marcus Dela Cruz, our Senior Technical Advisor," she continued.

Marcus gave a nod, not standing, but focused. His eyes scanned the screen in front of him again before looking at Elias with quiet approval.

Dr. Alvarez gestured to the empty seat.

"Please, Elias. Sit down."

He took the seat slowly, posture straight, eyes focused. He wasn't nervous. Just alert—keenly aware that whatever this was… it mattered.

Andrea began, folding her hands over a leather portfolio.

"We attended your presentation last Friday. Quietly, of course. We didn't want to add pressure."

Elias raised an eyebrow, but stayed quiet.

She smiled.

"What we witnessed was exceptional."

She turned slightly, addressing the room as much as Elias.

"A fully functional ASP.NET MVC system, integrated with Entity Framework Core, custom Fluent API mappings, and backed by a clearly version-controlled SQLite database. That alone would've been impressive."

"But it didn't stop there," Marcus continued. "You had the system hosted on Azure using App Services, integrated through Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines. Your YAML files were clean, modular, and your deploy flow followed best practices—branch triggers, slot swaps, and production gates."

He tapped the tablet, spinning it so Elias could see.

It displayed Elias's deployment dashboard on Azure—clean, stable, and active.

Andrea leaned forward.

"You created a staging slot. You added environment variables securely. You treated your application like it was meant for production, not just for school."

Elias gave a small nod. "That was the goal."

She smiled. "Then we think you're ready for something more."

She placed a printed folder in front of him.

"The Metrobank Innovator Program. One week"

Elias glanced over the folder's contents. It was real. Signed. Structured.

"You'll be placed in a cohort of ten elite students from select universities—some are master's students, others near graduation. But you'd be the youngest in the group."

Marcus added, "Each participant will propose a product: either an internal banking tool or an external-facing solution for customers."

"You'll have designers, devs, advisors, and investors watching," Andrea said. "Real resources. Real deadlines. And real stakes."

Dr. Alvarez nodded. "If you accept, you'll be exempt from all academic obligations for the two-month duration. Your grades will be frozen. Any requirements will be converted to project-based equivalency."

Prof. Elcano added, "You'll work independently, but with full endorsement from the school."

Andrea leaned in slightly, lowering her voice—not dramatically, but meaningfully.

"If your prototype is approved by Metrobank's board, you will receive a ₱500,000 development grant. And if your design is integrated into Metrobank's pipeline… you'll be offered a royalty share or a direct partnership deal. Your name will be attached to the IP."

For the first time, Elias blinked.

He looked between the folder, the guests, and his professors.

"I… I don't know what to say."

Dr. Alvarez smiled. "A yes or no would do."

Elias took a breath.

He thought about the weekends he spent learning. The late nights coding. The time he almost gave up trying to link the database migrations properly. The Azure deploy that failed four times before working on the fifth.

He thought of his family. His classmates. His future.

And he looked Andrea directly in the eyes.

"I accept."

Andrea closed the folder gently.

"We'll arrange your onboarding within the week. Your first session will begin with Design Thinking Workshops and Agile Team Formation. Then, you'll move on to system architecture planning and rapid prototyping."

As she and Marcus stood to leave, she gave one last nod.

"You're stepping into a world of professionals now, Elias. And from what we've seen… you belong there."

They exited the room, heels clicking softly against the floor.

Dr. Alvarez leaned back in his leather chair, fingers interlocked, a wide grin forming beneath his silver-framed glasses.

"You just changed your semester, Elias—and maybe your life."

The words echoed for a moment, their weight settling on Elias like a second skin.

Across the table, Prof. Elcano folded her arms, the stern department head who rarely gave out praise, now wearing something close to a smirk.

"You've outpaced the curriculum already," she said, tilting her head. "Frankly, there's no sense in holding you back with remedial topics when you're already deploying live systems."

Elias didn't know how to respond. He looked at them, trying to decode whether this was a dream or some elaborate prank. But the atmosphere was too formal—too real.

That's when Prof. Dumlao, his adviser and the quiet architect behind the challenge, finally broke his silence.

"And if—when—you win this," he said with a knowing look, "we'll formally recommend that you be excused from your regular classes. No daily attendance. No quizzes. No midterms."

"Until finals week," Dr. Alvarez added. "If you succeed in this program, we'll consider it your performance for the entire semester."

Elias's jaw dropped slightly.

"Wait—seriously? That's… that's allowed?"

Prof. Elcano leaned forward.

"It's not only allowed, it's encouraged—for students who demonstrate exceptional talent and application. Just don't forget to take the finals. The rules still apply, even if you're miles ahead."

They all chuckled lightly, but Elias sat frozen for a moment, absorbing it all. The implications weren't lost on him. This wasn't just recognition. This was validation.

He shook their hands respectfully before walking out, head spinning with possibilities.

That night, Elias sat at their modest dinner table. The smell of sinigang hung in the air, warm and familiar. The television murmured in the background, half-forgotten.

When he finally told them what had happened, there was a moment of stunned silence.

His father, a man hardened by decades of blue-collar work, stood up slowly and simply embraced him—tight, silent, trembling slightly.

"You're building your future, anak," his mother whispered beside him, wiping her eyes with the edge of her apron.

They didn't need the full technical explanation. They just knew it meant something big.