Before April Joy Ceballos became a Licensed Professional Teacher, she was collecting bottles and scrap metal just to help pay for her allowance while studying.
She even asked to have photos taken while doing it.
Ceballos said she wanted to keep those images for the day she could finally post them after passing the board exam. Years later, that day came.
While preparing for the March 2023 Licensure Examination for Teachers, Ceballos lived alone in a boarding house and went through periods of extreme financial difficulty. She recalled struggling to afford food and thanked those who gave her rice and other support when she had little to eat.
For about three months, Ceballos said she stretched a jar of bagoong alamang mixed with egg as her main meal. She also recalled becoming sick several times, which she believed may have been connected to repeatedly eating salty food.
Her boardmates would sometimes invite her to eat with them. Ceballos said she often claimed she had already eaten because she was too embarrassed to admit how little she had.
Even through those difficult days, she continued preparing for the board exam.
“Ako ang batang nagpupursiging magbote-bakal para man lang may ma-allowance ako noong time na ako ay nag-aaral/nagre-review pa at walang-wala sa buhay,” she said.
Ceballos eventually earned the professional teaching license she had worked toward. She also credited the people who helped her through periods when even food was difficult to secure.
Her reflection centered on perseverance.
“Huwag mawalan ng pag-asa laban lang sa buhay.”
She also wrote,
“Naniniwala kasi ako na walang mahirap sa taong may pangarap.”
The photographs she once took while collecting recyclables now serve as a record of that struggle, showing how far she persevered before reaching the goal she had set for herself.
