From scavenging to dreaming his dreams again, ‘Gerry’ (not his real name) has gone through many different challenges to realize who he is now.
It was in 2008 that ‘Gerry’ decided to go back to school. He enrolled himself in school and his parents only found out about it when he started going to school. He was grateful for the moral support that he got from his parents. To support his school needs, ‘Gerry’ would go with his father who was a scavenger to look for scraps that could be sold to scrap buyers. During this time, he was juggling his studies and his work as a scavenger. It was also during that year that ‘Gerry’ became part of Young Focus as a sponsored student. Because of his fear of social interaction, ‘Gerry’ was keen not to participate in any activity at Young Focus. He then realized that if he was not going to face his fear, he would miss out on the opportunities provided by Young Focus. This marked the dramatic turn of events in his life, as ‘Gerry’ grabbed the chance to develop himself. Not only did ‘Gerry’ start participating in the activities of Young Focus, he opened himself to being a leader too. In 2009, he was awarded as the ‘Student of the Month’ and earlier this year he was recognized as the ‘Student of the Year.’ In this same year, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Education majoring in Computer Education.
‘Gerry’ showed perseverance going through another trial when his father had a medical condition and ‘Gerry’ had to stop going to school for a while. He never gave up and he still chose to stand on his dreams. As a student leader, he wants to influence others to persevere despite the challenges that they may face. From a timid young man, ‘Gerry’ became Young Focus’ pride and joy and is now one of the teachers in Young Focus Love2Learn program!