I recently resigned from my corporate job as I was turning 51. The thought of a future without employment was truly daunting. Even though I tried my hand at various businesses—selling everything from toothpicks to battleships!—I felt like a failure, despite the work and ventures I had undertaken.
We often see business people glorified on social media and in the news. But why does it sometimes feel like there is a disconnect? Why can’t I relate—or at least feel encouraged?
I attended my daughter’s school’s 25th Founding Anniversary at The Precious International School of Davao. There, I listened to the President, Dr. Perla Pichon-Kwan, as she shared her story. After retiring at 50 from 25 years of teaching Elementary at a big university, she decided to open a daycare—and the rest, as they say, is history.
The magic number was 50! It was a lightbulb moment for me. There was HOPE!
I listened to her speak. Now 76, her passion and energy are still contagious! I knew right then that I needed to request an appointment with her to gain some much-needed life lessons—aside from those from my mother, of course.
The “Marites” in me had to know how she did it. Let me share with you her incredible story and where it all began.
She came from a family of 8. With 5 brothers and sisters, her parents separated when she was young, so she had to fend for herself and her siblings. Her older brother, who graduated valedictorian in elementary & high school opted not to pursue tertiary education despite a scholarship offer, because his siblings and mother counted on him for their daily needs and sustenance. Abandoned by their father, he drove a jeepney for the family. If he got sick, she wouldn’t have any school allowance. She carried her notebooks in a plastic cellophane bag, and when it rained, she would get drenched because she couldn’t afford an umbrella.
During her final days of elementary school, her teacher informed her that she was supposed to be the Valedictorian. However, due to her tenure at the school, she would only be named Salutatorian. For most kids her age (12), that would have been fine, and they would have moved on. But not her! She knew that if she wasn’t Valedictorian, she would only receive a 50% discount on her High School tuition.
She went to her mother and shared the news. Her mother was adamant: they didn’t have the money. She couldn’t even give her an allowance to go to school.
So, at 12 years old and at her teacher’s advice, she went to the Principal! This part of the story left me in awe! Armed with the knowledge that there is always an exception to the rule, she proposed a solution. She asked the principal to create a test for her and the supposed Valedictorian to take. In this case, the Principal would have to write the test (Bless her heart). Needless to say, she aced it and was proclaimed Valedictorian.
I could feel the intensity of her determination. In fact, I have coined an acronym for my team before: DMP—Dala ng Matinding Pangangailangan. I believe that when there is a true need, people are tested: fight or flight, do or die!
Dr. Kwan completed her education while supporting her siblings and putting them through school. Even as she began teaching Elementary, she sold encyclopedias, educational plans and even raffled off items (lottery style). I could definitely relate. My childhood friend, now an Air Force Colonel, and I still call ourselves DALTAN, short for Dala Tanan in the Visayan dialect, which means “carrying and selling almost everything.”
After retiring, Dr. Kwan went to the U.S. to teach in California. Occasionally, if friends would request, she would be obliged as a home companion. But after two years, her husband convinced her to come back home. With the $2,000 she had saved from 1999 to 2001, she rented a house in GSIS, hired three teachers and a secretary.
Their initial target was only 17 children, but because she was such a great teacher, many of her former students enrolled their own children at Precious. Enrollment rose to 46 students, and by 2006, it had skyrocketed to 1,000 students!
In that same year, she was recognized as the Most Outstanding Principal and received the award at Malacañang Palace. Precious International School was also named the Most Effective Elementary School in Region XI. They now own the very first place they rented—and more: Grade School, Junior and Senior High Schools, and they are planning to open a College for Education and Information Technology soon in Mintal.
In 2016, she was also a LEAD awardee ( Leaders & Achievers of Davao) in the field of Education. A search done by JCI to non-Jaycee members but are homegrown and bonafide Davaoeños/ Davaoeñas who excel in their chosen careers.
This year, on November 16, I sent her a congratulatory message. She was awarded Asia’s Top Woman in the Field of Education and Humanitarian Advocacy in the Asia’s Top Women Awards held in Manila. Her reply to me was: “Thank you! I still say, Glory to God!”
Having gone through all that she did, Dr. Kwan knows how it feels to fight for the right to education. Precious now supports 50 full and partial scholars from marginalized families who have passed its entrance exams with flying colors, have maintained high grades and have laudable character while enjoying the scholarship.
She also sends some of her teachers abroad to gain additional knowledge—for free.
That was such a productive two-and-a-half-hour talk over drinks.
I reluctantly left, wanting more! I learned so much: lessons on perseverance, looking past and rising above your circumstances, not giving in to despair and negativity, working out a plan, using your God-given talents, giving back, but most of all, relying on our one true source of hope and strength—GOD.
