A teacher has just proven that a woman can be a mother while also pursuing her dreams.
According to Mariz Umali’s “24 Oras” report on Tuesday, Joyce Yabres balanced her time as a mom and a working student.
Since 2016, Joyce has been bringing her two children to her classes at University of the Philippines, where she is studying for her master’s degree in family life and child development with units in education.
Her eldest child was only two years old when she started the course. After giving birth to her second child, she resumed studying—and bringing both kids to school when no one’s at home to take care of them.
Apart from taking the children with her, Joyce also had to pack their things.
“Merong diaper, may snacks, may tubig, tapos meron pang mga gamit sa class like mga libro o reading materials, tapos magco-commute pa kami,” she said.
[We bring diapers, snacks, water, and things for class like books or reading materials. We also have to commute.]
The mom recalled when her youngest child started crying while she was reporting in class.
Joyce said she asked her brother-in-law to carry the child, who kept crying until the end of her report. “Noong patapos na ’ko mag-report, narinig ko na sobrang lakas ng iyak niya,” she said.
[By the time I was done with my report, my child was crying loudly.]
She said she had two slides left, but the professor felt she was rushing it and she couldn’t think clearly. “Sige kunin mo muna baby mo (go and get your baby first),” the professor told her.
According to Joyce, she would have been able to finish her master’s degree in two years but because she had many things to juggle all at once, it took her five years.
During her last semester in 2020, she and her husband even tested positive for COVID-19.
Despite this, she powered through and now, she’s finally a master’s degree holder!
“Marami pong times na gusto ko nang mag give up. ‘’Di ko na tatapusin ‘tong MA na ‘to. Para sa’n ba ‘to?’ Lalo kapag sobrang hirap nung subject ta’s sobrang nakakatakot yung mga professor.”
[There were so many times I wanted to give up. “I’m not finishing this MA anymore. What is this for?” Especially when the subjects are hard and the professors are scary.]
However, Joyce said she thought about her sacrifices and felt bad that she would just be throwing those away.
She said her goal, apart from studying at UP, was to open her mom’s old school.
Congratulations, Teacher Joyce! – Franchesca Viernes/RC, GMA News
Teacher-mom brings 2 kids to school while pursuing master s degree
Source: Balitanghali
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