Monique shares with us the story of her continuous effort to balance her passion for travel and her pursuit of education.

Monique shares with us the story of her continuous effort to balance her passion for travel and her pursuit of education.

A truly passionate Pinay’s spirit can never be broken. Monique De Jesus, a 24-year-old event coordinator, blogger, and graduate student shares with us the story of her continuous effort to balance her passion for travel and her pursuit of education with indomitable resilience.

Travelling is one of my greatest passions.   I am in love with the outdoors and I love to be in touch with nature.  I love to travel both locally and abroad. I love to learn about different cultures and wonder what it's like in the other parts of our world. It humbles me to see how big the world is and to know that I’m just a very small part of it.  

Right now, my job gives me opportunity to see the world as I travel to different countries to hold our events.  At the same time, though, I’m also currently taking up my Master’s degree in Marketing Communications at De La Salle University in Manila.  I pay for my own tuition, and thanks to my scholarship, I’ve been able to study in grad school for three years.

As my travels for work became more frequent, it became more and more difficult to balance work and school.  Just recently, I was given a failing mark by my professor in a subject because I exceeded the number of allowed absences by one day.  This absence was unavoidable because I needed to travel abroad for my work.

My spirit was dampened by what happened because I really worked hard and gave my 100% effort just to pass that subject, due to the nature of my job. Whenever I was away, I never missed a class activity. I always passed requirements on time and I tried my best to keep up with the rest of the class.  In spite of my efforts, I was still given a failing grade.  And due to this failure, I lost my scholarship. 

But this would never break my spirit.  Nothing can stop me from finishing graduate school and getting my Master’s degree.  I am thankful for the support system I have – my friends and family – who give me the will to carry on.  

I am all out to follow my dreams and make them come true.  One of my dreams is to put up a backpackers hostel for travellers like me.  I would like to create a friendly and fun place for travellers to stay in, like the ones I stay at whenever I travel on holidays.  

At the same time, these hostels could showcase the hospitality of Filipinos and show visitors how great our country really is.  I would also like to put up a shop inside this hostel where eco-friendly, locally-made products can be sold to benefit the local community workers and showcase their talents.

I am happy to share my story with you and I hope to inspire someone to care for others, work hard, and follow their dreams no matter what.

Monique's blogs can be found at www.moniquedejesus.com. Her charity blog can be found at www.wegivelove.blogspot.com.

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