Studying at ISUFST did not come without its share of chaos. Regina was not just a student. She was a mother to seven: Jerene, a Dean’s Lister in BEED; Jaztine, a first-year Religious Education student at Doanne Baptist Bible Institute; Joy, a Grade 11 student; and four younger children (Jee Ann, Jero, Jimz, and Jana) enrolled in different levels of basic education. While classmates were catching up on Netflix, she was catching up on family chores, laundry and talipapa runs. She sold dried fish, offered mani-pedi services, did salon work, and tutored kids just to contribute to household expenses and pay for academic requirements. During the pandemic, with online classes in full swing, she climbed uphill and down to relatives’ houses just to get a decent Wi-Fi signal.

There were tough days. Post-pandemic adjustments stirred minor misunderstandings with her other half. “You focus on supporting the kids, I’ll handle my school expenses,” she once said. That line became their household mantra. She would hustle, and hustle hard. Every test paper, every feasibility study, every academic requirement was paved with stories of dried fish sold, nails polished, and rice measured sparingly. But what she lacked in time and resources, she made up for in sheer tenacity and unshakable grace.

Her children are her quiet strength. “We made do with what we had,” she said. Despite the tight finances, her three eldest kids are consistent honor students. They understood. They never questioned why some days had less food or why their mother was too tired to join family binge-watching via cellphone time. They understood that their mother was building something—for them.

At ISUFST, Regina found a second home. She never felt judged for being older. “People are respectful. My age may show, but maybe so does the wisdom,” she quipped. The university’s inclusion of Equity Target Groups (ETG) was not lip service. It was tangible. She experienced first-hand how ISUFST’s mission to “teach minds, touch hearts, and transform lives” was not just framed on a hallway wall but lived out—in gestures of support, in inclusive spaces, and in the grace extended to learners of all walks. Free tuition helped a lot. But what helped deeper was an environment that made room for her reality.