Dom Joseph Bulan has an exceptional story.

Just last March, he graduated as the valedictorian of Ateneo High School. He also bagged the first honors, the awards for English, Filipino, Araling Panlipunan, Science and Christian Life Education, the Jose P. Laurel Award for Academic Excellence, the Mercury Drug Award for Mathematics and best of all, the Gawad Evelio Javier, the highest recognition granted to an Atenean student – an award so rare, it isn’t given every year if the selection committee doesn’t find a worthy candidate.

This capped off an exemplary four years of high school for Dom, wherein he was a Magis Card recipient no less than seven times – an honor only given to students with a perfect QPI of 4.0 in a grading period – and a St. Stanislaus Kostka Awardee for Exemplary Conduct ten times.

Of course, this wouldn’t be complete without the necessary teeming extra-curricular activities: he was part of the Math team, the Economics team and Akay, an organization of student tutors who teach public elementary students English and Math every Wednesday. Oh, and he was class beadle in every year of his high school life – the student in charge of checking attendance and uniform dress code violations.

And it only gets better. Not only is Dom a super achiever, but he accomplished all of that as a scholar. For twelve years.

Ateneo is not a school known for its affordability, with annual tuition fees ranging from P50,000 to P100,000, give or take. Now, imagine paying for that amount for 13 years. Dom wouldn’t have been able to afford that, having been born and raised into a simple life. His father is a native from Aklan and his mother is a nurse in the San Jose De Dios Hospital, and they earn just enough to support him and his two younger brothers.

But AHS was not going to pass up on him, and the school offered Dom a scholarship as early as his first year in the school, when he was but a mere prep student, and continued it until he finished his senior year.

“I went to the Ateneo because I was given a scholarship by the school. For me, it was such a wonderful opportunity and I didn’t want to simply let it pass,” he answers perfectly.

Upon entering high school, Dom explains he only applied for financial aid, but the school gave him a full scholarship instead – 100% tuition coverage and even a book allowance to boot. And we all know how that investment turned out.

“It’s a great honor and a huge challenge for me as well,” Dom gushes about his medal haul.  “Graduating as both valedictorian and Evelio Javier means a lot. The school, in a way, puts that much trust in me, and I assure them that I won’t let them down.”

An exceptional story such as this can only have an exceptional secret behind it, right? What is the key to being such a successful student? How do you overcome all the odds and come out on top?

Dom recounts his day for us: he arrives in school at 6:30 AM, early enough to squeeze in a quick chat with classmates, play board games or review for his subjects. Physics, for him, is particularly hard. Then, he attends the 7 AM mass in Ateneo before proceeding to check the attendance and the uniforms as part of his daily beadle responsibilities.

“The whole day pretty much involves going through our subjects, usually until around 3:00 PM. After dismissal, either I have training for Math, I attend meetings for student council, or tutor kids. I go home at around 5:00 PM,” he summarizes.

When he gets home, this pattern unfolds just as predictably.

“When I reach home, I rest for a while, and then eat dinner. After that, I spend around an hour and a half studying and preparing for the next day. This includes doing homework, studying for tests, preparing for projects, etc. I then work on the computer for around an hour on average, depending on the homework given to us. I make it a point to finish by 10:30 PM, so I can sleep adequately for the next day.”

If he isn’t doing anything out of the ordinary, how does he perform so excellently in his endeavors, then?

“I make it a point to do better than what I have done previously, so as much as possible, I aim high and don’t settle for anything less,” Dom answers and it’s almost like it’s a pep talk straight out of a self-help book.

That’s it?

He adds, “I always have my family as my inspiration, and I want honor my parents with all that I do.”

And even when prodded about more difficult questions, Dom still has polite, packaged sound bites.

Surely, being a scholar in a school for upper-class teenage boys must be uncomfortable? But, Dom insists there is practically no difference at all in lifestlyes.

At most, he admits, “I consciously budget my money, for one thing. I make it a point to spend only on what I need and just forego some of the things I want.”

And when asked why he turned down the University of the Philippines prestigious INTARMED program to continue his schooling in Ateneo de Manila University, taking up AB Economics-Honors:

“We both need doctors and economists. I stand by the principle that in choosing the path you take, you need to find the intersection between your greatest desire and the world’s greatest needs, so I think being in Eco-H will help me achieve that,” he defends.

He says he wants to continue being trained under the Jesuit style of education, as he has been for more than a decade now.

“We are always taught that we have to be aware of everything that’s happening around us, and more importantly, to elicit positive change in our environment. The school, in a way, has helped me to dream higher, and has assisted me in countless ways to achieve my goals as a person.”

Dom Joseph Bulan may not be ordinary. But, he definitely is typical.