During the day, like any student, Richmond Guzon, 22, would wear his uniform, rush to school, and study. But when the school bell rang to mark the end of class, he would rush to a fast-food restaurant, and put on another uniform to serve customers.
Work as a service crew member for six years enabled him to raise enough funds to achieve his goal to become a licensed pharmacist.
“I started working at a fast-food chain in Senior High School as my family’s finances were not enough to send me to school,” he said.
Richmond, a resident of Brgy. Villamonte, Bacolod, is the son of Herma, 57, and Bernardo, 61, fruit vendors at the Bacolod Central Market. Richmond is the 7th among nine siblings and four of them have already graduated from college, and some already have their own families.
Since he was 13, he took on summer jobs at St. Joseph School-La Salle in Bacolod. That way, he could pay his enrolment fees to finish high school. At 16, when he was about to enter Senior High School, an opportunity came for him to work at the McDonalds Bacolod East branch and he took it without hesitation.
“I had tried my luck in various scholarship programs but I was not accepted. But when I got the chance to work at McDonald’s to pay for my studies, I never held back,” he said.
“When I was a third year college student, I was about to quit. But I said to myself, I already went through all these struggles just to reach my goal, I need to finish it,” he said.
When he did not have enough to pay for his tuition, his co-workers and managers also helped raise funds for him. This did not only happen once but a couple of times. Richmond said he became their scholar.
“I express my sincere gratitude to these people because through them I was able to reach another milestone in my life,” he said, adding “I am forever thankful to them as I look back, they were there when I needed someone to lean on”.
He graduated from Riverside College in July this year and with his savings, he flew to Cebu to start his review for the board exam. Richmond was about to be promoted at the fast-food restaurant, but he opted to continue chasing his dreams and formally resigned.
On November 2, during the All Souls’ Day, he took the exam and finally reached his dream. He was among the 2,974 who passed the Pharmacist Licensure Examination.
“When you have a dream, you need to keep in mind that you have a goal to reach and don’t ever give up on it. Continue to persevere as anything is possible,” Richmond said.
From being a fast food crew member to becoming a full-pledged pharmacist, the only thing that Richmond needs to fully achieve his dream is his official oath-taking in December.
He said that he is now looking for a job related to the course he took. And if given the opportunity, he might study medicine to serve patients and people in need.
“In the meantime, I want to to explore the big pharmaceutical industry as it offers vast opportunities,” he said, adding “If given the chance to pursue medicine, I will”.
While Richmond is now chasing another path, his sibling, Mary Angelie, a freshman student, is following in his footsteps. The 8th of the Guzon siblings is now working at the same fast-food restaurant but in another branch, hoping to graduate and pursue her dreams as her brother did.*