University Student Council President

When I was in high school, sobrang hirap ng buhay namin. Noong kakalipat lang namin sa Bicol, jeepney driver yung tatay ko tapos sobrang baon kami sa utang kaya kailangan namin lumipat ng probinsya. Yung time na yun, hindi afford ng parents ko pag-aralin ako sa private school. Pero kasi at that time, demanding din ako. I wanted a good future for myself. I decided to take an exam in Ateneo de Naga and I got a full scholarship there. But the tradeoff was, they couldn’t fully accommodate living expenses, eh mahal pa rin kahit full scholarship.

I was a working student buong four years ko ng high school. Usually, I would wake up at 4 in the morning and then matatapos class ko nang around 6 pm. 6 pm onwards magtututor ako hanggang 12 am. Then 12 am pa lang ako magstastart ng assignments and schoolwork ko. So that only gave me at maximum, 2 hours of sleep every day.

Sobrang hirap niya. In class, I barely had the attention to learn but I was running for awards and I was also running for valedictorian so I had to balance everything. I was president ng honors class and debate varsity team captain; I was all these bida-bida things.

Everything was so difficult. Ang pinakamahirap is, usually I go to school nang walang pagkain kasi sobrang sanay akong ‘di kumakain. ‘Di ko afford eh, lalo na nung 1st year. That time kasi, in one week, ang baon ko was P500, so that’s less than P100 every day (kasi seven days a week). Ang pamasahe papunta sa school and pabalik is P40. The cheapest meal in the cafeteria was P40 so that’s P80 which gives me less than P20 for my breakfast and lunch. Kasama pa dun yung shampoo, sabon, pang-project, so usually I rarely eat within two days or I never eat at all. Kaya sobrang natututuwa ako when someone gives me food kahit Moby lang. Sometimes nga, in three days, ang nakakain ko lang is Rebisco, yung chocolate flavor. There were a lot of times I almost fainted. But you can’t faint eh. You can’t even tell people what you’re experiencing so I just go through it.

I worked harder than anyone else because I didn’t have the privilege they had. They can have tutors and have things done for them. Pero wala kasi akong ganoon. I usually work twice, thrice or sometimes even a hundred times harder than everyone else. And tanggap ko na yun. I don’t complain about it. I just go for it.

Eventually, it paid off. I graduated salutatorian in high school and got full scholarship in Ateneo de Manila for college. Ateneo pays for everything so I don't have to work anymore. In the process, I learned the skill of working ultra fast kasi siyempre, konti lang oras ko para sa sarili kong school work. Until now dala ko siya. It helps me power through the normal academic workload easier, parang laging naka-ultra beast mode.

It was all really difficult but yeah, g! Laban lang. Onto the next.

- Hya Bendana, University Student Council President

#OurSanggu