" Mel, Gusto ko nga Ikwa makakuha og edukasyon ug magminyo human nimo mahuman ang imong edkasyon", which was said by my lola every time before she hung up the phone. Lola mean grandmother in filipino. This meant in english " Mel, I want you to get your education and get married after you finish your education". After my Lola would say that I would say " Yes Lola, I will make you proud". She would say this phrase every phone call I had with her weekly after she moved back to the Philippines when I was eight years old. Being mostly raised by my Lola and Mother growing up, they had been the two people I looked up to my whole life.
During my early childhood years, my father was not around in my life. It was just me, my Mother and my Lola. My Mother and Lola came from the Philippines, which played a factor when I was growing up. I was their first generation college student in the United States. My Lola always taught me to always put my education first since I started school. She was a first grade teacher and always taught everyone she knew the value of an education. My Lola always believed in me and that meant a lot since I have a learning disability. School was always hard for me and she always told me that I will be somebody one day and to never give up.
After my Lola moved back to the Philippines, I was very devastated. I did not understand why she left the United States and moved back to the Philippines. I stopped caring about education, the one thing she always told me to put as my number one priority. After a year since my Lola moved away, I started to realize what was important to me, which was my Mother, Lola and my education. As I got older, I started putting school first and eventually I was pulled out of special education classes in high school.
As the years went on, I brought the values she taught me towards my education. I got put into regular level college preparatory classes, which meant alot for my Lola. She told me she was proud of me and I told her I would always keep her promise. Even though, i did not like the other factors of school and wanted to drop out, I made a promise I would never break. My Lola always believed in me and always told me to pray to god every night. Being from a catholic family, religion played a role towards the values towards education.
This memory is important to me because my lola is the dearest to my heart. She raised me and always believed in me and it meant so much to me. After she past away on christmas eve in 2016, I knew from there I would always carry on her legacy. This memory is significant in our lives because you never know how much time you have with someone. Always treasure the people who love you and care for you. Even the smallest or biggest childhood memory can have a big impact on who you are today. My Lola is the reason why I am the person I am today.
