Denis Santos
- The girl who has down syndrome is now a college graduate
- Brina Maxino proves education has no boundaries
Meet Brina Kei Maxino, a college graduate, and a girl who has a down syndrome.
More than her condition
Persevering through life, Brina did not let her life get stuck with that label. She’s something more. She proved that her lifelong condition will not be a hindrance to her success.
Since she was a baby, her disorder keeps her from doing what ‘typical’ people do. People always try to drag her down, at 10, a psychologist told her parents that she could not even finish grade school because of her terminal mental disability.
No one expected her to live longer like this, doctors tell them that she would not survive. 10 more years later, she is very much alive and now living as an inspiration to many.
Graduating with a bachelor degree
Remember the time when her psychologists told her that she could not finish grade school? She’s now a diploma holder.
Last May 2017, she walked to that stage and received her own diploma with a bachelor degree in Arts majoring in History at the CAP College Foundation, Inc.
While studying, would you believe that she worked part-time as an assistant teacher at Pean Integrated School of Parañaque? She then expresses her gratitude to the people “who believed in me and they helped me achieve my dreams,” on Facebook.
“To all the parents, relatives, teachers, therapists, and doctors of Persons With Disability (PWD), or those with intellectual disability, like me, please continue to believe in us and please help us. We also deserve the chance to live the best lives that we could. To my fellow PWDs, we can do it! Thank you, all! I love my life, I love my future! I thank God,” she follows.
Prior accomplishments
At 17, she earned a certificate in Certificate in General Clerical Services. The next year, she was a recipient of a certificate in Certificate in Associate in Arts. Can I spell a-c-h-i-e-v-e-r?
Also, in 2013, she was chosen as a Global Youth Ambassador and flew to South Korea for the Global Youth Activation Summit. There, she was able to meet former U.S. President Barack Obama, and deliver a speech during a dinner for the Special Olympics at the White House, Washington DC.
Obama was kind enough to express his admiration to the kid, addressing her to be the first teenage Filipina Global Youth Ambassador.
Like father, like daughter
She sets a good inspirational speaker just like her father, Dr. Winston Maxino. Brina got invited to speak at conferences and corporate events as well in University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University, and University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital.
Feeling inspired? Brina is truly an inspiration!
