When you’re sitting in traffic, and dreading your commute to school or work, think of Mark James Capulong.
His graduation photo has made the rounds on social media after wearing a toga made up of bus tickets. He had kept all these tickets from his four years of commuting from his hometown in San Pedro, Laguna to the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila and back.
Capulong, whose father works as a senior field engineer in Saudi Arabia, said long hours of travel did not hinder him to be an achiever at school. Last Monday, June 4, he graduated magna cum laude in the degree of AB Economics.
In his Facebook post, Capulong shared how “daunting” it seem at first, given the long tailbacks and traffic jams along SLEX, which usually take away more than two hours of his time.
Some of his classes start as early as 7am and end as late as 9 pm, which made commuting even harder. But all these taught him discipline.
He made it his way
Capulong decided not to rent a place near his school even if his parents wanted it for him. He said he wanted to tend to responsibilities at home, and fill up the role of his father and his sister who currently works in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
“My dad works in Saudi, actually bilang sa isang kamay ang times na umuwi siya,” he told The Filipino Times.
“I came to be that kuya who acted somehow like a father na din for them. I had to make a lot of adjustments, especially in the very beginning of my college life. I had the goal of graduating with Latin honors,” Capulong explained.
“But I am first a kuya to my siblings. That is a responsibility na kailangan kong gawin, and never in my life did I see my dad and sister working abroad as a hindrance dahil lahat naman tayo mahal at inuuna ang ating mga pamilya.
“Kahit gaano man kahirap ang mag-commute papasok ng Maynila at pauwi ng probinsya, iindahin lang namin lahat ng ito dahil siguro mas pipiliin pa naming umuwi sa aming mga tahanan, dahil saan ka man magpunta, sa tahanan mo lang mararanasan ang kalinga ng pamilya.
“Being part of an OFW family is very rewarding and at the same time demanding. It’s rewarding in a sense that people belonging from OFW families get to receive finer things and privileges in life usually not experienced dito sa Pilipinas dahil sa hirap manirahan dito, but at the same time demanding because all of these are only to be attained at the expense of being away from our loved ones,” he explained.
“Tuwang-tuwa sila. My dad would always jokingly call me “Your honor” kasi po I’m planning to pursue Law din,” he shared.
Now, all his sacrifices paid off. Like his father and sister, he will be working overseas after his university recommended him to work as a language instructor in Madrid, Spain.
He is set to fly to Spain this October.
One of the things he has learned in his journey is appreciating the efforts of his parents who helped him reach his goal.
“Sa mga katulad ko na anak o produkto ng isang pamilyang OFW, always remember na ang mga mahal natin sa buhay na nasa ibang bansa ay abot-langit ang sakripisyo para lang maranasan natin ang mga bagay na ni minsan sa buhay nila hindi nila nakamtan. Madalas sinasakripisyo nila pati ang kanilang pagkain para lang makapagpadala ng pera na makapagsusustento sa atin,” he said.
