Growing up with little in material wealth, I struggled to finish college thinking it would be the way to a much better life. I thought earning a degree is equivalent to being able to buy everything I fancy. Although I want to laugh at myself now for the way I used to see things before, there are absolutely no regrets. I was much younger then and I don’t see the need to have anything edited or deleted. After all, what really motivated me to pursue my ambition was my love for family and not just the material things. I pushed myself to strive really hard. I worked during the day and studied at night or vice versa. I guess it’s no secret that being a working student is no joke. It was tiring and exhausting and sometimes degrading. I accepted every part-time job opportunity that came my way: service crew, sales lady and day care teacher. They say it’s all about time management but in actuality, a 24-hour day was not enough to accomplish my duties. I was always cramming for exams. I was tempted to quit many times but then there are a lot of reasons that inspired me to go on. It took me five long years to finish my four-year B.S.B.A. course but it’s not bad at all. If let say, I took complete loads every semester, things would have been more complicated and I would have less chances of getting my diploma. So even if I graduated late I’m fine with that. At least I was able to find a decent job to support myself and to augment my family’s income. However, working in an air-conditioned office with a salary a little higher than minimum wage doesn’t mean that I’m already free of financial worries. Let me put it in concrete terms. I shoulder the water and electricity bills at home plus I still need to think about my everyday expenses such as food and transpo. It’s embarassing but I’ll admit that I’ve often found myself wracking my brains for a way to stretch my budget. One important lesson I learned is to set aside some money every payday for the future. I don’t like to depend financially on anybody so it’s nice that I have a little savings that I can use for emergency purposes like if I get sick.

Please don’t get me wrong. Of course I appreciate life Yes. Times are indeed tough but I still believe that life is good. I think it is human to obsess over what we can’t have. Like that trip to europe that you’ve always wanted or that Beverly Hills Mansion that you’ve always dreamed about, etc. So it makes it better to pause every once in a while and be thankful for what I have instead of constantly thinking about what I don’t. I guess that’s a long way of saying that I try hard everyday not to be greedy. Everything I have, I owe to God, including the difficulties that I encountered in this journey. Without obstacles I think life would be meaningless. So times are tough, but I am very much thankful