NIEVA O. CALISO

This is a narration of how my life evolves while I was a student and a full-time provider. I am Nieva O. Caliso, 47 years old, residing at San Jose Purok 3, Cebu City.  Let me give you a brief background of myself before I became a student.  I am a mother of 5 children, 4 girls and 1 boy with 2 grandsons.  My husband work as a Barangay Tanod at Barangay San Jose, Cebu City and as a freelance painter at the same time.  Before I became a student, my job was a freelance processor of Electrical and Building Permits.  It is a very exhausting job, as a processor you have to do your best to find a customer.  Everyday I went to the City Hall to make follow ups for the documents that I submitted.  In every client I have different experiences. There are clients who are too bossy or have lots of complaints or always in a hurry which makes my work more exhausting. I’ve been into this job for quite a long time.  The hardest part of being a freelance document processor is the fact that I don’t have a regular and stable income but being paid more sometimes was one experience that I considered a lucky day for me in a very rare situation.

But as time went by, I’ve been thinking of looking for a job that will give me a regular and stable income since my children are having more expenses for their schooling.  I have daughters who are already in college and senior high school.  Both of them are scholars yet there are expenses that I have to provide like their everyday allowances, books, and other miscellaneous expenses.  That’s the time when I finally decided that I should get a stable job, but in my mind, I was thinking how can I get one when I didn’t finish my studies.

Luckily, one of my sisters who was a recipient of TESDA’s Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) for Caregiving NC II at SICES INSTITUTE OF HEALTHCARE AND VOCATIONAL STUDIES INC.gave me an idea about the said Scholarship Program and with no hesitation it pushes me to apply.After a series of examinations and interviews conducted by the school I was chosen as one of the lucky recipients of the 3^rd Batch of TESDA’s TWSP Scholars at SICES INSTITUTE OF HEALTHCARE AND VOCATIONAL STUDIES INC.

Looking back as a student, I have a lot of challenges that I faced like monetary considerations regarding my daily expenses such as meal and transportation allowances in order for me to sustain my studies. The most challenging part that I have encountered was when I have to adjust to the environment of being a student. At first, I have a hard time adjusting and it was very stressful.  I am matured in age and eventually memory gap was a factor that I considered a little bit disadvantage on my part in absorbing the lessons.  But through the help of my classmates and professors I have coped up with it.  I strived hard to catch up with the pacing of my younger classmates.  Every time I got home, I have to prepare something for my family and study after that. It was very exhausting and there were times when I was about to give up but everytime I look back to my experiences of my hard work and failures, I suddenly become motivated and thankful for a once in a lifetime opportunity of being a TWSP scholar.

And now I could say that all of my hard work and prayers were answered.Presently,I am working as regular Nursing Assistant at St. Vincent General Hospital here in Cebu City, Philippines, a job that provides me with a fixed and stable income that I could support to my family’s daily needs.

I have realized that if you are determined, motivated to do your job well and have faith in God, you can achieve something for yourself.  If there are opportunities that comes in your way, you should grab and hold tight on it until you achieved your longings in life that you dream of.