First Grade

I remember I was only five years old when my parents had enrolled me in first grade and they could not stop me from crying, I wanted to go to school so bad like my older siblings. I always had to prove to them that I already knew how to write my name.   I had my pencil and paper with me all the time in our house.   Even though I was only a year younger than the rest of my classmates, I was very persistent to learn in class.  I vividly recall I was very excited to go to my first school.   My teacher was very pretty and nice but strict at the same time.  I remember seeing inside my classroom full of preserved jars for a science experiment.   This was the time I started making friends and got involved in dancing and singing.  I started learning to write my full name and recognizing the letters of the alphabet.  

Second Grade 

This was the year that I had first learned to develop a close relationship with my teacher.  I remember her name and her face up to this time.   She was very considerate and understanding.  I liked her teaching style.  I remember she taught us how to write cursive writing and I would always volunteer to stand up and do it.  I felt motivated to learn.  One thing that I will never forget that I loved listening to her story time.  She would do it around noon after lunch and it was very relaxing.  I was also one of her great helpers.  By the end of the year I was somewhat unhappy to leave her class.  As a little child I wanted to understand that was a life of being a student.  Life must go forward and leave our favorite teacher behind. 

Fifth Grade

Another teacher had touched my life.  This teacher was a little older than most of the teachers in school. She had a reputation for being such a high standard teacher and structured.  She taught me how to be organized and she always corrected my English words which I deeply appreciated.  I really enjoyed her teaching especially about science and social studies.  I recalled that our school time was very long because as an elementary student we learned about planting and gardening at the end of our academic class.  During my elementary school I studied home economics and enjoyed our physical education.   I was also placed as an honor student from first to six grades.

Six Grade

While growing up in the Philippines we did not have seventh and eighth grade.  After we graduate sixth grade we go straight to high school.   Probably that is why our time was so long.  I remember we stayed from 7:30 to 5:00 pm.  All the years I had spent in elementary school I developed great relationships with different people.  I was not looking forward to leaving my elementary school to go to high school.   Our school was closer to our house than the high school campus.  It was also much smaller than the high school campus.  I had learned to strive, to be part of popular groups, and involved in various school activities as an elementary student.   In other words, I really enjoyed my elementary school life.   I enjoyed being a star scout and girl scout and we would go camping with campfires and stayed there for a few days at the school campgrounds.  I learned to dance, sing, and act in drama.  I gained so much confidence and leadership as well.  

Freshmen Year

This was the time when my parents struggled to send my older siblings to college.  During my first year of high school I had to live at my godmother’s place near where our high school was located so my parents could save for my transportation and lodging. The way I had taken that accommodation was a culture shock for me and it affected my education.  I felt very uncomfortable especially when I had to spend my time on weekends working at their grocery store.  I felt trapped at that time.  I could not spend time with my friends because I was not living at home.    I continued to study for all my classes and passed them all.  I felt a little lonely during my first year of high school.  I missed my parents, siblings, and friends from my hometown.   I was not an honor student anymore during this year.  The school was always crowded, and it was the biggest high school in the province of Argao, Cebu Philippines.

Sophomore year

This year was still a blur to me because I still feel uncomfortable where I lived.  I miss my family while living at my godmother’s house.

However, I felt like I did not have an outside social life because I had to go home after school right away to help with their store.  I was still doing good with academic classes, but I was not involved in any activities because I felt like I had to go back to their house to help.  I lived there for free.  This year I bonded with a friend whom I knew from my hometown.  She was very popular because she was the principal’s niece.  At the same time, she was a play girl and had a bad reputation as well.  She had so many boyfriends and was a big-time flirt.   My older brother was aware about my presence at school even though we did not live at the same house.  I had no idea that he tattled telling my parents about my friend.  At the end of my sophomore year my parents decided that I should quit school the following year just to separate me from that friend of mine.  So, I quit school the following year and they sent me away to live at my aunt’s house in another island called Bohol Philippines.  I stayed there for one year at least.  

Junior Year

So, I came back fresh and back to enroll at my old high school.  I felt so bad that I watched all my classmates or batchmates move up to another year.  However, I kept telling myself what my parents had told me that I should not worry because they enrolled me one year in advance in first grade.  So, technically I belong to the right group of students because they have the same age as mine.  I refused to live at my godmother’s house anymore and I just wanted to be free.  I already knew lots of people in this batch of students.   This was the first time in my high school life that I felt happy and free.   I talked and spent time with my friends during or after school.  I had noticed that I was having difficulty understanding algebra and chemistry.  I made sure that my close friends were good at math and chemistry.  I was not as motivated to learn the hard classes and I could not figure out why until later in life.   

I pulled this photo out of the Internet.  I went to the public high school in the Philippines.  

Senior year

This was my last year of high school.  During my high school years, I was just an average student.  I felt like there was so much information in each class.   I had not developed my learning styles yet during this time so that I could excel.  Unlike in my elementary school I knew how to strive.  I did not have anybody who bullied me and no problems with other students in my entire high school life.  I was not looking forward to finishing high school because I knew that my parents were struggling to send us to college.  I was not motivated to look or even prepare to apply at universities.   I was told by my parents to wait to go to college until my older brother finished his civil engineering course at a prestigious university.   

I only stayed one year in this university and left for the United States of America in January 1990.

First Year college- Southwestern University, Cebu City, Philippines

I attended one year of college in the Philippines taking some general classes two years after my high school graduation.   I met a few friends in the city.  As a student we must take 24 units per semester.  To make my story short I disliked their school system at that time.   It seemed like  chaos to me trying to study many subjects and I did not have enough money to purchase my school materials.  After attending school that year, I left the Philippines and came to the United States.