Markus Castro
Filipino Self-Supporting Student with 6 Jobs, Graduates Cum Laude from UP
Manila, Philippines — A student from the University of the Philippines, the premier university in the Philippines, has recently gone viral on social media after he graduated cum laude in spite of juggling school with his six jobs.
He is Leo Jaminola who comes from a town in Mindoro.
According to Leo, for his five years of stay in UP Diliman studying BA Political Science, he decided to take an array of jobs to support himself as he did not want to become an added burden to his father.
In his Facebook story that spread like a wildfire on the Internet, Leo shares that he is from a poor family. His dad is working in their local municipal hall as a messenger, earning Php 200 each day. He also went on saying that with this meager salary, his father could only afford to feed their whole family. That’s the time he decided to look for different jobs.
“In my five-year stay at the university, I had taken a total of six different jobs. I was an encoder, a transcriptionist, a library student assistant, a tutor, a writer,” says Leo in his post. “And at one point, a food vendor at the dormitory manning my own little sari-sari store.”
Further, Leo says he could not find scholarships for his course. Plus, his grades during the time were not that high since he was juggling school with his jobs.
With perseverance and hard work, however, Leo managed to finish his bachelor’s degree. What is interesting to note is that he graduated with flying colors. He graduated cum laude. As such, Leo receives praises from a lot of netizens across the globe who were touched by Leo’s story.
It is hoped that Leo is an inspiration to a lot of students. It is also hoped that many of them, especially those who come from poor families, continue to dream big and work harder despite their situation, just like what Leo did. For Leo, you really did a great job!
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