Working-student: The Road to Reaching the Impossible Dream

Ang balay nga kulang nalang og pirma sa hangin matumba na 😂
Photo by Sir Jhong Calixto, 14th of February 2011
at the Village where I started to dream.

My dream started as a dream that seem impossible to come true given our situation back then. I'm Jeffry Manhulad, son of a farm laborer from Bukidnon who dreamed to ride an airplane someday. Bukidnon is the heart of Mindanao where plane passes through maybe flights from Davao to Cagayan de Oro or else, not sure but I can't forget how we wave our hands above hoping that somebody from the plane would see us below. That was the simple beginning of a dream, a simple dream to just ride an airplane. As a young boy from a broken family, left by our mother when I was four, I completely understood that chances to finish college and make my dream come true is impossible. My father couldn't even afford to send me to school, that's why my two sisters live with my aunt and there they were able to finish their elementary and high school. I'm left with my father, struggling to finish my elementary education hiking about almost 5 kilometers every morning and afternoon.

Life has been more challenging for me when my father marries again. It's now very much impossible to finish my school even just elementary.

But that was just all part of the long story. I became a working student since grade 5, finishing elementary as valedictorian, and then lived with my grade 4 teacher's family (in Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon, away from our home) as a working student again to finish my high school at Dologon National High School.

High school life has given me a whole lot of opportunities to have a chance to make my dream come true. Do you remember my dream way back in our remote area? That has already come true before I finish my high school, again as class valedictorian. To make the story short, I've been one of the lucky students to attend the 8th National Leadership Training for Student Government Officers in Baguio City in September 2010. That was the start of a bigger dream--to finish studying and help my family out from poverty.

I grabbed all the chances to attend sessions in Baguio, and never wasted the opportunity that my school has given me. There was this small pamphlet given to me regarding the Ten Outstanding Public School Students (TOPS), a scholarship grant for the lucky Top 10 all over the country by former Vice President Noli De Castro. I read it and immediately realize and thought I'm hopeless for this kind of scholarship program because I'm from a small school in Bukidnon province, and we couldn't compete with other big schools in the entire country. So I just let that passed. But our principal pushed me to apply, and she had extended lots of efforts for me to comply all necessary requirements for TOPS. To make that lucky story short, I was one of the grantees of Kabayan TOPS and again, the first dream of mine to ride an airplane? Has made come true again for the second time, not only for myself now, but also my grade 4 teacher, adviser, and principal when we attended the awarding of the Kabayan Foundation TOPS 2011 in Manila that March, weeks before my graduation day.

You maybe confused how I became an SM scholar? To make the story short, when former VP Noli's term ended, SM Foundation made all the Kabayan Foundation scholars their scholars too, that means, the existing and future scholars of Kabayan Foundation will also become an SM Foundation scholar.

I was so happy, now that a greater possibility for me to finish college and help my family out from poverty.

I studied BS in Information Technology in Cagayan de Oro City, even more far from my family. But SM Foundation has helped me a lot to survive with the monthly allowance given to me aside from the free tuition and miscellaneous in school, and who ever thought, I'm free of board and lodging there as a working student of a teacher in our Barrio before who offered their house in Cagayan de Oro with her sons (the youngest happens to be my best friend since elementary). As a working student, my only responsibility is to help with household chores, but sometimes, I can't do all the work because I'm a full time student as a requirement of being a scholar. But they completely understood my situation and has continued helping me.

During Christmas break, and summer break, I always work at SM City Cagayan de Oro, to avail the seasons job and summer job offered by SMFI to their scholars. I only go home to Bukidnon three times every year because it's far and I need money for my fare that costs around 500 pesos back and forth. I go home during new year, summer (after summer job just before classes starts), and Semestral break for the all soul's day and all saint's day. I'm used to be far away with my family, and I know it's just a small sacrifice to make my bigger dream come true--to finish college and help them out from poverty. My inspiration to keep going? The awarding ceremonies for the SMFI scholar graduates who will then be seeing our Tatang Henry in Manila with the Timex Watch with my name engraved on it. That was the greatest inspiration for me, and that during that time, I would find a way to bring my father with me (of course he'll gonna be riding an airplane, a dream already came true for me, but in that time, in his turn).

The money I earned in working at SM? It'll be used for the coming class days and also for my family. I don't spend Christmas with them, I go home during last days of December, nearing new year, so I would then go to Supermarket and look for the Happy Time biscuits to bring to my father and my stepmother and especially the happy kids who would wait for me to come home--my stepsisters and half sisters. I have also made a lot of friends at SM Department Store, and some of them will give me some biscuits to bring for the kids and that has inspired me a lot, that every people at SM has helped me and inspire me to keep pushing for my dreams.

I have learned a lot working at SM, the patience and the smiles of the sales clerks and sales utility clerks means a lot for me because I've been those times.

To make the story short, with all the people who are allways there to support me, and inspired me, I graduated in BS in Information Technology, with latin honors--the only latin honor and Cum Laude of my batch at the College of Information Technology of Liceo de Cagayan University.

And, remember the Timex Watch with my name engraved on it? Of course I had it, and finally I got it. How about my father? Of course I've solicited support funds for his airfare to Manila (plus I begged the Cebu Pacific to give us the window seat if available, and Tatay sits at the window side looking below, and told me, "hindi pala nakikita ang mga tao sa baba no? Even houses' roofs looks so tiny" I smiled coz I realized what I and my cousins did when we were young, we waved our hands every time a plane passes, hoping somebody would notice us).

Not just that, apart from that dream come true travel via plane with my Tatay, the biggest dream to help my family out from poverty has begun. My father would accompany me for the interviews at the Mall of Asia Arena Annex Building (MAAX), which housed the SM Prime Holdings, Inc. which where I work now as IT Specialist.

SM has made my dreams, SM has made the dream of my Tatay, and I'm very proud and happy to work at SM Group of Companies.

I'm the only college graduate of the family, and of course I expected to help them and give hope to them that somehow, someday, the kids wouldn't be able to experience the hardships we've been through before. That sommeday life would never be that harder as before.

Today, yes I'm happily working at SMPHI, and living here in Pasay City for good.

PS: I'm doing SM Mall-hopping during my free times, I just love to go to all the SM Malls and hopefully I can complete all the SM Branches soon and take a selfie with all the SM branches. So far 18 branches down, one at a time.

That's how SM has helped me and my family. I owe all my life's success to SM and the people behind the 'people helping people' foundation.