Working Student Driver-Partners Reflect on Their Journey to Graduation

One year after graduating from college in 2025, two Maxim Rides & Food Delivery driver-partners are looking back on the journey that helped them earn their degrees while supporting themselves and their families. They now hope their experiences will inspire other working students to keep pursuing their dreams despite life’s challenges.

Ruby Mark Perez and Aaron Ernest Soriano balanced their studies with their responsibilities as Maxim driver-partners while pursuing degrees at St. Nicolas College of Business and Technology and City College of Angeles, respectively. Through the platform’s flexible schedule, they earned income for school expenses, daily necessities, and household needs while working toward graduation.

For Perez, becoming a Maxim driver-partner allowed him to support his education while easing his family’s financial burden. His earnings covered transportation, meals, school projects, printing costs, and other academic expenses, helping him complete his Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management degree in June 2025. Soriano, meanwhile, spent nearly four years balancing work and studies, using his earnings to help pay for internet service, food, and other household expenses before graduating with Cum Laude honors. Both said their experience taught them discipline, responsibility, perseverance, and effective time management.

Today, Perez continues building his future while carrying the lessons he learned as a working student, while Soriano has secured a stable job and still accepts bookings part-time. Looking back, both credit their experience as Maxim driver-partners for helping them become more resilient and better prepared for life after graduation.

“To all students who are working while pursuing their education, do not give up on your dreams,” Perez said. “The journey may be difficult, but if you remain determined and never give up, you will eventually reach the goal you have been working so hard for. Every sacrifice you make today will become part of the story you will be proud to tell tomorrow.”

Soriano shared a similar message of perseverance. “I know it’s not easy, but it’s possible,” he said. “There will be days when you feel exhausted or question if you can keep going. Stay disciplined, stay focused, and hold on to your purpose. Keep doing your part, and one day you’ll understand why everything had to happen the way it did.”