A Filipina mom’s toil and hardwork for many years as a housemaid finally bore fruit after her daughter graduated with honors from Harvard University.
Twenty-four year-old Maria de Leon from Chicago got a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. The university offered de Leon a full scholarship, and she finished her degree in 2020.
“It’s been two years since I actually graduated but we can only really celebrate now. Two years ago, it really didn’t feel like a graduation … So I feel like this is the closure that everyone really needed,” she said in a report carried by ABS-CBN News.
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Her application essay for Harvard highlighted her mother’s experience of assault and she said, “I know there are some hardships that we can overcome but if we keep trying and always fighting for what you want or what you like, something fruitful will always come out of it.”
Her mother, Jojit de Leon, said in her reaction, “Para akong tumama sa lotto. Sa ating mga magulang, ang pinakagusto natin sa ating mga anak ay makatapos ng pag-aaral. Kasi ako, hindi ko nagampanan makatapos ng pag-aaral. Gusto kong maging nurse. And tingnan mo naman ngayon, si Maria is living my dream.”
The University also paid for her family’s trip from Chicago to Boston for the graduation ceremony and her father, who lives in the Philippines, flew to the United States to celebrate his daughter’s accomplishment.
