QUEZON City—Every person has a college struggle story: the long commute or the terror professors, but ANCOP alumnus Fidel Carlos seemed to have it tough twice over, maybe because success would be doubly sweet.
In a recent interview, he shared about his family getting financially and emotionally hit by his father’s hospitalization abroad.
His father eventually had to return to the Philippines.
The uncertainty and sudden shift in the family’s fortunes were too abrupt.
“We struggled to find a good school, navigate life, and just simply find means to survive till the next day.
I didn’t even want to continue studying any more because I was under the impression that we couldn’t afford college,” Fidel explained.
Of Php 20-siomai rice meals
There seemed to be a glimmer of hope when he passed the competitive Polytechnic University of the Philippines entrance test and was given the opportunity to study entrepreneurship with minimal fees.
“I was so happy because I always wanted to be my own boss and start my own business,” he recalled.
But little did the teen know, his challenges were just about to begin.
Since the Carloses lived in Bulacan, Fidel had to stretch his Php 400-500 weekly allowance to cover both transportation, food—and everything in between.
This was all his father, who now worked as a tricycle driver, could spare him.
Looking back, Fidel remembered commuting back to Bulacan with a grumbling stomach and hanging onto the back of jeepneys to avoid having to pay the fare.
Even the discounted student rate was still too much for him.
Fidel would also walk several kilometers to save Php 7, which he would do sometimes for 3 days so that he could afford a Php20-siomai rice meal at school.
God’s message: ‘Never give up’
By the unmerited grace of God, Fidel’s aunt, Alice, took him in so that he didn’t need to go home to Bulacan every day.
He added, “Their family also helped me a lot with my daily expenses and for that I’m truly grateful.”
As fate would have it, this kind relative of his would also be the bridge for him to become an ANCOP-sponsored student of West A under its Educational Sponsorship Program (ESP).
Looking back on the day, Fidel said, “I realized that it was God’s way of telling me to never give up.”
It has been 7 years since Fidel graduated from college. He now works for an international bank, and things are looking up.
“My family’s status has changed a lot; we’re living well. My will to live and go on with life is better than before college,” he said.
With confidence, Fidel says that his family no longer worries about things that used to cause them great anxiety.
He explained: “I can now afford things that I couldn’t even look at before, and I can safely say that I’m no longer worried about our electricity and water getting cut because of unpaid bills.”
Since becoming part of the ANCOP family, even his spiritual life has transformed. “My bond with God started rough, but it’s now stronger than ever,” he shared.
