Don't Give up!

“Don’t give up on us baby.. Don’t make the wrong seem right.. The future isn’t just one night.”

Source: https://thestrive.co/motivational-quotes-about-not-giving-up

Do you give up on your dreams, easily? Well, success is not done overnight, right?

One of my dreams, when I was a kid, is to study abroad. This goal was further intensified, when I worked in an NGO in 2007, when I saw my colleagues had an opportunity to study in Australia. I was inspired and thought to myself maybe one day I will also go abroad and study. However, a lot of things happened in my life, I got married and had kids and I just parked the idea of pursuing my dream of having an international degree, since there was no opportunity to do so and I have more important priorities in taking good care of my family. But even in this situation, I did not give up on my dream.

In 2012, I was hired as an instructor at a State University. Now, my goal of going abroad was rekindled again since the faculty development program is a priority in my institution and I will have an opportunity to pursue my Ph.D. internationally. But I cannot do that easily, I need to be tenured first for two years and waited for my turn, since there are three (3) faculty seniors ahead of me and they are slated to study first before me because we cannot study at the same time. So, I will just wait for my turn, when each one of them already graduated and will report on duty. Since they were on study leave, I was given administrative responsibilities in the college to take on the leadership roles they left. I worked hard on their behalf, from 2017 to 2019, and those were the stressful moments of my career since I was overwhelmed by all the tasks given to me in their absence.  I was exhausted but even if will take me 10 years to wait for them to finish their degrees, I still did not give up on my dream. 

In 2019, one of my colleagues already returned to school and I decided to start my applications. At last, it’s my turn to pursue my doctorate degree! However, it was not easy to apply for an international scholarship. My first goal is to apply in Australia, but instead of a Ph.D. degree, I applied for a master’s degree. I was not considered, and they asked me why I did not apply for Ph.D. since I was qualified. I did not give up yet, after one year, I applied again in 2020. There was a delay in the selection of scholarships because of the pandemic. In January 2021, I received the sad news that the 2021 intake was postponed, and they will divert their funds for masters scholarship only in 2022. I was frustrated because I only applied in one scholarship. But I did not lose hope, I still pursued the application and I decided that I will never stop the application until I will have a successful scholarship application abroad.

In 2021, I tried other scholarship opportunities. I applied in France and Netherlands, but I failed. I applied for US scholarships 3 times, but I also failed. I did not announce to my colleagues that my real target is to pursue Ph.D. abroad. Our HR manager and my dean were asking me about the status of my scholarship application because I need to pursue my Ph.D. right away since the university needs to reach its target for state university leveling, academic accreditation, and CHED program compliance. A lot of faculty from other colleges are gossiping about me.. “Why is she delaying her Ph.D. study leave, she should study right away!" Why are they even talking about me?… I just ignored those negative comments from them. I don’t have any excuses anymore because my colleagues already returned from their study leave. With that, I already tried to apply to Philippine universities in 2022 to comply with that mandate from management. But in my heart, I did not give up and still hoping for a chance to apply for an international scholarship even if it will delay my Ph.D. study. 

But on February 1 of 2022, there was an opportunity to apply for the Higher Education for ASEAN Talent (HEAT) Program of the Korean government. This scholarship is intended for faculty members of universities in the ASEAN region to pursue their Ph.D. degrees. I was excited and astonished and surprised about why I did not know about this scholarship before. This has been running since 2020. With this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I decided to give my 100% in this application, I need to go beyond the minimum requirements given. I was so focused on my application, and I thought this is it this is a chance, I will not waste this moment. On April 29, 2022, I received a notice that I was shortlisted and was just waiting until July for the final announcement. 

After 3 months, On July 17, 2022, I received the good news that I got the scholarship, I jumped for joy and I cried, I thank God for answering my prayers. This is my prayer request every year since 2017 and God never failed to amaze me with His blessings, his answer was just at the right time at the right moment when the world is slowly recovering from the pandemic and travel restrictions were eased. I just realized that I was destined to study in 2022, and my 10 years in service in USeP, my colleagues were back. I did not rush things. 

In my journey, toward getting a degree abroad. I have learned a lot of lessons. When you have a dream, just focus on it and don’t be distracted by people who discouraged you to continue pursuing your goal. The road is not easy, and failure is part of that journey. The most important thing is the recovery from every failure, from every rejection, and from all people who say no to you. I have made a total of 8 scholarship applications and had one successful response. If I gave up and did not continue pursuing my dream, will I be able to travel and study here in Korea?

Kangwon National University Square, Chuncheon City,
Gangwon Province, South Korea

My first day of class, September 1, 2022.

To my brethren, even if the chances are small, just keep on trying, and DON’T GIVE UP!