I am the fifth of nine children of the late Jose Pacoma of Santa Cruz, Laguna and Ofelia Robina, now a resident of Milpitas, California. I was born on September 3. I am the middle child so I grew up to be strong-willed (to the point of being pugnacious) and self-sufficient. I was my Dad’s favorite child, having similar features and a fair skin from my Grandma on my Dad’s side of the family.

We were poor, but my Mom and my Dad struggled to get us all to school. For them, education was the best legacy that they could leave their offspring. My Dad worked at the Provincial Motor Pool as a Clerk/Dispatcher and my Mom, in order to help, was employed at the Union College of Laguna as a Nurse’s Aide. Eventually, she graduated and got her Bachelor of Science in Education degree from the same college. I remember how my Mom would take catering orders during Christmas time, and whenever there were school occasions, from teachers at Union College just to add to the family income. I vividly remember, too, how I backed out from a Field Day during my elementary years, because my Mom did not have enough money to spend for my costume. I was devastated because I had been practicing so much that my PE teacher placed me in front to be the model for my classmates.

I have 4 other sisters: Glady, Vicky, Josel and Lenie. I never had a doll of my own. The only doll that we owned, I shared with my sisters. We also shared a room, and our clothes. Since I grew up to be the smallest of the five, I ended up having the hand-me downs. My four brothers are Larry, Sonny, Gerry and Omar. I guess, it was our poverty and our struggles together that brought us a lot closer as siblings. We were in need of material things then, but we never faltered and doubted our love, or respect for each other, and our faith in somebody up there who is watching all the time.

My high school days were very disappointing a "not-so-memorable, better-be-forgotten" time. Not because I was not a good student- - mind you, I was. I remained in the top section since starting my first year- I-Sampaguita, II-Diamond, III-Scorpio and IV-Narra. It was disappointing because at a very tender age, I realized that growing up poor made a lot of difference to all the teachers that I had. During that time, it made a lot of difference if you were related to teachers, your family owned a big store in town, or if you had a car, to bring you to and from school.

I remember how one algebra teacher pointed to me and told everyone present that I was the one who would not make it in life and would flunk the NCEE (National College Entrance Examination). I went home with tears in my eyes and told my Dad everything that the teacher said. "Oh, she was just kidding", "You are a bright and smart young lady, you will pass it!" was how my Dad reacted to it. Thanks for your vote of confidence, Dad! Imagine my hurt feelings and how devastated and discouraged I was. I even thought about not showing my face anymore in class.

The night before the NCEE, I prayed, I prayed long and hard - - to pass the exam not for what my teacher had predicted, but for my Dad. I wanted him to be proud of me. I passed the NCEE with flying colors, my grade surpassing even some of the top students of the class.

Mathematics and numbers were not my forte then – but I more than made up for it when I made it to the Lagunian as the News editor for school year 1975-76. My news article was the one that my Lagunian adviser entered for the news writing contest at Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte. PGMHS had to send a delegation to compete to this regional contest. I wanted to join the PGMHS delegation, and voiced my desire to my adviser but I did not go. My news article won the top prize. Did I get any recognition for it? Never! Not even a pat on the back from the principal.

My adviser showed me the plaque and the trophy. I was so proud of myself. My Dad was even prouder. Yes, my English and literature classes were my favorites. How I loved to listen to my literature teacher tell the legend of Beowulf, Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. I was even assigned to interview the exchange student from Colorado – Ms. Molly Kane. She and I immediately became good friends. Right then I noticed how foreigners seem unfazed about social status. Molly accepted me because of who I was, not for what I had and did not have. I felt special affinity with foreigners from then on - - I even dreamed about marrying an American national when I grew up. I was a very non-descript, plain Jane, geeky high school student. A girl classmate teased me that I was so pencil thin that I did not have any "behind" at all. Unlike some of my girl classmates, who started to have curves and who became the most popular girls in school, I was pale, and thin, with plain, straight hair. Unlike my other classmates who started wearing brassieres, I started wearing a bra only because I wanted to be a regular, normal girl. Just to keep up with the trend, but honestly, there was not really much to hide!

Ah, yes, the Junior/Senior Prom! My Dad was there to watch me and in fact he took a picture of me while I was dancing. I was so flustered that I stuck out my tongue for the camera!

I had a lot of crushes, but none of them returned that affection back. Well, who would be interested at somebody who was so plain and simple that they could disappear from the crowd and nobody would even notice they had been gone?

As a requirement for graduation, we had to enroll for the Women’s Auxiliary Service and have to have some paramilitary training in high school. I was worried because we did not have any money to buy a uniform or a wooden gun. My Mom asked the help of my cousins who had previously graduated from high school and whose uniforms were just gathering dust. None of them fit. Fortunately, she was able to obtain a wooden gun for me. One problem was taken care of, but I forgot to mention, I did not have decent shoes – they had to be black and they had to be durable to withstand the constant marching and training, rain or shine!

I do not know how my Mom and Dad came up with the money to buy my uniform and my pair of shoes. But one day, my Mom took me to the sporting goods store where the school placed their order for military uniforms and had a brand new uniform altered for me, (everything needed to be altered because I was thin and short). As for my shoes, my aunt took me to Manila and got me a pair of shoes that I loved so much. I kept on kissing and looking at them on my way to Santa Cruz. I was so proud of that pair of shoes because it was the nicest pair that I had ever laid my eyes on. Constant use, rain or shine, marching to and fro, did not do my shoes any good. After less than a month of use, they were so worn out that water was seeping in my socks and I would end up taking off my socks to wring them dry at the end of the training.

College was a different experience. I saw a glint of hope when I started at the University of Santo Tomas College of Education. I wanted to be a teacher of history so I majored in history as well as library science.

This was where I shone as a student. My teachers were fair and just. They saw my enthusiasm, my initiative, and my potential and they encouraged me to pursue more. I was president of the Library Science Students Association of the Philippines, and its newsletter editor. I was the president of the History Club of UST, and was also very active as member of the Alpha/Alpha Fraternity/Sorority. I was hoping I could get into law as soon as I finished my history subjects. I almost graduated with honors, but because of my skirmish with a teacher, who accused me of cheating during her exam, I did not make it. She caught me talking to one of my classmates who happened to be a sorority sister and as part of my initiation had told me to let her copy my answers. She got a higher grade than I did and worse, I lost my chance of graduating with honors. Oh, well! LA-DI-DA!

During my second year in college, I was chosen as one of the students to participate in a campus-wide program that San Miguel Corporation had initiated to tap fresh, young students for future corporate positions with the company. I was the youngest at seventeen. Most of the other students were from LaSalle University, St. Paul’s College and Ateneo. There were only two of us from UST. One student from the Engineering Dept. was chosen and one from the College of Education department – which was I. My Dad was so proud. I was earning my first money and at the same time learning about the corporate world. My Dad would always show my certificate of participation to everybody who would come to the house. He would show some of the San Miguel products that I would bring home and treasured and displayed all my awards and certificates.

During an IFLA (International Federation of Library Association) Convention at the PICC, I was chosen as one of the usherettes to help out during the weeklong convention. We were provided with coupons that entitled us to get as much food that we could eat at the PICC cafeteria. I invited my sister and my friends to join me for lunch each day – on me! I met and shook hands with Mrs. Marcos and mingled with the President and high-ranking officials of the IFLA. It was a very wholesome and gratifying experience for me. Some of these high-ranking officials even autographed the books that they wrote and gave copies to me!

During one of the Library Science Association gatherings that I emceed, my spiritual adviser approached me and told me that my Dad had died in the hospital. This was after a three-month lingering illness. The entire school of the College of Education stood and silently said a prayer for my Dad. I felt numbed, but I did not cry. I started crying only when I was on my way to Santa Cruz to prepare our house for the wake. That was when I realized, it was no joke. My Dad was really gone!

I was a third year student at UST when I started to work at San Beda College. They employed me as their Acquisition and Cataloging Librarian, full time, and when I graduated they gave me the Assistant College Librarian post. Love beckoned and I was no longer "plain Jane", as I had grown some curves and boys at San Beda started to make passes at me. One of them became fortunate - - the Captain Ball of the Soccer Team of San Beda College. He is the brother of a famous professional basketball player in the Philippines. We were together for three years, and one time, his grandfather, on his deathbed, made us promise that we would be together forever! Of course, we were so young then!

My Mom left for South Carolina in 1981 to join my brother who was in the Navy then. It is from my Mom that I inherited a strength that comes from within. My Mom learned how to drive a car on her own, got a job and was on her own for the next two years. When my brother and his family were transferred to California, my Mom couldn’t just leave her job in South Carolina, so she stayed behind. Soon, she joined them in Moffett Field, California and has been there since.

After San Beda College, I applied for a teaching position at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center in Morong, Bataan. I was employed as an ESL teacher for Indo-Chinese refugees under the auspices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). I liked my teaching job, and enjoyed every minute of it. I got to understand how the Indo-Chinese people endured years of war and how some of them survived and made it to the refugee camps. Some of the women had been raped several times, tortured and some families had been killed for reasons that I could not comprehend.

In 1987, my sister Lenie, my brother Omar and I left for the United States. The first thing that I noticed about California is the wide, open spaces, especially the freeways. I was overwhelmed by its natural beauty and breath-taking coastline. I have loved California since. My other siblings joined us in 1989 and 1992 respectively.

I got married in Carmel, California-Clint Eastwood Country, amidst the lush greenery of the Carmel mountains and sky blue ocean of Monterey Bay on August 27, 1995, to Robert Thomas Alaimo, a native of New York City. Robert is Italian/Irish. He used to be a Deputy Sheriff of Fresno County and when he left the county he started a business of his own. Robert and I bought our first house together in 1998 in a quiet community in San Jose, California. We have traveled to Washington State, Oregon, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Washington DC and Hawaii, and most recently to Arizona (my second favorite state). But my heart would always ache for California. I have traveled to Europe, Canada, and Mexico with my husband for both business and pleasure.

I worked my way up from part time bank teller, to receptionist, to customer service clerk, to sales coordinator, customer service supervisor, Briefing Manager, Program Manager, to Strategic Accounts Manager of the Western Region at Amdahl Corporation. Never did I get embarrassed of how I started and my humble beginnings in the Philippines. In America, as long as you work hard, you can attain whatever dreams you set your mind and your heart to. Some of the wisest counsel I heard from my Dad is "There is always dignity in honest labor".

Currently, I am enrolled as an MBA student at the University of Phoenix and will earn my degree in summer 2001. I have a GPA of 3.87 coming from my Economics and Financial Management courses. I intend to pursue my Doctoral program in Developmental Psychology at the University of California-Santa Cruz. I received the Area Toastmaster of the Year Award, and the Division Toastmaster of the Year Award, 1999-2000 from Toastmasters International, Mission Viejo, California. The Area Toastmasters award came from companies in the Silicon Valley such as of National Semiconductor, Philips Semiconductor, Applied Materials and Amdahl Corporation. The Division Toastmasters award came from the cities of Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Jose, Milpitas and San Mateo. Both awards were given in recognition for outstanding achievement and excellence in leadership as president of the Amdahl Toastmasters Club #4460. I regularly do cardio kick-boxing and lift weights to keep myself fit. With regards to the "behind" that my classmate from Pagsanjan teased me about: it has not changed much but I can fit into size 2 Petite jeans or leather pants easily.

I walk with my husband and our dog, "Chau" on weekends and walk barefoot along the sandy beaches of Santa Cruz, California. I have seen the giant redwood trees of California and when I look up at those trees, I have a sudden realization of how insignificant I feel compared to this gargantuan creation of nature. Yet, in my own little way…I feel proud and taller because "I have come a long way" and I am so grateful for everything that I am and have right now. Our poverty did not hinder me from pursuing my dreams, rather it made me stronger, and made my family a lot closer, a lot better creatures of God. Somebody Up there is watching over us!

To all the students of PGMHS, old and new - - this is my lesson in life and I hope I was able to impart something to all of you - - Never, never be discouraged by what people say about you. They do not know you as much as you know yourself. There will always come a time when you will shine, no matter how poor and impoverished you are. Let no unkind words get into you, rather use these words to motivate you. Do not worry about what people will think of you. First of all, they are not thinking about you. In all likelihood, they are worried about what you are thinking about them. Anybody who thinks less of you for following a dream isn’t worth worrying about anyway. Do not be afraid to have a dream. One of the most amazing things about this life is that dreams can become reality and I offer myself as living proof. With perseverance, faith, and luck and by luck I mean, when opportunity meets preparation, truly incredible things can happen to you. I promise you one thing. It won’t be easy, but it is easier than spending your life wishing that you had done something and feeling disappointed in yourself for never having tried. So go on and do the things that scare the hell out of you because in this world, gambling is almost as safe a bet as the sure thing.

This may sound arrogant, but I think it is about time for teachers and mentors at PGMHS to start looking at everyone fairly rather than by the money, affluence or influence they possess. This is now the 21^st century and to live in the ways of the past is archaic, unjust, selfish and cruel. Open your eyes, your heart, and your mind to your students, rich and poor alike, and they will forever be grateful. Do not be swayed by the glitter of gold and silver for they will tarnish. Youth and beauty fades, but character and truth will always be there. Encourage rather than discourage, motivate rather than belittle, be fair and just for the child you have taught today will remember you tomorrow.

To my Mom and Dad, thank you for the love, the nurturing, the molding, the nuggets of wisdom that you have imparted to all of us, your children.