Riding a carabao, chemist

"I grew up in Guimba, Nueva Ecija with my parents and 6 siblings. Our life there was poor. My father is a farmer and my mother is a housewife. We learned how to be thrifty. One struggle I faced was the unsureness to study college.

Became a BELIEVE scholar

I was a BELIEVE scholar for 8 years. I started during my first year in high school and continued to be part of it until I graduated from college, which I'm grateful for. This also opened a door for me to be a mentor to other BELIEVE scholars.

Graduated from Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Luckily, with the strong mind and heart of my parents and the help of BELIEVE international, I finished college in PUP Manila (Polytechnic University of the Philippines). I studied hard and made sure that no money would be wasted for unimportant things and also did my best to make my parents proud.

Impact of the BELIEVE program

I like that the BELIEVE Program is not all about financial support. More importantly, it shares values that are helpful in developing young leaders. For me, it built up my core and changed the way I look at life for the better. My favorite values are - Trust, Leadership, and Accountability.

For me, my best memories with BELIEVE was the sharing of our thoughts in the online workshops. It helped me to see all aspects of life, all perspectives and ideas. It helped me to be better in terms of treating others and accepting mistakes.

My greatest achievement I think was passing the 2018 Board Examination for Chemists where only 400 people passed the exam out of 1000 examinees.

Working as a chemist

Today, I am living in San Miguel, Bulacan with my workmates. We continue to work during COVID-19 since we are in the Agriculture sector providing feeds for hogs and dogs. Our family received some goods from our barangay that helped them for a few days and I’m also sending money to them for their needs.

Future dreams

I would like to pursue a Master's Degree in Chemistry in order to teach someday. I want also to be part of the Research & Development Sector to help the Philippines in Science and Technology improvements. I want to work with natural products that could be used for finding new pathways of synthesis for nanoparticles that could be of great help in the medical, agricultural and textiles industries.

Thanks to BELIEVE for believing in us and for helping us reach our dreams. Thank you for extending your hands to lift us and to be what we want to be."