MANILA, Philippines – A student recently went viral after he graduated cum laude despite juggling school with six jobs!
Leo Jaminola hails from a small town on the Eastern shore of Mindoro. Coming from a poor family whose dad works as messenger in the local municipal hall, earning Php200 a day, Leo grew up playing in the ‘esteros’ where homes with tarpaulin walls are a common sight. He shared his story on Facebook where it went viral.
According to Leo, his father could barely afford to feed the family with his meager salary. Considering that most meals in UP cost around Php70, his dad’s daily wage could only cover his food.
Choosing not to be a burden to his father yet also wanting to graduate from college, Leo found various jobs to support himself throughout the 5 years that he studied BA Political Science in UP Diliman.
“In my five year stay in the university, I had taken a total of six different jobs. I was an encoder, a transcriptionist, a library student assistant, a tutor, a writer, and at one point, a food vendor at the dormitory manning my own little sari-sari store,” Leo revealed in his Facebook post.
Juggling so many jobs with academics was no easy feat. This led to Leo getting failing marks in some subjects; yet he could not also find scholarships because there were so few offered for his course or other social sciences. And if there were any, he didn’t qualify because of his grades.
Yet Leo did not lose hope; he persevered. The young student continued to juggle his many jobs with his many subjects, finally pulling himself through and graduating just recently. But netizens were quite impressed that despite everything he had gone through, he still managed to graduate as cum laude!
Congratulations, Leo!
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
Leo Jaminola hails from a small town on the Eastern shore of Mindoro. Coming from a poor family whose dad works as messenger in the local municipal hall, earning Php200 a day, Leo grew up playing in the ‘esteros’ where homes with tarpaulin walls are a common sight. He shared his story on Facebook where it went viral.
According to Leo, his father could barely afford to feed the family with his meager salary. Considering that most meals in UP cost around Php70, his dad’s daily wage could only cover his food.
Choosing not to be a burden to his father yet also wanting to graduate from college, Leo found various jobs to support himself throughout the 5 years that he studied BA Political Science in UP Diliman.
“In my five year stay in the university, I had taken a total of six different jobs. I was an encoder, a transcriptionist, a library student assistant, a tutor, a writer, and at one point, a food vendor at the dormitory manning my own little sari-sari store,” Leo revealed in his Facebook post.
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| Photo credit: Leo Jaminola / Facebook |
Juggling so many jobs with academics was no easy feat. This led to Leo getting failing marks in some subjects; yet he could not also find scholarships because there were so few offered for his course or other social sciences. And if there were any, he didn’t qualify because of his grades.
Yet Leo did not lose hope; he persevered. The young student continued to juggle his many jobs with his many subjects, finally pulling himself through and graduating just recently. But netizens were quite impressed that despite everything he had gone through, he still managed to graduate as cum laude!
Congratulations, Leo!
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
