Of all the stories I can share, my tertiary education is something I am always proud of.

But in order to
understand my story, I first need to give you a better understanding of the family that I used to grow up
and how challenging our life is. We are a family of 9, I am the middle child and my parents earns our
living through harvesting rice from farm owners. Our family is living in an average of Php12, 000
annually or Php 1,000 monthly. A lot of sweat calculating right?

To proceed with my story, I started my journey here in the University of San Agustin way back as early
June of 2007 when I first enrolled in the University under new accountancy program with high hopes
and dreams in life. I enrolled in the University as a government scholar under CHED scholarship program
but to my dismay, I was not able to avail my scholarship since during that time, accountancy was not
anymore in their list of accredited courses. To make the long story short, I was not able to pay my tuition
and not able to enroll the next semester and 2 years thereafter. My dreams ended as it quickly started.

In that 3 years, I started working as a service crew in various food chains earning on an average of 150
pesos daily. Not my dream job after all so I firmly decided to re-enroll and earn my degree, but in order
to do that, I first need to pay my unpaid balance in the University. It was May of 2010, when I was able
to complete my savings to pay for my unpaid tuition and my enrollment fees. Yes, I was back on track
and re-enrolled in accountancy program but this time, 4 times harder. Yes this time, I was working
student, I started daily by working at the Jollibee from 4pm to 12 midnight, after that, I still needed to
study and do my assignment in my ever demanding accounting subjects doing journal entry using 14
column journals up until 3am. When the sun was about to rise by 5 am, I needed to get up to prepare
my only set of uniform and my rice baon, since I have 5-10 pesos budget a day for my sumptuous meal.

Yes Laswa kag tambo kada adlaw para makasurvived. Makita nyo man guro sa lawas ko nga
nakasurvived man ah.

So after I finish my 5 months contract with Jollibee, I decided to apply in the University grant- in –aid
scholarship program which I’ve heard from my cousin, who, by that time is already in her final years
finishing her management accounting degree as a GIAS also. To make the long story short, I was able to
meet Ma’am Fely and Sir Sunny who later on became my mentors and friends.

Sang una sg ginterview ako ni Mam Fely namangkot sa,

Noy, Kabalo ka magpangtrapo?

Kabalo ka manilhig?

Kabalo ka manghugas pinggan?

Kabalo ka mangpamunyag tanum?

Ang sabat ko lang sa iya with a confident voice, Mam taga Jollibee ko. (Laugh)

So she process and approve my application and not only that, she had taken me under her wing at VPSA
Office under Rev. Father Pederito A. Aparece and Rev Father Donato Elleazar. By that time, she made
me the in charge of Office keeping. Sooner or later, she found out at all her beautiful flowers passed out.

In my entire journey as a working student, I can say that it helped me almost, if not, a lot to who I am
right now. I was able to juggle my time being a full time student and being a GIAS working 18-20 days a
week and sometimes extending more hours depending on the demand of work. I was able to focus all
my energy and passion to my studies because I know I was given a second chance to finish my degree.

I must admit, Mam Fely was really tough when it comes to office works. All things must be organized,
and you must be able to anticipate the need of your boss, at all times. But more than her toughness, I
saw how she have helped me and prepared me to develop my decision making skills, analytical thinking
and even patience in dealing all odds that might come in my way.

Our role in the office is not just cleaning, sorting, or routing memorandums. We have a bigger role to
play in the university considering that we have contributed great numbers of work hours to the total
production and efficiency in operations of the University. Our role is to make the life of our boss easy so
that they can devote their time deciding and finding ways to successfully accomplish the goals of your
respective departments. Our role does not limit us in the walls of the University. We are all a living
testimony of people who really aspire and hope that tomorrow would be a better place for us. We are
all Augustinian scholars who embodied the values of Love, Interiority, Humility, our Devotion to Study
and the Pursuit of Truth, our Freedom to pursue our dreams with high hopes in the future, we belong to
the Community geared toward Common Good being Humble and with Generous and genuine Service,
with Friendship and lastly, being prayerful.

So now my dear scholars, what will I’ll be leaving to you is just 2 simple words that I’ve learn and
continue to value as I go along my journey.

1. Failures
According to Colin Powell- There is no secret to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and
learning from failure. I, myself is a product of failures. I failed in my plan to graduate on time, it took
me almost 7 long years to become CPA. Oftentimes, I got anxious whenever I failed, but succeeding in
failures must not be our end. Remember that success and failure are the two faces of the same coin and
we should always be patient. If I fail at any given point of time, I try harder to be successful next time.
Learn from your failures bit by bit and try to improve your current situation. Always remember your
dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want in life. There is just one thing that makes you
keep your dream possible: the fear of failure.

My dear scholars, I hope you make more mistakes in trying to do things honestly with much passion and
courage. On the contrary, our greatest fear should not be our failure but of succeeding at things in life
that don’t really matter. Many will judge you according to your current capacity and situations, but
believe me, with so much commitment, passion to excel and with the right attitude you can achieve
whatever your plans are. It’s never wise and advisable to give up on your ambitions if you face failures,
rather use your failures as the stepping stones to gain success. If you wouldn’t fail in life, how will you
feel what it is to be successful? So prepare yourself for the worse and leave no stone unturned in
realizing your aims. There will be times of recurrent failures, but one day success will definitely touch
your feet.
2. Hardworks
I am always a believer of success through hard works. There is no such thing as instant success in life. I
can vividly remember, one night when I stopped being nice to myself, I made a decision that changed
my life forever. I challenged myself to beat all the odds just to pursue my tertiary education. I
remembered, I used to go in school with literally no penny in my pocket. What do I have: a liter bottle of
water, a second-hand bag with lots of books, tons of commitment, great passion and indispensable faith
to God that I will be able to achieve my goals in life. My dear students - stop being complacent in doing
your things-always give your best shot. As struggle builds character, often the moments in our life we
are most proud of are the ones where we overcame adversity to accomplish something worthwhile. Do
something that pushes you to your limits and beyond. Nothing will make you feel more unstoppable
than revealing to yourself that you are capable of far more than you ever imagined. Accept the reality
that in life - pushing yourself to your limit is a way of being kind to yourself.