Aan het begin van het schooljaar 2025-2026 mochten we een nieuwe leerkracht verwelkomen: Marvin. We zijn enorm blij met deze ontzettend vriendelijke en zeer gedreven nieuwe docent en vroegen hem zich voor te stellen. Hieronder zijn verhaal.
“Good day. I am Marvin, the youngest of five siblings. My life took a difficult turn very early on. I lost my mother when I was just three years old, and soon after, my father left and lived separately. By the time I turned ten, he too had passed away. I was then raised by my grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
From a very young age, I was exposed to the harsh realities of life. Even as a child, I had no choice but to work hard. During my elementary years, I was selling pandesal in the morning and munay (pandesal en munay zijn twee soorten broodjes, red.) in the afternoon, just so I would have enough money for my school. Life was never easy after I lost my parents. Walking through life without someone to guide me, correct me, or support me was incredibly difficult. I learned through mistakes on my own without the comfort of parental care.
At the age of eleven, I was officially diagnosed with dyslexia. I was frequently bullied and, more painfully, constantly judged. For someone like me, who struggled in reading, there was no one to lean on, only my own trust in myself and my dreams to keep me going.
As I grew older, I continued learning but life had more challenges. In Grade 9, I was diagnosed with dysgraphia (a learning disability that primarily affects a person’s ability to write. It can manifest as difficulties with handwriting, spelling, and expressing thoughts on paper. It’s not a matter of intelligence, but rather a neurological condition impacting the motor skills and cognitive processes involved in writing), making my academic journey even more difficult. I couldn’t understand why I struggled so much to keep up in class. But through perseverance, I eventually graduated from high school and senior high school.
Then came a turning point: Teacher Rein entered my life. He helped me see myself more clearly and guided me through the chaos I was going through. He showed me that change is possible. I was once a student constantly cutting classes, caught up in vices, and called to the principal’s office year after year for my stubbornness and poor performance. Now I learned I was capable of many things, as long as I believed in myself.
I vividly remember, when I was Grade 6, we had the National Achievement Test (NAT). One of my teachers told me not to go to the testing center at Papaya Academy. They didn’t want me to take the test because of my reading difficulties as they were afraid I would lower the school’s ranking. They didn’t even give me the address. I had no parents to accompany or guide me, so I searched for the school on my own. When I arrived, my teacher and classmates were shocked. Every other student was with their parents, but I stood there by myself, confused, trying to handle everything on my own. My teacher looked at me and said, “Why are you here? I told you not to come.” I still remember the judgmental stares of my classmates and the whisper of my teacher saying, “Now our school’s rank will drop,” as she walked away.
That moment defined something in me. That rejection, that lack of faith they became the very reasons I worked harder. I became determined to rise, to win battles that no one else could see. They never knew the pain I endured. They never stood in my shoes.
And today, I return to Papaya Academy not as a student taking the NAT, but as a licensed teacher who passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET).
I have worked hard to overcome every challenge, every hardship. From selling pandesal in the morning and munay in the afternoon, to delivering water, working construction, and performing nightly gigs just to fund my education, I did it all. Not just for survival, but for the future I believe in. For the family I will build one day.
Once again, I am Marvin a proud teacher of Papaya Academy.
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