By John Vincent B. Toribio

Tenacious and adaptive. A native Ilokana has established her own school in Calgary, Canada in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Raised in Dingras, Ilocos Norte and cultivated by Mariano Marcos State University, this woman knows a sown seed in the midst of a crisis is a lush of hope for a golden harvest.   

Holding high the green and gold in the global field, Ms. Abelita “Abby” L. Villanueva, a former student of MMSU-Dingras Campus, is now the President and CEO of AGA Academy in Canada. She said her academy already provides opportunities for individuals from all over the world by forwarding “a change in the way peole approach continuing education.” 

Having established AGA in the height of the pandemic, Abby admitted that it was difficult and challenging. However, she recounted “like how we plant palay in Dingras, we sow optimism in our hearts even if we anticipate for a yearly storm, and, by God’s grace, the AGA Academy is now starting to reap a beautiful yield.” 

​In two years after the academy’s establishment, they managed to offer ten academic programs and have secured a license to accept international students. 

Her shool offers diploma programs on community support and addictions worker, tourism management, pharmacy assistance, advanced and basic massage therapy, digital marketing and web design, retail and job readiness, hospitality and food services, in-flight job readiess, and care and safety.  

“Having built my academy in Canada, I would always go back to my core that Dingras and MMSU have shaped in me – to dream and shine.”

Her MMSU professors remember her as humble yet fearless. “Her achievements now undoubtedly stemmed out from her courage and being goal-oriented,” recalled Dr. Sosima Demandante, one of her former pprofessors and now college dean. 

Villanueva took Agricultural Technology at the then-College of Agriculture and Forestry (now College of Agriculture, Food  and Sustainable Development) in 1996. After, she worked as a community development support worker, residential general manager, and community manager in Canada. 

“MMSU shaped in me the Green and Gold brand of excellence, that is why I survived and thrived wherever I was planted. Now, I am able to let these colors sparkle at the AGA academy.” Villanueva shared during the pilot episode of the MMSU Featured Alumni show. She commits to forward collaborative alumni activities with MMSU, particularly by providing educational resources.

Her message to MMSU students: “Be unstoppable. No matter how long the germination period is, there shall always be a great harvest of inspiration and purpose.” (HLY, StratCom)