Alumnus: Johnby Hetio Balasabas

Make a move and move to make it!

There is no expressway to success. In my journey to success, I chose to ride a SHIP.

The first letter of my SHIP is S, for Sacrifice.

I grew up in a poor but happy family who gave me an inspiring environment to dream big. Just like any other high school student living in the second farthest barangay in my hometown Tayasan, I walked an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon just to attend my classes with five (5) pesos in my pocket. Three (3) pesos was for lunch of bihon or kalo-kalo and the remaining two (2) pesos was saved for a fried chicken meal every Friday. I never complained about my financial situation. With fortitude, I finished high school graduating with highest honors.

The second letter of my SHIP is H, for Hard work.

I thank NEGROS COLLEGE for giving me the chance to pursue my tertiary education. I enrolled in the Bachelor of Elementary Education program under a full academic scholarship, which everybody knows covers tuition fees only. My parents worked hard to provide for my needs. I worked even harder to make my 300 pesos allowance last every week for my board and lodging and for such other school necessities like school uniform. In the four years that I was at NC, I only had one set of uniform.

Armed with my dreams, I worked hard in my studies and was able to maintain a GPA of 1.2 and finished as Magna Cum Laude of the Negros College Bachelor in Elementary Education Batch 2016.

The third letter of my SHIP is I, for Integration.

In continuing my journey to success, I needed to integrate the sacrifices and hard work of my parents and myself from the past into the present. It is like combining the desired amount of coffee and the desired amount of sugar to come up with the desired taste of hot coffee.
I learned from my mistakes in the past which made me a better person. The sacrifices that I went through made me a stronger individual. I did not accept defeat because no one is ever defeated until it has been accepted as a reality. I left myself no possible way of retreat in the quest for my dreams.

The fourth letter of my SHIP is P, for Pray

I believe that the easiest way to conquer the hardest things in life is to kneel down before God and pray. Someone said “If you work, you work; but if you pray, God works.” Prayer can move mountains.

Two months after I graduation, I was hired by my beloved Negros College. It was a new beginning of everything. Another three months later, I passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). Currently, I am working for the Department of Education in the Schools Division of Negros Oriental as an Elementary Teacher. I am also pursuing my Master’s Degree in Education as I continue serving Negros College. as a Part-Time College Instructor. All of these were made possible because I dared not to focus on the huge waves, hard winds and strong storms along the way. Instead, I stopped being nice to myself, tried something different, left my comfort zone, and secretly fueled my SHIP with FAITH.

My name is JOHNBY HETIO BALASABAS, Magna Cum Laude, Bachelor in Elementary Education Batch 2016. And I am a proud NANCIan!