Ganas

I grew up in the Philippines. Back then, on the first day of school, students crowded around blackboards in the front of the school, and each student searched for her name to find out her assigned classroom. Every year, I searched for my name, but year after year, my name would not be listed. Then, I went to the principal’s office to find out why. It was always the same reason – we didn’t pay the tuition. Instead, my parents gave the school a “promissory note”, a promise to pay, at a later date, when we had the money.  The principal reluctantly assigned me to a classroom.  Then, I awkwardly walked in the classroom late, ashamed and sad.


I hated school. I never studied. My grades were barely passing. 

When I was 12, my family and I left Manila to come to the US. We came to America to work. My brother, who had to stay behind because he was over the 21-year-old age limit, told me that I would have lots of opportunities if I studied hard and got good grades. I didn’t want to disappoint him, but at the same time, I didn’t know how it would be possible for me to get good grades because I’ve never done it before. 

I started seventh grade in a French school near our San Francisco apartment. Our math teacher, Miss Lasch, gave us homework on the first day – to watch TV. Our homework was to watch a PBS special about a teacher named Jaime Escalante. Miss Lasch gave us a handout with questions that we had to answer after watching the show.

When I got my homework back, I was shocked. I got an A-! That was the first time that I ever got an A-! In Manila, my grades were mostly C’s. I’m not sure how I got an A-. I guess I answered all the questions as best as I can because it was my “job”.

Jaime Escalante was a teacher who inspired his students to work hard. He referred to the desire to work hard as “ganas”. That PBS special and the A- I got on my homework became my motivation. 

Schoolwork never came easy for me. But, I worked hard. With “ganas,” I got through middle school, high school, and college. And graduated with honors. 

All that hard work got me to Corporate America. Work life isn’t always easy, but I work hard. And when I feel frustrated, upset, or tired, I look back at that young girl in the principal’s office, and think to myself, “keep your chin up, kid!”



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