Education

Ever since I started schooling, learning has been a challenge for me. There are several reasons why I have experienced these challenges.

One of the reasons why it was difficult for me to learn is poverty. I come from a family where everyday living is a struggle. There were times when I had to go to school on an empty stomach because we had no food to eat. Having no breakfast made me uneasy and unable to concentrate on teacher's lectures. Most times though, we had rice to fill our stomach. My siblings and I used to put salt and a bit of water to make it a little bit tastier. Poverty also affected my school performance. If we had projects to do, most of the time, I had no money to buy the necessary materials and ended up not submitting any or submitting the project made from recycled materials. I remember an instance when one of my teachers in high school raised my project in front of the class saying, “Is this the kind of project you are expecting to get a grade on?” If only she had known what I had gone through just to finish that project, she wouldn’t have done that.

Another obstacle was that my parents themselves had only finished elementary school due to poverty in their families, too. Although my mom helped me write when I was just starting kindergarten, my parents could not help us with other homework

The need to help my parents with farming was another factor. During planting and harvest season, my father used to ask us to be absent from school so he would have extra hand to finish planting rice, harvesting or weeding the field. This made me and my siblings lag behind the topics of every subject. It was hard for us to catch up.

But the main culprit in learning was environmental factor. Playing with friends, watching too much TV at our neighbor’s, got in the way and I put studying aside often going to school emptyheaded.

However, I am proud of what I've become because I overcame all obstacles in my way. It started in third grade when I lived with my aunt. She advised me to study hard for a better life. She always said "Do you want to end up like those people who did not work hard and became miserable in their life? You should have a goal to live up to!" She kept telling it to me whenever she saw me not studying well. Her voice somehow got stuck in my mind, and I told myself I wouldn’t end up like most in our community. I set my mind on saying, “Others can, why can’t I?”

Teachers’ inspiration is another reason why I was able to surpass obstacles. My biology teacher, Mrs. Jambalos, is one of them. She is amazing when it comes to teaching and touching her students’ hearts, inspiring us to go beyond our limits. She has shown us how every lesson was connected to real life outside of the classroom. Another teacher in my college, Mr. Leodegario Jalos, inspired me to keep up when he returned one of my projects with big words written on it "Keep your perseverance". It pinched me because he was able to recognize all my struggles just to keep up. It made me a “goal oriented” person ever since and I was able to finish college, became a teacher myself and be an inspiration for my pupils, too. It also helped me to keep my dream to live in Canada.

Here I am, happy with my life in Canada. Obstacles are still everywhere but with a goal, perseverance, and reflection on what I’ve been through, I could keep up and become he person I wanted to be.