by Cynthia Comisas-Lacpao

It was already past midnight last Friday, but I was still wide-awake. I simply could not sleep, even if I was dead tired from my duty at the TVIRD Clinic in Canatuan. Four hours earlier, my husband called to inform me that I passed the board licensure examinations for nurses. His call was followed by many text messages on my mobile phone congratulating me on the news. Still in disbelief, I checked the website of the government Professional Regulation Commission. There I saw for myself my name in the list of nursing board passers. Indeed, I am now a registered nurse!

Two years ago, I went back to school hoping that I will be able to achieve my dream of becoming a nurse – a dream that began when I was still in grade school…even though we were poor. That dream became more intense in my early days with TVIRD, when I felt out of place every time I was around colleagues who were professionals. I felt my finishing a midwifery course wasn’t enough to get me to their level. (I guess many indigenous peoples like me all over the country share this feeling of inferiority)

Some of my closest relatives were pessimistic about my dream. They told me to forget about. “It’s next to impossible,” they said. “You have children to take care of and tuition fees for nursing school are high. Better forget it.” Those words still echo in my mind.

But instead of being discouraged, I never stopped dreaming. The rebel in me always egged me on to keep dreaming; to “reach for the stars”.

In 2007, I saw an opportunity. In a meeting, I mustered enough courage to tell Mr. Cliff James, the Chairman of TVIRD, about my dream and my fervent wish to be part of the roster of scholars of the company, then in the last stages of the gold-silver phase of its mining operations in Canatuan, the land of my forefathers.

Mr. James, always warm and approachable especially to Subanons like me, listened intently. I still remember the smile on his face when he told me that if I qualify in the company’s stringent selection criteria for poor but deserving scholars, he will see to it that my name is included in the scholars’ list. I was in cloud 9 after that meeting! Silently I committed to him and to the spirits of my forefathers that as a TVIRD scholar, I will work hard to be able to finish my course and to come back and serve my tribe. My problem on how to financially support my ambition was solved! I’ve just hurdled the first obstacle!

Time flies fast. Last March, I completed my nursing degree at the Western Mindanao State University. I many not have been a part of the dean’s list, but I passed all my subjects with flying colors!

After graduation, I immediately enrolled at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Review Center to prepare myself for the licensure examinations in July. While I was taking the exams, I thought it was easy. Many of the questions were related to management and leadership, the very experience I had while I was working with the TVIRD Canatuan’s Community Development Office, (now known as Community Relations and Development Office or CReDO) and the Administration Department. I was really confident that I would pass the exams.

That’s why when I saw my name in the list of board passers I was really elated. Out of the more than 91,000 nursing graduates of took the exams, only about 37,000 passed! That was the reason I couldn’t sleep that Friday night. I have become the first Subanon nurse in Canatuan. It was a dream come true!

I know that after all my triumphs there will be challenges, even failures and disappointments. But why should I be afraid when I am so used to them? Now that I am a full-fledged nurse, the challenges will be tougher and the stakes higher. I have nonetheless come to realize there is more to life than just merely working for working’s sake. Life is worth living when you have your family and the people who matter to you to share your dreams and aspirations with.

The author Ellen G. White wrote: “In our young age, we look up to people who are braver, stronger, better. Like stained glass, they reflect the light and we who behold them, see the beauty, in which in a way we pattern our lives.”

I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. James for believing in me and giving me the chance to achieve my dream. He and the many members of the TVIRD family are my stained glass. I also thank my parents, Ely and Reming Comisas, all the personnel of CReDO, Human Resources and Administration, Finance, and Public Affairs who have helped me in countless ways. I thank my husband for sharing my dream. I thank God for giving me all these people.