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Dreams Come True – with some help
Kareen Sales Javen, Arch.*
97-59351 BS Architecture
UP Diliman
When our thoughts float in space, we lose control of
what goes in our mind. All of a sudden, stories of
the past flicker and bring us back to those
bittersweet moments of our struggles as young
dreamers. There are stories of how we find angels
along the way whom we owe heaps of gratitude for
bringing us to where we are now. This, I dedicate to
the person whose shadow or silhouette I have never
seen. Yet that person changed my life and the lives
of the people around me forever.
I was in a jeepney on my way back to UP Diliman
with twenty pesos in my pocket and felt really low
after knowing that my parents could not send money
for my tuition fee yet. The scholarship I had at that
time could only be renewed after re-evaluation of my family’s financial status.
Sometimes, such numbers do not really reflect the reality of every human condition.
I tried to support myself by working on weekends and tutoring during weeknights.
However, the effort was not enough to earn the cost for my college education. At
least, I was able to enroll with a promissory note with one of my professors as
guarantor. But the time to settle the loan came sooner than expected. My parents
borrowed money from our relatives in order to pay my tuition fees as promised. But it
wouldn’t be long enough until the next enrolment. I knew I had to face the same
ordeal again. My college education was already affecting my entire family. It was
tough. The shear thought of dropping out of college haunted me.
My unwavering will told me never to give up. But I felt ashamed and worried most of
the time knowing that I walked along halls of UP with classmates whose families
were rich and well-known in the whole country. But being in UP was the only place I
knew where I could be closer to my dreams.
I went to Vinzon’s Hall one day to ask for another promissory note in anticipation of
the upcoming enrolment. Sensing my hardships, the kind staff asked if I have tried
applying for another scholarship grant. She pulled out a list for me to scan and see
where I might fit. After submitting the requirements, I was very lucky to receive the
Dr. Archie B.M. Laaño Quezonian Scholarship. It was an answered prayer. Years
*
Architect Kareen Sales Javen was a recipient of the Archie B.M. Laaño Quezonian Scholarship, a
scholarship grant under the Friends of UP Foundation in America (FUPFA). Currently, she is an
established architect working for an award-winning multidisciplinary design company in Dubai.
went by and I finally graduated from college with a degree of Bachelor of Science in
Architecture.
I am now a Registered and Licensed Architect. After about five years of struggling to
work for a living and staying true to my profession in the Philippines, I decided to
look for greener pastures in the Middle East - an irony indeed. I have been working
for a decade now in an award-winning multidisciplinary design company in Dubai. I
share the global stage with different nationalities and fellow OFWs who dream for a
better life everyday. As a professional abroad, I support global initiatives for a more
sustainable and greener environment.
UP is my passport to see the world. I have reached places that once existed only in
my dreams. I am now able to share what I have. With this new found freedom, I am
able to work on my chosen advocacies and take part in making a better world.
Although I chose to work abroad, I live to give honor to my country and to the people
who selflessly shared their own fortune to help a young stranger like me. And I wish
that these ripples never stop and create waves that will change the world to make it
better.
Thank you! Dr. Archie B.M. Laaño. Thank you, UP! Mabuhay!