‘They lit up the roads I am now traveling upon’

I have always believed that a good education is the most reliable springboard to success. There may be other factors (from hard work to winning the lotto) that can, and do, propel you to a better life, but my best bet will always be on education as the most reliable stepping stone to it. My late maternal grandmother Jovita Arellano Reyes graduated valedictorian of her class in Tingloy, Batangas before the War. But due to certain circumstances, she wasn’t able to go to high school. But when she and my grandfather Igmedio Reyes had their own children, they made sure their offspring attended the best schools they could afford. So my mother Sonia, at 11, was sent to high school at the St. Scholastica’s College in Manila from faraway Mindoro. She would later graduate from UP with a degree in Business Administration. Next year, one of my Nanay Jovita’s great-grandchildren will most likely graduate summa cum laude, also from UP. So the rewards of a good education has cascaded down generations, from Tingloy to UP Diliman.

It is thus a great service to the nation when groups and private individuals help make a good education available to those who want it, but can’t afford it.

The Ayala Foundation, through its Center of Excellence in Public Elementary Education (CENTEX) operates two public schools — one in Tondo, Manila and another in Bauan, Batangas. It also enjoys the distinction of being one of the top five schools in Manila, regularly ranking high achievement test scores. Apart from high academics, CENTEX also helps children develop their full potential in art, sports, technology, ethics or leadership.

Lester Lampano belonged to the first batch of students who graduated from the CENTEX Manila in 2005. In October 2012, he graduated from De La Salle University with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. The following is a personal account of his journey to finishing college, as shared with this writer by the Ayala Foundation:

As a kid, my favorite pastime was watching basketball, and my favorite college basketball team was the De La Salle Green Archers. In the early 2000s, the team won four consecutive championships. Since then, I dreamed of being an Archer someday. I never realized how pricey college education would be, or what it would take to study in a prestigious university, but I insisted that someday I would study at La Salle. My father never said that my dream was impossible; instead he encouraged me to continue dreaming.

Lester volunteers for CENTEX activities.

Ten years later, I achieved my first dream and graduated from my dream school.

My parents said that I was a very quiet child. I rarely played outside but was eager to go to school — not a common characteristic of a child brought up in Tondo. The first school I attended was Timoteo Paez Elementary School, where I also suffered my first school trauma. At the early age of five, I was enrolled in a Grade 1 class consisting of more than 60 students. Being two years younger than my classmates, I was the smallest and the main target of young bullies. I stopped going to school for a month, which forced my parents to look for another school. With the help of the principal of T. Paez, my parents found a school where I belonged — CENTEX Manila.

My childhood at CENTEX was very enjoyable. I felt the security I didn’t have in my previous school. We had privileges a lot of students must have wished they had, and the quality of education could compete with that of a private school. I had my first taste of competition when I participated in a Math contest with students from different elementary schools in Metro Manila. This encouraged my competitive nature and led me to discover my talent in solving Math problems. The development of my analytic skills paved the way for me to study in one of the most competitive high schools in the Philippines.

I had never heard of Philippine Science High School before. If elementary was simple and enjoyable, the same could not be said about life in high school. The thought of staying in a dormitory away from my parents scared me, coupled with the idea of competing with the brightest students in the Philippines. I almost quit.

The encouragement I needed then, I got from my father. Having been laid off a couple of times and having entered multiple types of businesses, my father was no stranger to new circumstances. He told me that it was normal to feel fear when facing the unfamiliar, and the best I could do was to face what troubled me, for I would face it again and again throughout my life.

My life changed when I entered Philippine Science. It became more complicated and I had to try a bit harder than most kids my age. I experienced disappointments I rarely felt earlier in my life. High school was fast paced; my feelings of being exhausted, energized, disappointed, and satisfied fluctuated rapidly. I found it difficult to study subjects I wasn’t interested in. Luckily, I had a lot of support from my friends, my CENTEX family, and my parents.

Choosing a course for college came very easily for me. I knew what I was good at and I wanted to pursue a career involving statistics, so I chose to be a Math major. Having a full scholarship from DLSU, financial assistance from the Department of Science and Technology, and additional support from Mr. Lito Sibayan, I thought that our finances would steadily improve from then on.

But suddenly they got worse. One day my mother came home and sadly told my father that the factory where she had worked for 30 years closed suddenly. Unfortunately, my father also worked for the same company. We, as a family, tried different side jobs to survive. I sold homemade candies and bread to my classmates to help my parents, while they tried their luck at selling home-cooked meals to our neighbors. What kept me going was the knowledge that many people had made great effort to help me achieve my goals and it was appropriate that I persevere in order to give back. After a while, my father found a new job and everything went back to normal.

Finally, after 10 years of dreaming, I graduated from college. I received my bachelor’s degree last October. I am determined to do my best in my chosen field to recognize the assistance given by those who believed in me. Currently I am in a three-month training program conducted by Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) to improve my knowledge in statistical research. In another 10 years, I hope to achieve another dream — to travel to at least five countries and be a respected business analyst.

I know there is still a long journey ahead and that there will be more events that will affect my future, but I will always be grateful for the moment when I came across the organization that lit up the roads I am traveling upon.

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(The Ayala Foundation may be reached at (632) 752-1101 to 02 or visit its website at www.ayalafoundation.org.) (You may e-mail me at [email protected].)