store to get apples, his preferred snack. He would buy only two; he would pick one for himself and he would tell me to pick the other for myself. In those days, apples were not usually eaten as snacks since they were expensive. It did not take long before we were on a first-name basis. I was not yet a registered chemical engineer, but he already treated me as an equal. He called me Rene. And he would be Demy to me. Out of respect, I continued to call him Dean Quirino. I will never forget that time when he prepared a bonfire for me when I passed the board exam and was awarded a silver medal for being first in one of the board examination subjects (physical chemistry). That experience I often related to my children when they were in college, hoping it would serve as inspiration to them.
Quirino M. Tolentino – TIP, BS Chemical Engineering 1966, Magna Cum Laude
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Dean Quirino Was My Savior
I spent my freshman year in engineering at the Mapua Institute of Technology. In June 1962, during my second year, I was beset by financial and family problems and I was “at the end of my rope,” to literally translate a Filipino saying. But I did not want to go back to the province a loser. Then I read about TIP and its scholarship offerings, so I went there to try my luck. Dean Quirino did not think twice when he heard my travails. He there and then offered me a scholarship, provided I maintained my grades. Dean Quirino was my savior.
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