Education plays a very important role in my life. I consider it my primary armor against every battle I have to go through in life. One of my happiest moments was when I graduated cum laude with the degree Bachelor of Communication Arts major in Journalism.
Aside from my mother, who has supported me in my studies, there is another person who made my dream of finishing a college degree possible. LA-based Filipino lawyer Francis Padua Papica funded my entire college education. He is also a Bicolano who grew up in Goa, Camarines Sur. He started the Francis Padua Papica Foundation, Inc. (FPPFI) in 1997 to encourage and acknowledge the outstanding individual achievements of young Filipino men and women.
The turn of events indeed favored me and my dream of finishing college. FPPFI has invitations in almost all public schools in Camarines Sur. Our principal, Salvacion Asis, received the invitation and they selected poor but deserving students from our school. My teacher, Mr. George Hugo, told me that I was recommended to be one of the candidates for the scholarship and that I had to pass an exam and an interview for them to assess my capacity. I was interviewed by lawyer Fe Buelva, who handles the operation of the foundation in Bicol, during the selection process. The foundation only chose one scholar for each district and I was the lucky one chosen from the fourth district. They gave me a full scholarship for four years. In return, I had to maintain high grades and participate in the foundation activities like leadership trainings and book distribution activities.
I admire the dedication of lawyer Francis to help poor children get a good college education. He shows his willingness to reach out to as many young individuals as he can and do something good for them. Without
I hope many people will also open opportunities for young individuals to get educated. Scholarship grants are really very helpful for poor children who have the eagerness to study but do not have the resources to go to school. Just like me, I know more Filipinos will be able to earn college degrees through scholarship programs. Similar to the advocacy of the FPPFI, Cream Silk has also been offering scholarships to Filipina college students taking up courses like Engineering and Architecture through its Women Empowerment Program. The program started in 2008 and more people are being added to their list of beneficiaries. I hope it will continue to transform more lives of Filipina women and make them empowered to overcome hard battles in life.
It is great to know that there are people gifted with golden hearts. I know we need more individuals like them to have a better society. If more children will have access to good education then our society will have more professionals in the coming years. I have always believed that it is not very important to have a lot of money because it can vanish in just a blink of an eye. But education is very precious because it cannot be taken away from us and we will carry it wherever we go. I may not be gifted with a lot of riches but I am very happy because I know I have earned a degree and I am blessed with people who are also blessed.
For more information about FPPFI and its programs you can visit http://www.papicafoundation.com. You can also e-mail the foundation for book and other forms of donations.