JOSE GERVIC R. LABE, JR.

Delving into my life’s background, ours is a family of seven with my parents, me and my brothers and sisters. I am second among the five siblings. I always wanted to stay with my family but I separated since I went to other city for college. Living alone is never a cakewalk. I have to take care of everything before and after school. School years were the toughest. I struggled every day and often skipped meals just to save money for school expenses, books and projects. I can't even remember myself sitting at our University cafeteria for some snacks nor running and playing around at our University gym with a brand new pair of shoes. I often felt envious of my peers and classmates for having all those things which I do not have. But I realized that I'm not in school just for all of that. I have to think and consider deeply how my mother and elder sister sacrificed and chose to leave my younger siblings just to find a "care-giving work" to shoulder most of my schooling finances. Although I have a full scholarship (that's how the university says it, but it's not really full since it only covers up to 21 units of my load and I have 30) for graduating as class Valedictorian in High School, We're not privileged materially and this was what fueled me to study harder.