My parents instilled in me that life is not easy but it is fair. Life is how you view it. If you view it as unfair, then it will be and you will be filled with frustrations and negativities. But, if you view it otherwise, your life will be open to so many learning opportunities.

That is why in the entirety of my life, I have always learned to view life on the side of fairness, to always look at things with positivity and hope.

My father was only a construction worker who earned minimum wage, my mother was a plain housewife. We were in an extreme financial dilemma and the capacity of my parents to send me and my older siblings to college was even tested. In fact, my elder brother had to take a gap year to allow our two elder sisters to finish first. In my part, I personally witnessed the struggles of my parents, and so, I kept in mind that there’s no other way I could repay them but to finish my education.

I graduated my elementary as the Class Salutatorian and my secondary With Honors. I have achieved these despite my failure in attending extra co-curricular activities which was a component of the grading due to financial incapability.

As I look back, I remember, I’ve experienced doing what other people would hardly believe. From a “basurero”, “manogpamasbas”, and “manog-agwada tubig”. If I would not do it, for sure, there would be many times I could not be attending school due to lack of daily allowance. However during those days, what I was sure of was that I wanted to go to school no matter how limited my allowance was. I even rode a bicycle from home to school, that’s around four kilometers. I had to endure heavy rains at times and the muddy road which sometimes caused my uniform to have spots of dirt. That was how difficult our situation that time.

Unexpectedly, during my 3rd year in high school, that’s the 1st time I felt that there was somebody who cared for us who understood our situation. We were indeed grateful beyond words. We were blessed to be included in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Receiving the educational and other aids, that was a big relief to my family. I remember I already had enough time to focus on my schooling since I didn’t have to work after school anymore just to obtain my allowance the next day. I did have ample time to answer my assignments and study my lessons.

Consequently, a year after I made it to the top 9 of my class. That was my 1st time to be included in the list of top 10 students. I graduated high school With Honors last 2015.

After I graduated from high school, I was deeply excited to pursue college. On the other hand, I still had the same dilemma. Would my parents allow me given the financial constraints we were experiencing? My parents were optimistic. They assured me they would and they could provide that I’ll make it to public school. And so, I did my best preparing for the entrance exam of my dream university. I wanted to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Biology as a preparatory for medical school since it is always been my dream to become a medical doctor someday. I was blessed and accepted in West Visayas State University taking up this BS Biology.

At WVSU, I was so driven to learn and learn and learn. I was so in love with my chosen field. After four long years, with God’s unending grace, I graduated in college with a Bachelor of Science in Biology major in Microbiology and garnered the distinction as cum laude.

After I graduated, it was payback time. Primarily, to help my parents and secondly, to inspire others by sharing my story, I was blessed to be allowed to inspire and further unfold college students’ paths as they pursue their respective dreams. I became the youngest college instructor of Iloilo Doctors’ College Inc., teaching biological sciences subjects to BS Biology, Physical Therapy, Nursing, and Dentistry students.

I was teaching as a full-time instructor and at the same time self-reviewing for my certification examination for Registered Microbiologist. I took and passed the said examination last December 2019. I am now a certified Registered Microbiologist (RMicro) of the country.

But that doesn’t end there. As Ronald Esborn once stated, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you already know and mastered, you will never grow”. I wanted more. There was an inner calling. I felt like another mission awaits me. My greatest dream is calling me. My desire to reach out to a wider scope of people and help them in safeguarding their health is calling me.

Even though I love what I was doing as a teacher, I made a hard decision. I stopped my work and decided to pursue medicine. I need to become a doctor. I have seen and continue seeing the challenges in the health of our people. They need me. People trust me. I have to do it. In God’s grace.

God listens. I applied again at WVSU to take up Medicine. It’s the only school in the region that offers medicine for free. God’s will be done, I made it to enter the college of medicine and I am now an incoming 2nd-year student in med school.

Within me, there’s this passion and dedication to serving the people. My goals are clear. I want to become an outstanding clinician, dynamic leader, and a social catalyst, with more sacrifices to render, mountains to climb. I’m certain that the summit ahead of me will be conquered. I’ll become a full-fledged clinician in the service of every Filipino.

My appreciation and gratitude to the government, the 4Ps program, the scholarships, and the aids. If without, for sure, I will not reach where I am right now and what I have achieved.

Dios Mabalos! Thank you with all my heart. (Submitted by New Lucena ML Ma. Fatima T. Tanque, Iloilo POO)