For a young boy who grew up from far away province of Mindanao, I never imagined life away from my parents trying to live an independent life aspiring for a very straightforward purpose – to seek a better life for my family.
I am the eldest among the six fruits of love of my parents. Raised by them with fear in the Lord and bearing in mind the virtue of hard work and discipline, I was a child who never even noticed the reality that my parents came from two different tribes, cultures and religions; my mother a Muslim and my father a born Christian. Two different lives united by God to show the world that we can live together in spite of our individual differences.
My father portrays a man of discipline which was very obvious during my childhood days. I grow up with fear in him, more than ever when I commit mistakes and he takes his disciplinary paddle on top of our cabinet. Those were the days when I was younger and my father keeps on reminding me and my brothers and sisters to value education for it is the only treasure that can never be taken away from us.
My mother is a working mom who wakes up early everyday to prepare our breakfast and “baon” and then prepare herself for work in a government office. A busy woman that she was, but still can manage to perform her tasks as a mother to six children. She is indeed a great mom for me though most of the times way back when I was in elementary and high school, I was awaken by her scolding almost every early in the morning. I could only smile to myself remembering how hard headed I was as a kid in the past years.
My younger brothers and sisters are the best brothers and sisters for me ever. I am very thankful having them in my life. I can still remember finding myself in a fight – flimsy boy that I was - because I wanted to protect them from bullies in school. But I also find myself fighting with them every now and then which are a usual scenario in every family.
I took my elementary education in the years 1988 to 1994 happily attaining first honors except in grade two in which I only grabbed second. I can still remember my first step in this school that seem to me like “nipa” huts then. Settled in the middle of fertile ricefields, with fresh air and fruit trees where I spent most of my restless childhood playing around the fields, in the dusty playground, and in the leech infested waters of irrigations. It was in grade one when I first joined a competition in story telling and fortunately bagged the 1st place over my contenders from higher grades. Of course, I never knew then what acclaim that award might have given me but recalling that very moment would still make me wonder, did I really delivered that fable at that age the way a real story teller does? Until now, I can still recall each line of that very memorable fable.
1994 was the time to go to high school in one of the nearby cities. My parents cannot afford to send me in a private school since four of us were studying then, and so we decided to enroll in a very famous public school during that time - the Zamboanga del Sur National High School. This school offers a special science class that every student whom I know since the admission was very interested about. I took the opportunity to be a part of it and taken the DOST exam. Unfortunately, I never made it. That was the first time as far as I can remember, I felt so disappointed of myself. I thought I was never good enough and am never prepared to be in high school. That was the time when I tried to compare the quality of education in the school where I came from and the schools in the city.
Four years have I spent in high school, without making so much effort in my studies. I did my roles as a student, maintain my grades, and remain in the third section for the rest of the years. I never made it to the top, but still manage not to fail. I’m thinking maybe it was just an aftermath of my disappointment not being able to pass the DOST exam. But in the later years of my High School life, I realized that everything that happened in the past years was planned on purpose. Without that failure, I never have met my friends, I never have met my teachers, I never have encountered such experiences for the succeeding years and I might never have become the person I am right now.
College years took a greater part on my life’s formation spending 7 long years struggling to earn a better profession. I graduated in high school having art as my passion, but my parents cannot afford to send me in an art school somewhere in Vizayas. Besides, I already passed the entrance exam and engineering aptitude test in one of the most prominent schools in Western Philippines, the Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City.
I took a 5-year course in Bachelor of Science in Ecological and Environmental Engineering that forced me to love numbers for four long years before finding out that the course wasn’t for me. The struggle to finish the course wasn’t successful and found myself taking a short training in Visual Arts at WMSU’s Department of Extension Services and Non-formal Education that then gave me a feeling of fulfillment.
My stay in Zamboanga for 4 long years was filled with a blend of colors and shadows. There I experienced the pain of hunger, the sorrow of missing my family, and the cruelty of the real world. But all these made me appreciate the value of friendship, the importance of hard work and patience, and trust in the One who made all things possible. Being hired as one of the service crews of Freemont Foods Corporation, a subsidiary of Jollibee Foods Corporation during those years when I was an engineering student is one of the best trainings I can consider that contributed a lot to how I deal with life. Jollibee taught me about responsibility, leadership, hard work, patience, respect, and many more virtues I can name of. Most of all, it taught me to “be happy.”
But my days of stay in Zamboanga must end and I needed to focus more in my studies because I am wasting too much time. I must go back to the place where I took my high school education. Saint Columban College then was my next destination. Without any knowledge of what course I must be taking the second time around, I decided to enroll Bachelor of Science in Information Technology though my mom wanted me to take up a course in Education. Another three years of great effort to finish a degree, I applied as a student assistant at the college of computer studies and did my best to join the school’s student publication for me to be able to obtain tuition fee discounts to help my parents minimize their expenses in sending four of their children to college.
March 2005 was the time of fulfillment. I finished my course and immediately applied for a job in Link2Support Inc., the first ever call center in Cagayan de Oro City during that time and made it to the first batch of Product Support Representatives. After a few months, I went back to the province and applied as a College instructor in my beloved alma mater. For three years now, I’ve been enjoying my job and learned to love this noble profession of teaching. Realizing this must be my calling. Trying to do everything to equip myself to mold and prepare the young minds to become competent future IT professionals.
Whoever I am right now and whatever triumph I had, reflect the very colorful story of my past. From the union of two separate worlds of my parents that molded me the Christian and the Muslim ways taught me everything that circulates inside my head and inside my heart.
