Most Valued

(as published in AERONAUTICA, official student publication of Philippine State College of Aeronautics, Dec '07)

What do I value most? It’s probably cliché, but as a student, it’s obviously education. And I get my inspiration others that I value next: family, friends, and of course, the Almighty God.

My father, constantly remind his four children not to waste all the perseverance he had done for us. He says, that the only inheritance he could give us is good education, and that we should not do things to ruin it. Out of respect, I obey fervently.

I admire my father. He is a leader, been a President of Rotary Club and several times in Parent-Teachers Association. Being a single parent, he works hard for his four high maintenance children, who would all be in college in a year. My mother passed away years ago when she was stricken by a fatal disease: cancer. She was a high-earning dentist and our world crushed when she left us. Almost all our assets were nearly drained trying to save her life. Dad paid expensive hospital bills by selling his old business, family car, and land titles, just to live a little longer with her.

It was a difficult time. My dad started from scratch after the tragedy. Getting capital from pawned jewelries that my mom left, he built a shoe-and-bag repair shop to make ends meet. He earned at least a thousand on good days but only a couple of hundred on poor times. That time, I started studying to another province as a scholar of Philippine Science. And so when I went home during the weekends, he does the laundry for me. Dad dual roles as a mother and father, he cooks good food for us, he buys groceries, and he tries to do things that a mother would normally do. But it is still different having a real one.

A blessing came, two years after, when my uncle had transferred to him the printing business which has been becoming difficult to handle. My uncle’s family then went abroad, and so their house became our new home. Dad lifted the business from more than a million unpaid taxes. Things started to normalize. But a disastrous event occurred again when Milenyo and Reming ravaged the Bicol Region. Legazpi was flooded. The printing machines, computers, and paper materials all floated in the water. Millions was lost.

But life goes on. And like my father, I work hard too, not in a job, but in school. Aside from never ending home works and exams, I am the president of my college department, secretary of an active organization, and an associate editor of the school’s publication. It is all part of my education, a training exercise for the more challenging days ahead. It’s really hard but it’s in preparation for the future.

To keep me sane enough and in track from the stressful times I endure. I try to maintain a healthy relationship with others. I believe in God, make new friends, make most of my vacation with family and high-school batch mates, and always share a laugh with college classmates. And I thank them all for always being there.

So, my advice for everyone, whatever situation in life we are in, whatever failure we had, whatever challenges we face, we must all learn to prioritize, and must do good in keeping the things we value most.