Comments on: June Pride

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:10:35 +0000

Michelle, good story…my family values education as well. There are 9 of us siblings and I am the 7th child. My parents were working hard for all of us to go to college. My mom’s philosophy is :”We do not have properties to share with you but with college degree, we are equipping you to survive and nobody can take this away from you.” I am so glad I have parents who sacrificed for us to finish college and have a better life than they had.

What we do in my family is helping our nephews and nieces in college like what our older brothers and sister did, then these students, after college and have stable jobs, then it is their turn to send their younger siblings or cousins to college and this will be a chain…helping each other to alleviate poverty.

Luckily, I married a guy that has the same value in regards to education. I work as a teacher here in the US and I always tell my students how lucky they are that education is free from pre-school to high school and that includes school supplies, lunch (if you are below poverty line, books, etc.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:35:47 +0000

kostas kai juvy, My brothers experienced that a lot, too. Now, good thing I was the only girl haha! We used to always say that the eldest was lucky.

By: kostas kai juvy

kostas kai juvy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:01:50 +0000

Hello Michelle,
Great story,Seems like me when i was at elementary,at 1st level i had my uniform from my sister that i dont even know how old it was.I only got a new uniform when i was at 2nd level but my mom made for me longer and hem them so she could make longer until i finished my elementary grades..Great and unforgettable experienced!!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:21:29 +0000

Hudson, Wow, my mom did that, too! She’d have longer skirts made for me and hem them so she could make them longer the following year. Haha! That’s really a good trick, you know. Sure worked for me. (Or her. )

And your dad was a busy man. (Excuse the pun.)

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:14:08 +0000

RonW, I’m sure they appreciate your help very much.

I like it that here in the US, labor is not cheap. It shouldn’t be. And it also builds ‘trade pride’, you know. In the Philippines, one can hardly hold his head up high and say, “My job is in construction” because almost always, that means he could hardly feed his family.

Take care.

By: Hudson

Hudson — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:44:03 +0000

Hi Michelle,
Great story. It brings back memories of my school days. We were also poor as there was ten children, dad worked 2 jobs, one at a dairy, and the other as a janitor. We rarely got new uniforms at the begining of the new school year. Mom would always buy the uniform two sizes too big then hem up the pant legs and bring in the seams. I would have to wear the same uniform for 2 years . And dont get me started about those nuns hehe

By: RonW

RonW — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:42:30 +0000

kamusta michelle
ahhh i know your feelings here as i have paid for 1 sister inlaw to finnish high school and now 2nd year of collage,also a brother inlaw through 3 years of collage.i know they wouldent even have a chance at collage if i wasent the one to pay.i want them to have more opertunitys in life with higher education.as for me i didnt even finnish highschool.actually i was lobstering when i was 17 and making about 3,000 usd a week.so i figured i would be a fisherman all my life but i have regrets because if i find different work its usually hard labor and poor pay.
salamat michelle

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:03:55 +0000

Bacolod Barry, Thank you.

Congrats to your niece and good luck to her sister.

It is indeed a great edge to have an education specially in a country where the blue-collar jobs earn minimum wage or less.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:47:18 +0000

Philmor, Awww. You know what, though, aren’t these kind of stories dear to our hearts? Because as bad as we felt at the time, it actually makes us proud of what it taught us. At least that’s how I feel. And when I write about how it was not all “shiny” for me when I was much younger, I am honestly smiling inside because the memory does not bring pain at all. It is just what I experienced. Oftentimes, in fact, I am proud because I can say “I have been there” and that I know how it feels and- look, it didn’t kill me.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:30:19 +0000

lloyd, Hi! Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate it a lot.

According to google map, I am about 19 minutes away from CWE. Now you know I still don’t know my way around here. And I’ve been living here since 2005! Haha!