Rhelyn Harder
- A grandmother gives inspiration to all millennials to finish their education
- Her adviser couldn’t even believe that Lola Judy still has the determination to finish her studies
- All she wanted was to receive her diploma
In public schools, education is free but there are lots of students, nowadays, who always escape from their classes and choose to play computer games in internet cafés. But with this generation, a grandmother gives inspiration to all millennials to finish their education.
A 53-year-old grandmother, Judy Tolentino, is currently enrolled as a grade 7 student at the Bayambang Central School. To save some money, instead of paying 10 pesos for fare in going to school, she chooses to walk an hour every day, under the heat of the sun.
Most of the students in school never expected Lola Judy to be their classmate, because it is very unusual seeing a grandmother studying in class with teenagers. Lola Judy, like any regular student in school, also listens to the lectures, writes, and even recites in class.
Even her adviser, Aprilyn Cayabyab, couldn’t believe that Lola Judy still has the determination to finish her studies.
“Hindi (ako) makapaniwala (na) sa edad niyang yun ay nandoon ang kayang determination para ipagpatuloy ang gusto niyang marating sa kanyang buhay na makapagtapos,” her Grade 7 adviser said.
But why did Lola Judy want to study again?
According to Lola Judy, when she was still 7 years old, she already started working to earn a living and was not given an opportunity to study.
“Kasi marami kaming magkakapatid, hindi kami mapag-aral ng magulang namin,” Lola Judy said.
But her situation did not stop her from entering school, so she decided to work as a maid while studying in elementary. She does her house chores at night and went to school in the morning.
“Tinatapos ko ang trabaho ma’am ng gabi, kasi 7 o’clock ang pasok naman po sa school. Sa gabi naglalaba ako pagkatapos magluto.”
Lola Judy was able to finish her primary education, though she wanted to continue studying in high school. She needed to sacrifice for her other siblings to be able to go to school. So she continued to work as helper for her family.
At the age of seventeen (17), Lola Judy feel in love and got married and they were blessed with nine children. From then on, she never had the chance to go to school until she had grandchildren. Even though she is already in her old age, her determination to finish her studies remained in her heart.
Now, she continues her studies as a regular grade 7 student. Big thanks to the new program of the Department of Education who offers Alternative Learning System (ALS) to cater to over-aged students who are still in elementary or high school. In this program, the student only needs to complete 800 hours to receive a certificate for an acceleration program.
For Lola Judy, her grandchildren were her inspiration to study again because she knows how hard it is to live a life without education. And all she wanted was to received her diploma. What she doesn’t know is that she has already inspired a lot of students in their school to pursue their studies seriously.
“Gusto (ko) bago lang man ako pumanaw maam, matanggap ko pa sana yung diploma ko maam, para kahit wala na ako, makita ng mga anak ko na hindi ko nakalimutan.”
And now, her only dream is for her two daughters to also finish their high school education.
“Sana yung dalawang anak kong grade 8 at grade 9, (maging) maligaya na ako pag natapos na sila.”
