RISE BEYOND
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RISE BEYOND
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I left the classroom, but I never stopped learning. I boarded a ship going to Manila. I was still very young, leaving the simple place I knew and traveling toward a world I had never experienced before. When I arrived, everything seemed enormous. There were so many people at the harbor. Cars filled the roads. There was traffic everywhere. The roads looked wider and longer than anything I was used to.
I left the classroom, but I never stopped learning. I boarded a ship going to Manila. I was still very young, leaving the simple place I knew and traveling toward a world I had never experienced before. When I arrived, everything seemed enormous. There were so many people at the harbor. Cars filled the roads. There was traffic everywhere. The roads looked wider and longer than anything I was used to. I saw buses and jeepneys. I saw tall buildings. I saw people walking around wearing nice clothes and carrying shoulder bags. And then I saw students. They wore beautiful uniforms and nice shoes, running toward their schools. My heart became happy when I saw them. But it also hurt. I wanted to be one of them. As the agent drove us toward his office somewhere in Manila, I looked through the window in amazement. My village had houses, schools, churches and small shops. Manila was completely different. There were buildings everywhere. I was curious, but I was also afraid. I remember thinking: “What if I get lost here? What will I do?” There were so many questions inside my mind. But underneath the fear was still the same determination: I came here to work and study. So I kept going. “IF YOU TEACH ME, I WILL LEARN.” The agent asked me: “Do you know how to take care of children?” I answered: “Yes. I take care of my siblings. And if there is something I don't know, teach me and I will learn.” That simple answer would eventually become part of the way I approached almost every job in my life.
I didn't have a diploma. I didn't have professional training. But I was willing to learn. The agent brought me to work for a family. The husband was involved in politics, and his wife had an agency connected with people preparing to work in Japan. My main responsibility was taking care of their two children. Their school was close to the house, so I walked them there. I helped with their assignments. I prepared their food. I washed clothes—although this time I discovered something that made the work different: a washing machine. I also ironed and did the household work. My employers treated me well. But there was one thing they couldn't give me. THE NIGHT SCHOOL THAT NEVER HAPPENED I had come to Manila believing I would be able to work during the day and study at night. But the reality was different. In the afternoon and evening, there was still household work to finish. By nighttime, I was exhausted. Then early the next morning, I had to wake up again, prepare the children's food and take them to school.
Sometimes, when I brought them there, I looked around at all the students. And inside myself I thought: “I wish I could go inside and study too.” But I couldn't. Slowly, I realized that the dream I had carried to Manila wasn't going to happen the way I had imagined. I wasn't going back to school. So I did something that would happen many times throughout my life. I adjusted to my dream without giving up on myself.
THE OFFICE BECAME ANOTHER CLASSROOM I worked for the family for about two years. Eventually, I told them I wanted to leave and look for another job. Instead, they offered me another opportunity. They asked me to work in their office. My responsibilities included cleaning and maintaining the office and preparing food for people who were getting ready to travel to Japan. I didn't know everything about cooking. But my employer had a cookbook. So I read it. And I learned. Then another door opened. I spent time with the secretary and liaison officer. I watched them prepare documents. I watched how they handled passports and travel requirements. I went with them to different government offices. They introduced me to people. I observed. I asked questions. And little by little, they began trusting me.
When everybody else was busy, my employer could send me to government offices to bring documents and handle tasks. I learned about paperwork. I learned about passports. I learned about tickets and travel documents. I learned how offices worked. I learned how to communicate with different people. The classroom I had wanted so badly was no longer available to me. But life had quietly given me another kind of classroom.
By around sixteen years old, I had already learned skills from several different kinds of work. And I was grateful. I WANTED TO LEARN AGAIN At seventeen, another thought entered my mind. I wanted to experience restaurant work. So I talked to my employer. I continued working for them for eight hours, but I also started working about six hours at a nearby restaurant. There I learned something completely different. I learned how to serve food. I learned how to deal with customers. I learned how to handle payments and give the correct change. I learned cashier work. I even learned responsibilities connected with paying staff salaries. And once again, I met many different people. Without realizing it, I was building something that no one could take away from me: experience. I had once believed that because I stopped school after Grade 5, my education had ended. It hadn't. My education had simply changed form.
Lesson
I still believe education is extremely important. If you have the opportunity to study, study. I know from experience how many more doors a diploma can open. But I also learned something for people like me—people whose circumstances didn't allow them to finish school. Not having a diploma does not mean you have to stop learning. Watch. Listen. Ask questions. Read. Practice. Accept correction. When somebody gives you an opportunity to learn something new, don't be ashamed to say: “I don't know how yet. But teach me, and I will learn.” A washing machine taught me something. A cookbook taught me something. A secretary taught me something. A liaison officer taught me something. Government offices taught me something. A restaurant taught me something. Customers taught me something. Every job became part of my education. I didn't have a graduation ceremony for those lessons. I didn't receive a diploma. But I carried the knowledge into every job that came afterward.
Practical Advice
If you couldn't finish school, please don't use my story as a reason to believe education doesn't matter. It matters. If you still have the opportunity to study, protect it. But if life has already taken you away from the classroom, don't tell yourself: “I'm uneducated, so I cannot grow.” Start with what is in front of you. Learn one skill. Then another. Then another. Don't pretend you know something you don't. Simply say: “I'm willing to learn.” Those four words opened doors for me again and again. I stopped school after Grade 5. But I never gave myself permission to stop being a student
