"Working in some of the poorest areas of my country, I found that it was a lack of child support, not poverty, that killed their dreams. A child once told me, “Cat, that’s just not my life, and those dreams aren’t made for me.” But I stand here today because someone believed in me and we owe it to our children to believe in them.” -Catriona Gray These are the words of the newly crowned Miss Universe 2018 during her opening statement. Her winning answer is close to home because I was born poor. I am still poor, but I believe I’m financially literate now. This I owe to the number of people I met in life and the trainings I attended ever since college. I am blessed to finish school and landed on good jobs. If not for the support of my Aunt who sent me to college, my mom wouldn’t be able to send me to Nursing School. I love my mom so much and I pray she’ll live long enough so we could have her experience a wonderful life. Also, if not because of my mom’s constant bugging t...

“If I die, why do I need money?” You don’t. But your family, or your business might. -Life Insurance I used to be among other Filipinos who don’t believe in the importance of getting a life insurance. Whenever I see a friend or an old colleague trying to sell me an insurance, making me feel how bad my financial planning is for not being able to save enough, or when I sense he’s just after the commission, I would turn my back and pretend I need to attend to something urgent. I even said to myself I’d never sell a life insurance. Why would I sell something I don’t believe in, right? Fast forward to present, I am on my last week of training as a Bancassurance Sales Officer. What is it? My role is to basically help people in financial planning and encourage them to get an insurance. Sounds ironic; a non-believer marketing intangible product, something my old self would never purchase. For those of you who’d been following my social media account, know that I re...

“I was your cure, and you were my disease. I was saving you, but you were killing me.” -unknown   I was 16 when I first fell in love. Let’s call him John (not his real name) and for me he’s my one great love. For a time, he was my everything. His world was my world. I was a slave of the thought that if I do things for him, I am doing it for my betterment. In fact, I studied very well because I want to prove to my family that John was not a distraction, rather an inspiration for me to excel. Many things happened during my college days and when I finally graduated, I got a taste of freedom. I felt entitled for some autonomy, like a bird extending her wings ready to fly. I had to take the board exam then, so I reviewed extensively with the hopes of passing the licensure as my ticket to employment, self-actualization, and of course a warrant to be in a relationship with John. How I wanted to tell the world that he’s my boyfriend and I loved him. What I thought was a perfec...