I knew nothing about being a Virtual Assistant.

But I was hungry.

Hungry to learn. Hungry to break free. Hungry to give my family the life they deserved.

So I said YES.

And I started to study.

YouTube became my classroom.

Every course I could enroll in, I did.

I didn’t have mentors. I didn’t have a roadmap.

But I had one thing: WILLINGNESS.

Eventually, my pay grew:

₱2K became ₱3K… then ₱5K… then ₱8K.

All while working from home.

The minimum wage in my province was ₱8K a month.

I was earning that—and more—without leaving the house.

My mom got sick.

She was diagnosed with Scleroderma—an autoimmune disease with no cure.

Walang espesyalista sa amin, so we had to travel to Manila for her treatment.

We lived month after month in and out of public hospitals.

There were nights I’d sleep outside on the sidewalk, next to the homeless.

Ang kaibahan lang sa amin? May laptop ako.

Yes—nagtatrabaho ako sa tabi ng kalsada.

I laid down cardboard near the hospital gate, where the guards could see me—kasi natatakot ako baka ma-hold up.

I was scared. I was tired. I hadn’t taken a shower in a week.

We couldn't even afford a decent place to stay.

So when a relative sent some money, we rented a ₱250 room for 3 hours—just to shower and sleep a little.

Mama passed away.

She was the main provider of our family.

When she left, our world collapsed.

I was deep in debt from the hospital bills and the burial expenses.

Even during New Year, we had no food to celebrate with.

My own father thought I was hiding money because I couldn’t provide.

But the truth was—I had nothing.

There were times when the family asked what our next meal would be…

I’d lie and say I was going to withdraw money—

Pero ang totoo? Nangungutang ako sa tindahan para lang may ulam kami.

I had two choices:

Break down—or break through.

I chose to fight.

To level upmy skills.

To learn everything I could—so I could make money online and support my family.

YouTube became my mentor.

Google became my best friend.

And little by little…

I climbed out of that dark place.

You don’t need to go through what I went through.

You don’t need to sleep on the streets.

You don’t need to feel alone.