Proud to be a kasambahay and being able to accomplish his goals despite the difficulties he faced as a working student, Jarel Barcelona Tadio took to Facebook to share his story as an inspiration for others.
According to Jarel, he knew even when he was a young kid that their family was different from other kids. He understood that they were much poorer than others and that he most likely won’t be able to study in college.
In elementary, while everyone else talked about their dream profession, he never shared his dream because he knew there was very little chance of it becoming a reality.
Photo credit: Jarel Barcelona Tadio / Facebook
“One time they asked me, Jah anong gusto mo paglaki?” he wrote on Facebook. “Sa mahina at nahihiyang boses, ang sagot ko: ‘Wala. Wala akong gustong maging in the future. Basta mai-ayos ko lang buhay nila mama, ok na ako.’”
In high school, he felt the same thing. He knew that he is unlikely to enter college at all; thus, even if he was a brilliant young student, he never shared his dreams in life. He told people he is planning to find a job after high school – and he did just that.
He first tried his luck as crew for a catering service company but it only paid him a very low salary and he wasn’t a regular crew, only called upon if the company needed an extra hand; thus, he quit 2 months later. He became a ‘kasambahay’ (house helper).
“Namasukan ako bilang maid. Oo, katulong po, yaya. Kasambahay. Pero taas nuo ako sa naging trabaho ko. Marangal yun. At ang masaya dun, libre na ang tulugan, libre pa ang pagkain, libre meryenda, libre tv, libre cable at libre wifi. Saan ka pa!” he mused.
After a year, he realized that he still wanted to live his secret dream of graduating from college. So, he became a working student. He was in school during mornings but had to work hard for the rest of the day.
It was a very challenging situation, especially because of the difficulties he also had to face as student at Cagayan State University but he managed to overcome all those challenges. Not only did he graduate from college, he actually did it with flying colors! He graduated magna cum laude!