Even when I was a child, I would already hear these kinds of stories from other people,
About parents who wait for their children to finish school, and about children who feel pressured to study so they can get a good job in the future,
Often, in poor families, it’s understandable that they rely on their child who is studying, that one day, when they finish school, they’ll be able to help the family,
Especially here in the Philippines, because I really hear this issue a lot,
I’m not against it, it’s not like I want to crush the dreams of those who want to rise from poverty, And perhaps it’s also a moral obligation of the child who was sent to school to give back to their parents, even if technically it’s not required,
The problem is, sometimes when luck isn’t on your side, before the child even graduates, either they get someone pregnant or they get pregnant, And that’s it, the dream collapses,
I know some parents like that, even though they’re poor, they still send their children to school, They even go into debt and are nearly drowning in it,
Then their child, after graduating, does find a job… but only briefly, they get married right away,
I know that hurts the parents, Even my wife really wanted to go to college, but her parents chose to support her sibling instead, That sibling did finish school, but once they got a job, they immediately got married and had a child, and so her parents ended up heartbroken,
I’m not saying my wife should have been the one they sent to school, but the truth is, even though my wife didn’t graduate, when she started working, she gave money to her parents because she knew how hard life was for them too,
To the kids studying today, especially if you’re from a poor family, please don’t forget the sacrifices your parents made, They may not say it, but it hurts them when we just turn our backs on them like it’s nothing,
I didn’t finish school because I chose to stop studying since I knew we were poor, but whenever I have something, I really help my parents, And if they need help with anything, even with their livelihood, I help them for free,
Let’s not forget to love our parents, I know not all of us were given good parents, but still, let’s be thankful, we were born and raised because of them,"