CEBU City, Philippines— Dreams ignite passion, inspire, and drive us towards our goals as they are the foundation of our aspirations and the definition of our purpose.
A dream is what motivated 18-year-old Simone Gabrielle Balaba of Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu to strive hard. Now, she is about to live her dream of studying abroad in the United States.
Balaba went viral on social media after sharing that she received several scholarship offers from colleges in the United States.
READ MORE: Oponganon offered scholarships in US colleges
How did she get there?
It wasn’t an easy road for sure. Balaba shares that despite the challenges, she never gave up on her dream and worked hard to pave her own path.
“My school is a small public school in a small city, and my dreams of studying abroad seemed too far-fetched for a student who not only was not in a STEM-centered and business class, but was neither too involved in Science and Mathematics,” she told CDN.
STEM is an approach to learning and development that integrates the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She studied here at the Science and Technology Education Center (STEC) in Barangay Basak, where she was a Humanities and Social Sciences Strand (HUMSS) student.
Balaba’s scholarship offer amounts to a total of P55 million, or $1.1 million.
Balaba says it was her sister who was her inspiration in this dream of hers.
“My sister has always been an inspiration to me and she was the first one that somehow paved the way for me to apply to universities abroad because I’ve seen the opportunities that were presented to her and I wanted to try out if maybe perhaps I could get a chance to get into those universities too,” she said.
Her scholarship offers came from Hollins University, Augustana College, University of La Verne, Fisher College, Hawai’i Pacific University, DePaul University, Knox College, Xavier University, Whitworth University, and The University of Akron.
Who is Simone Gabrielle Balaba?
Balaba shared with CDN Digital that she is an avid reader, spending countless hours immersed in the pages of her favorite fiction books.
“You should just really try and be determined because I’m not even a top student in the class, so it’s best for people to realize the potential that they have and they should just stay determined and try and try because it can take you to so many places”
She loved the escape that reading provided and the ability to explore different worlds and perspectives through the characters she encountered.
As she got older, Balaba’s love for reading only grew stronger. It was then when she knew that she wanted to pursue a career that would allow her to continue to learn and explore new ideas.
This made her set her sights on studying abroad.
Now, Balaba has made a choice to pursue Creative Writing and Asian Studies and her school of choice is the Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.
READ MORE: Simone Gabrielle Balaba needs help to travel to US, avail of scholarship offer
Balaba knows that the road ahead won’t be easy, but she’s ready to face the challenges head-on and continue pursuing her passion for literature and writing.
“You should just really try and be determined because I’m not even a top student in the class, so it’s best for people to realize the potential that they have and they should just stay determined and try and try because it can take you to so many places,” she said.
/bmjo
