Grandma, 80, gets college diploma

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines — You’re never too old to pursue your dream.

Paciencia Pacibe Tamayo, at age 80, graduated from college last Monday, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. The new teacher majored in Technology and Livelihood Education.

The widowed grandmother of 19 grandchildren and four great grandchildren was offered a job to teach at the barangay day care center but declined because of her age.

“It’s enough that I achieved my dream,” she said.

Tamayo, a resident of Maramba Boulevard, Lingayen, Pangasinan, marched with 3,203 other graduates of the Pangasinan State University (PSU) during their commencement exercises last Monday.

She told The STAR she is happy and fulfilled now that she finally has a college diploma.

“This is really my dream,” she said.

Tamayo said she decided to go back to school five years ago after her husband died.

She stopped for one semester because her children were afraid she might not be able to take the rigors of studying, she added.

Tamayo said upon the prodding of a relative, she pursued a college degree at the PSU through the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program.

“I was never ashamed to go back to school,” she said. “I don’t care. It’s my dream. It’s my money I spent for my schooling with the help of my children.”

Tamayo said Mathematics gave her headaches, but that her highest grade was 1.5 in Humanities.

Whenever she got low grades, she would cry and would ask her professors what she must do, she added.

Tamayo’s daughter, Edna Tamayo-Tomelden, who works at the Commission on Audit in the Cordillera Administrative Region, said she and her siblings were initially hesitant to allow their mother to go back to school.

“We are very proud of her because she finally achieved her ultimate dream to have a college diploma,” she said.