Needless to say, education was of prime importance to my mother so she trained me early to be active, to be a leader. Some foremost lessons I learned from my mother while I was growing up were: • You can excel in any subject or activity as long as you try hard enough. • Get involved and join organizations because you will not only learn from the experience; you will also be able to serve the community at the same time. • Know what your talents are, and develop them in every possible way. Thus, from grade school and on to high school, I was a “joiner.” Name the activity, and I was bound to be in it. I was a folk dancer, I ran and won as mayor of the school, a declaimer and a girl scout, among others. The only extracurriculars I was not encouraged to join were sports and out-of-school camping trips. (My mom has always had an issue with safety because her youngest brother died while swimming.)
In a way, I was overprotected and yet I was also overmotivated: to get involved and to do my best.
My mother herself was super active not only in her public- school teaching, but in community work as well. She and my father were devoted members of the Christian Family Movement and the Parañaque Parish Council (of which she became head at one point); she became grand regent of the Parañaque chapter of the Daughters of Isabella. Naturally, when they organized the Junior Daughters of Isabella, I and my young friends in the parish were drafted to be the first members and, like my mother, I also became the
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