MANILA, Philippines – Many students have proven that poverty is not a barrier to achieving education, because it can be attained through hard work and perseverance.
Just like the story of "Warry Marata," who graduated with a Bachelor of Elementary Education Major in Generalist at Bulacan State University, he was told by his parents at a young age that they did not have the means to send him to college if that was what he wanted in life.
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| Photo courtesy: Warry Marata via Bulsu Capture (Facebook) |
According to his post featured in the university-based online community "Bulsu Capture," instead of getting angry at his parents, he immediately accepted the reality that they were poor, and his life would not improve if he remained lazy. So, at a young age, Warry learned to sell various foods such as snacks, pandesal, banana cue, carioca, puto, and more as long as he could earn money. He would give his earnings to his parents to help buy their daily food. But when he reached high school, Warry admitted that he stopped selling because he was going through adolescence.
“Nahihiya na rin kasi ako, alam n’yo naman nagbibinata. Haha,” he said in the post.
When Warry graduated from high school, he was not able to attend college immediately because he worked as a gasoline boy at a gas station in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. After two years and after saving some money, he decided to pursue a degree in Elementary Education at BSU while working at night.
“Lumipas ang mga semestre at hindi ko namalayan na malapit na pala akong matapos. Naging routine ko na ang trabaho sa gabi at aral sa umaga. Nakakapagod, nakakaantok ngunit hindi ito naging hadlang upang sumuko,” he said.
He felt the struggle even more in his fourth year due to his practice teaching. He taught in the morning as a student teacher and then went straight to the gas station at night. He only had two to three hours of sleep and even reached a point where his students noticed how tired he was. Despite all these challenges, Warry endured them just to finish his studies in 2018, and he did not fail.
“Kay buti ng Panginoon at hindi Niya ako pinabayaan. Hanggang sa aking makamit ang diploma na aking pinaghirapan. Sobrang saya ko noon dahil ito na ang bunga ng aking pagsisikap,” he said.
Now, Warry’s life is much better, and he is teaching at a school in Bulacan.
— Noel Ed Richards, The Summit Express
