Hello!

My name is Eva Marie Pedrosa. My friends call me "Langging or Eve". I am 25 years of age. I am very fortunate that I was recommended to Lolo Father Kill and was accepted into the program at Balay San Columbano. Before I lived in Santo Niño District, Josefina, Zamboanga del Sur. My father, Vicente, is 60 years old now. He can not find work all the time so he raises a couple of pigs and grows vegetables in his garden. My mother, Jacinta, is now 56 years old. She is a teacher. But Mama is sick a lot of the time with heart problems. She has to buy a lot of medicines. She also has to help buy medicines for my other Lolo (Grandpa) and Lola (Grandma) who are very old and live with us.

We are 4 children and I am second in our family. My two other brothers have completed their courses, but are not yet making enough to help me except helping with my sister’s (now in college) personal needs and transport to and from school. My Mom and Dad do help Lolo with my sister’s food and they raise a pig to give to Lolo on his birthday every year. That is about all they can afford now.

I have already completed my training as a pharmacist. I worked for a year after my graduation as a pharmacist. I liked being a pharmacist, but a lot of the time it was more like being a sales person for the drug companies. I really did not feel like I was helping people so much as helping the drug companies to sell their drugs.

Then Lolo Father Kill suggested that I continue studying to become a doctor. He told me that he thought I could be a very good doctor if I worked hard and studied hard. During the years that I studied to become a pharmacist, I did not have to work very hard to pass my courses. Every year I did fine and passed with high grades. I thought I could do the same when I would study to become a doctor, so I accepted the invitation of Lolo to continue my studies. I enrolled in Far Eastern University Institute of Medicine in Quezon City.

Before I entered my first year in medical school, I said to myself, “To become a doctor is what I want to be”. It was my first time to live alone, I really had a hard time adapting and adjusting to my new environment.  That really affected my studies. In fact, for the first time in my life, I failed a subject. I was distraught and thought that I would not be able to continue. Lolo made me write to all of the people who were sponsoring me and ask their opinion whether or not I should continue. I was very surprised when all of them supported me to continue my studies. They all encouraged me to really study hard and I took up their challenge. I learned to manage my time for studying. My grades shot up immediately and I am now doing well. As a medical student, I am not able to enjoy my student life much because I am afraid I might fail again, so I avoid all the temptations that I think it will affect my academic performance. I thank God that I was given a second chance and that I have not wasted the precious gift that has been given to me. I am now completing my second year proper in medicine. I have one more year of classroom studies before I enter my one year Junior Internship. When I graduate after that, I will still have to do a one-year post-graduate internship. Then I will have to pass the Board Exam before I can become a licensed physician. I look forward to the day when I can return to my home area and help the many poor people who live there.