SHE FOLLOWED HER HEART and it has led her to the top of her class.

Marian Felicity Tan, 22, is the only student of Filipino descent who will be graduating from Boston University’s College of Communication this semester. Not just graduating, mind you, but graduating with highest honors.

A broadcast journalism major, Tan is in the top five percent of her graduating class, which at Boston U qualifies her as summa cum laude. (The next 10 percent are magna cum laude and the next 15 percent, cum laude.)

In her three-and-a-half years in college, Tan says she has worked hard for her grades, with hardly any leisure time. But not to worry because she has not deprived herself of another thing she holds dear—sleep.

She enjoys meeting people, she says, “which is why journalism is perfect for me.” Her course has given her the opportunity to intern at big television networks like CBS and ABC, where she got to interview a good mix of the powerful and the powerless.

“I’ve interviewed senators and members of the House of Parliament, as well as rape victims and children from the slums,” she says. “You learn so much from all these people—about success, about life.”

Getting good marks for doing what she loves has required discipline. Tan stresses the importance of planning.

“I have a giant dayminder I take with me everywhere that has my schedule per day, so I know if I have time to do this or that,” she says. “I have an online calendar that shows me my deadlines so I can prioritize. Then I have a blank wall in my room that’s full of post-its to remind me to do things.”

Tan says she avoided classes that just “looked good” and took those she was really interested in, such as an exchange program in Paris and internships in Washington and New York.

“I was exhausted most of the time,” she says, “but I don’t think I’ve been happier.”

During the spate of cruise ship hijackings, for instance, “we interns had to find a way to get in contact with the ship passengers and find the person who owned the rights to an exclusive pirate video.” That person turned out to be somewhere in the middle of Africa.

“That was fun!” she says. “The only way to do well and be happy at the same time, which is my definition of success, is to involve yourself in things that do not feel like work.”

Also she never forgets to reward herself: “Just tell yourself you’re working hard and you’ll reward yourself later. And make sure you do. Being good to yourself is key.”

Tan decided to study abroad after elder sister Andrea Patricia finished college, with distinction, in Australia.

Of the two US universities where Tan qualified for admission, it was Boston U that offered a 50 percent scholarship. Two of her younger siblings were also accepted at the same university: sister Faith Valerie, who is among the top students in her international relations course and brother David Nathaniel, who is studying bio-physics.

Marian is a US citizen, having been born during the time her parents were taking their masters in law in New York.

Dad Bayani, a corporate lawyer, would have wanted at least one of his children to take up law, too. But as mom Maria Gracia, former undersecretary at the Department of Finance, said, the Tan children did well in school precisely because they were free to pick their courses. She also said they never pressured their children to do well in school and appreciated even the smallest accomplishments.

Parental appreciation must have encouraged Tan to do things beyond what is required in school. During one Christmas break that she spent here, Tan produced a documentary on the Payatas dumpsite. She also surprised her parents with family videos she made herself.

As a young girl, Tan would join her parents in watching the news on TV. Today, knowing that traditional media, like newspapers and television, are threatened by new media, she says she is lucky to be “young at the right time when the technology is changing.”

The skills she has learned at Boston U are her edge, but she admits she still has much to learn. For that reason, she is looking to join an international news outlet in the US.

Besides, she will have to improve her command of the Filipino language before she can work for a broadcast company in the Philippines.

In the meantime, since formal graduation is not until May, Tan is doing freelance writing for a travel website and tutoring on weekends.

Although she knows the job market in the US is not as friendly as it used to be because of the recession, she is confident there are places for “younger people who have fresh ideas.”

She believes her passion for journalism will lead her to a job that will allow her to reach out to people who are unheard.”