Success is what we often seek. Yet, if you haste in life and don’t wait for your season hence, it will never be yours.
Shera Cabug also believed in persevering success patiently. She did not haste nor try to make a shortcut to reach where she is right now. She is now a teacher at St. John’s Academy and one of its greatest assets.
Before Shera attained the success she has now, she faced many life obstacles, and one of them was when her parents lost their jobs. Shera also had to give way to her younger siblings, so she had to work as a fast food crew and tutor to provide for her family. Being a tutor ignited the passion for becoming a teacher.
“Noong nakapagtapos na yung kapatid ko, tsaka lang ulit ako bumalik ng pag – aaral, kailangan ko mag – give way para sa mga kapatid ko,” said Shera.
Shera recounted that she had a hard time looking for a school. When the jeepney they were riding passed by NTC, her mother whispered to her, “eto, dito.” They went down the jeepney, and the rest was history. She mentioned that it is as if God led her to NTC and made her blossom at the institution.
However, the year she returned to school, her mother died. It was another challenge for her and her family. Despite that, she continued to work hard for her future. She attended her classes in the morning and the evening, while in the afternoon, she would travel to Greenhills to tutor. There were also times when she had to beg for other commuters to let her ride first because she needs to catch her 7 PM class.
According to Shera, “Talagang nakakapagod physically and mentally kasi ang daming ganap sa school. Ang daming activities at research. Masaya kahit may mga challenges.”
Being a consistent NTC scholar, Shera also had to prove that she deserved it, so she always made sure she would be on time for her classes and never miss one. She would do everything, even ride a crowded bus during heavy downpours to make it.
Shera would always overcome those obstacles that would hinder her success with faith and hope because there was a time in her life that she thought everything would end for her. She was in her last year in NTC and on off-campus duties when she experienced Bell’s palsy. Fortunately, she got well after three weeks of therapy and medication.
Indeed, Shera’s road to success was a tough one, but perseverance, passion, discipline, and responsibility motivated her to aim for success. She graduated Top 4 across all programs and received Gawad Haraya.
First conferred in 2019, Gawad Haraya is the highest institutional award at graduation. Haraya means pride, dignity, freedom, vision, and imagination. The award best distinguishes the kind of pursuit NTCians can demonstrate: may pangarap, may dangal, at may kalayaang piliing maging mabuti ang pamumuhay. Recipients of the honor are graduates who best demonstrated unswerving pursuit of a personal vision of enabling pride despite difficulties. Gawad Haraya recipient demonstrated a consistent valuing of empowering dignity as a person and citizen and noteworthy regard for equalizing freedom to aspire for and to achieve excellence for oneself and others.
Shera firmly believes that you must persevere and value your education to attain success because procrastination will lead you nowhere. Thus, it teaches us that success is a process you have to enjoy as part of your season.
Shera sees NTC as a place that has a heart for dreamers. A dream that, despite all life’s challenges, we can still make things happen.
NTC, a premier institution under a Yuchengco-Ayala educational partnership, ensures that Filipinos will have access to quality education at a reasonable cost.
NTC Partnered with experts in remote learning to ensure the effective delivery of its remote learning. These include: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-JWEL who works with member organizations to promote excellence and transformation in education to address global opportunities for scalable change in education; Mapua University, one of the pioneers in distance learning, has been continuously improving learning connectivity online even before ECQ; Derrick Latrielle ran learning and development operations for blue-chip technology, telecommunications, and BPO companies operating around the world, especially in South America and Southeast Asia; and, Dr. Edizon Fermin is a member of CHED’s Technical Working Group on Remote Learning.
NTC’s learning continuity plan is clear: stay safe at home and learn meaningfully with assistance from our responsive remote staff, either through calls, texts, social media messages, or emails. The world may have changed drastically, but NTC’s commitment to providing accessible and quality education remains steadfast.
Watch Shera’s Gawad Haraya speech HERE.
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