Everything Happens for a Reason
A few days before my enrollment in UP, I received the news that I also passed the DOST (Department of Science and Technology) scholarship exam and that means the government (through DOST) would be happy to fund my college education and give me a monthly allowance. I was in awe for the overwhelming blessings! God is really great! I passed the UPCAT and now being given a scholarship. Wow! That would make me a double scholar and that means I can finish my college education without paying a single dime! I was so amazed and I thanked God immensely for those blessings.
So the enrollment time came and I was so excited. When I'm about to enroll, I was informed by the registrar that my course (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) is unfortunately not part of the courses eligible for the DOST scholarship grant. I was shocked and realized that my dream of becoming a veterinarian is now close to impossible. I then asked what courses are eligible and I was given a whole list of courses. Then I was told that unfortunately, most of those courses were already full and the only course with available slots was the Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. My mind stopped for a bit. I said to myself "What? Agriculture? You will be studying in UP to be a farmer? Are you serious?", and my mind suddenly became a battlefield.
Upon hearing that, I told the registrar to give me some time to think about it and she gracefully agreed. I looked for a quiet spot in the park and began rationalizing my thoughts. I stepped back and decided to look at the bigger picture - how studying in UP can make my dreams come true and how the scholarship can help my family. I started to realize that while I know that my parents have saved enough money for my college education and I know that they can support me financially in taking the doctorate degree, I also thought of the fact that my brother, who's just a year younger than me would also be entering college the following year. Getting the scholarship will definitely be a big help for my parents to not worry about my college expenses and save the money for my brother's education instead. That thought was so powerful that it stopped my mind from thinking anything else. I was convinced that it would be a good decision for me to take the scholarship rather than seeing my parents get financially stressed eventually for supporting two sons in college. At that moment, I made a decision to push through with the BS Agriculture course and grab the scholarship grant.
And I am so glad I did.
I would admit that at first, I am somehow ashamed of my course. Most people laugh when they knew what my course was. There's this wide misconception that agriculture is just a study of becoming a farmer. I brushed off all those negative comments and reactions, I didn't let those affect me. What kept me motivated was the fact that one, I'm still studying in UP, second, I'm a double scholar and I'm studying for free, and third, I'm proud that I have made a great decision to help my family. Eventually, as I progress with all the subjects in my curriculum, I realized that Agriculture was not an easy course! Imagine, we had all the branches of science in our curriculum - Biology, Zoology, Genetics, Plant Pathology, Soil Science, and even Physics, Math and Statistics, just to name a few. Yes, those are just some of the subjects I had, there's a lot more especially the GE subjects and my minor and major subjects. That's not all, UP's approach in teaching is not just theory-based but it also has a practical application component. With my course, I experienced being a farmer by planting and growing crops, applying fertilizers, harvesting fruits and vegetables, milking a cow, feeding animals, analyzing soils, memorizing the scientific names of plants and trees, and even planting on test tubes! That was a lot of physical work but I enjoyed every piece of it. I shed a lot of sweat and tears, lost a lot of weight and grew big eye bags just to pass my subjects and still maintain my scholarship until I graduate. It was one hell of a ride, but I enjoyed it!
In my fourth year, while I was busy doing my thesis and making sure that I will graduate on time, there was one night that I won't forget for the rest of my life. That night was the time when I was elected as the president of my academic organization in UPLB, the UPLB DOST Scholars Society. It was memorable to me not just because I was elected as the president but because at that same night, I became a hero.
When I was elected as the president, I sent a text message to my mom just to deliver the good news. It was out of the ordinary because I don't usually text her late at night as I know she usually sleeps early. So I was surprised when I received her reply saying congratulations and that she is very proud of me. I smiled and replied back with a thank you note. I knew my dad was at work that night and he didn't have a phone with him. I was about to call my second brother to tell him the good news but I thought he was probably already sleeping in his school's dorm so I decided not to disturb him. I knew my mom will tell them anyway. After the election, I went home to my dorm, studied for my final exams that week and slept, woke up the following day and my journey continued as normal.
Without me knowing, after my mom read my last text message that night, she felt a different kind of heat inside their room. We have a small convenience store and the store was built attached to the living room and their bedroom. She got curious where that heat was coming from so she walked out of their room and opened the main door in our living room. To her surprise, our store was already on fire and the fire started to creep in our living room. She immediately run and went to my youngest brother's room to wake him up. My brother woke up and they immediately run towards the back door. The fire crawled fast behind them and they were not able to bring anything nor save any of our things. My mom shouted for help and cried really hard while my youngest brother was left in shock. Our neighbors started to arrive, consoled my mom and the brave men tried to fight the fire by splashing gallons of water but got defeated because the fire was too big for them to kill. Someone called the fire department but since we're living in a remote barangay, the fire trucks took time to arrive. Our house got burned down that fast on that night. The store that supported my family's living for a number of years and our house that my parents invested so much to build for more than 20 years - all turned to ashes in just a couple of minutes.
I didn't know this has happened until my uncle (my mom's brother) who lives in Sta Rosa texted me a couple of days after the incident asking me to go to their house because he has something important to say. I got curious so I asked him what it was about but he refused to give me any details, he said he will say it once I arrive in their home. I felt that something is not right, my heart started to beat fast and my mind soared into thinking what it can possibly be about. I then texted my mom asking her how they are and she replied a few minutes after saying they're alright, and we had a short convo just like the usual text convos we used to have. That relieved me a bit but I'm still curious about what my uncle was referring to. So the following morning, I traveled from UPLB to Sta Rosa and finally reached my uncle's house. He treated me like a normal guest and had me join them for lunch. After lunch, we sat down at their living room and that's when he and my aunt delivered the news to me.
He started by telling me what happened after my mom received my last text message that night. He told me the same exact story I shared earlier. I felt a deep level of sadness and pain. I cried really hard, sobbed while tears kept falling from my eyes. I imagined how my mom and brother were like while it was happening, crying for help, a painful scene for me. I cried hard because I felt the pain of my parents losing our store and house, and all the possessions they've invested for so many years. More importantly, I cried so hard realizing what could have happened when I didn't send that text message. It pained me to imagine how their lives could have ended that night. That simple text message saved my mom and my brother's lives.
After the incident, my family definitely had a hard time keeping up. It was definitely a painful experience and we were back to square one again. More than the material things lost, we are still grateful to God for the gift of life - for keeping us safe and for keeping my mom and brother alive. My parents didn't lose hope and still continued fighting. They've worked hard again to restore our store and house back, piece by piece. That's when I realized that I made a great decision of taking the scholarship and not taking the doctorate degree. If I pursued being a veterinarian, because of what happened, I would probably stop studying and wouldn't have been able to finish my 6 years degree. The scholarship was indeed a blessing and the 4 year Agriculture course turned out to be a blessing in disguise as well for me. Because of these, I was able to graduate on time, at the exact time when my family needs my help and support.
2006. Immediately after graduation, I started to look for a job. I searched online and learned that there's a big demand for employees in the booming BPO industry. Though the work schedule is graveyard shift, they are offering a higher salary. With a goal to provide immediate financial help to my family at that time, I decided to put my college degree aside and tried to apply in the BPO industry. It didn't come easy, I was rejected by a lot of companies. I realized that graduating from UP was an advantage but was not a guarantee for employment. It will still depend on the graduate's skills and competencies, and how those will match the requirements of the job. After countless rejections, disappointments and frustrations, finally, there's one company who saw my potentials and hired me for the job. As a sign of gratitude, I remained loyal to that company, worked very hard and climbed up the corporate ladder from being an agent/ staff to being a manager before I left the company after 7 years.
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