My Journey to Tech

Back when I was a Senior High School student, the degree I really wanted was BS Civil Engineering.

I loved solving problems, especially in mathematics. Madalas pa akong makipag-compete sa mga kaklase ko. I even managed to beat our Mathlympics varsity once—my friend Lester Dollete. (Hope you’re doing well now, my friend.)

Even though I preferred staying lowkey and never really liked competing for attention, I genuinely wanted to become a civil engineer. I wanted to solve problems by planning and building physical structures and systems.

Unfortunately, life had other plans.

Despite having a high GWA in Senior High School, I wasn’t accepted into Bulacan State University (BulSU). That was the only university I could realistically attend because private schools simply weren’t an option financially.

The admissions that year were based mainly on grades instead of entrance exams because the pandemic had just ended. Looking back, I still don’t fully understand why I wasn’t accepted despite my grades. I even had my own theories at the time, but regardless of the reason, the result stayed the same—I didn’t get in.

If there had been an entrance exam instead, I honestly believed I had a good chance.

Instead of waiting another year or working full-time, I swallowed my pride and listened to my friends and relatives. They kept telling me to apply at Richwell Colleges Incorporated (RCI).

Honestly, when I first searched the school online, I thought, “Grabe, ang ganda ng campus. Mukhang hindi namin kaya ang tuition dito.”

At first, I didn’t even want to apply because I already knew our financial situation.

But after enough convincing, I decided to give it a shot.

I wasn’t even enrolled yet. I simply wanted to ask.

When I arrived at RCI, I chose BS Information Systems (BSIS).

One thing immediately surprised me.

They asked me how much I could realistically afford to pay every month.

I hesitantly answered:

“₱1,000 po?”

To be honest, even that amount scared me.

I didn’t even know where I’d get that ₱1,000 every month. Sometimes I had to figure out my allowance first before even thinking about tuition. Most of my funds came from small part-time jobs and help from family members.

But somehow…

I ended up enrolling.

At first, I honestly didn’t like it.

I was frustrated because I wasn’t taking the course I originally wanted.

But I had already started, so I decided to continue.

First Year College

Academically, first year was relatively easy.

Financially, it wasn’t.

Paying ₱1,000 every month meant around ₱6,000 per semester or roughly ₱12,000 per academic year.

That might not sound like much to some people, but for me, it was a huge responsibility.

My income wasn’t stable either.

Most of it came from random part-time jobs whenever I could find one.

The time I almost quit

During my second semester, I seriously considered dropping out.

Part of the reason was financial.

The other part was that I wasn’t feeling challenged academically.

Instead of continuing school, I applied for a job at an RPO company in Rocka Village.

I worked as a Recruitment Associate.

We used an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to search for qualified candidates for different companies.

(Funny enough, when I reached fourth year and started learning software development seriously, I remembered that ATS and realized how terrible its UI and UX actually were. 😂)

After two months…

I got terminated during my probationary period because I couldn’t hit the required KPIs.

Looking back now, I honestly don’t mind.

I was only 18 years old.

And if I were given that same job today, I genuinely think I could probably source dozens—or even hundreds—of qualified applicants every day.

Going Back to School

After leaving that job, I went back to RCI.

While buying water in the canteen, I unexpectedly ran into my former classmates—Kristine, Hans, and Ritz.

I’m not going to lie.

The moment I saw them, I panicked.

I literally hid.

Unfortunately…

They saw me hiding.

That made everything even more awkward.

When I finally talked to them, they asked how I was doing.

I told them I had decided to stop studying and continue next year instead.

One of them simply said,

“Sayang naman yung nasimulan mo.”

He was right.

I explained that I simply couldn’t keep up with the monthly tuition.

That’s when they mentioned one word that completely changed everything.

Scholarship.

They told me,

“Jun, samahan ka namin kay Sir Edward.”

That conversation eventually led me to Ma’am Teresita Teodoro.

She was one of the kindest people I met during college.

Soft-spoken, patient, and genuinely willing to help students.

She reduced my monthly payment from ₱1,000 to only ₱500.

(Looking back… maybe I should’ve asked for ₱150 instead. 😂)

That decision allowed me to continue studying.

And I never stopped again.

Second Year

Second year was much more enjoyable.

I made a lot of friends and learned many new things.

Ironically, one of my biggest problems wasn’t difficulty.

It was my own ego.

I used to think,

“Madali lang naman ‘yan.”

I often skipped projects and activities because I believed I already understood the lessons mentally.

Now I realize how wrong that mindset was.

Understanding something isn’t the same as proving you can apply it.

That’s also one reason why some of my grades weren’t as high as they could’ve been.

(Although I’m still proud of getting a 1.0 in Trigonometry. 😄)

Throughout college, I biked around 8 kilometers back and forth between home and school.

For my first and second year, I didn’t even own a desktop computer.

There were many times when I borrowed computers—or even stayed at friends’ houses—just so I could finish programming work.

One friend who helped me a lot was Nathaniel Dela Cruz.

We don’t talk as often anymore, but I’m still grateful for the help he gave me.

Before Third Year

Before third year started, I asked my mother for something I had never asked before.

I told her,

“Ma, once in a lifetime lang. Pwede bang isang favor?”

I asked for a laptop.

Considering how frugal our family is, that conversation wasn’t easy.

There were plenty of arguments before she finally agreed.

Eventually, she bought me an ₱8,000 second-hand laptop.

Intel Core i5-6300U
4 GB RAM (later upgraded to 8 GB)
128 GB SSD

Don’t underestimate that laptop.

It handled countless programming projects.

It helped me start freelancing.

And ultimately, it helped me land my first software development job.

Third Year

This was when freelancing started.

Most of my clients were fellow students.

I worked on research papers, programming projects, and even capstone projects for students from higher year levels.

Thankfully…

I never got caught.

Otherwise, I probably would’ve lost my scholarship. 😂

By this time, things were slowly getting better financially.

Sometimes I could even borrow my brother’s motorcycle whenever I had enough money for gas.

At least I wasn’t arriving to class completely drenched in sweat anymore.

Fourth Year

Fourth year completely changed how I viewed software development.

During my internship, I worked on the biggest project I had ever handled.

A complete school portal.

Honestly…

I did my absolute best.

But if I could go back in time, I would approach the entire project very differently.

I spent nearly two weeks planning everything.

That eventually led to scope creep.

I also tried assigning work to other interns.

The problem?

Most of them simply didn’t care.

I even prepared learning materials and explained what they needed to study.

Nothing changed.

Eventually, I stopped forcing it.

I never even reported them to our supervisor.

Despite doing most of the work myself, I still made sure everyone received credit during the final presentation.

The presentation itself was successful.

The school heads liked it.

Even the CEO congratulated us.

But the system was never deployed.

And honestly…

I understand why.

The codebase was inconsistent.

Some parts were heavily AI-assisted.

There were probably security concerns.

At the end of the day, it became more of a one-person project than a team project.

Looking back now, I don’t regret the experience.

I simply know that today, I would build it differently.

Falling in Love with Software Development

Around this time, I also started getting real business clients.

For the first time, software development gave me the same excitement that mathematics gave me back in high school.

There were bugs that made absolutely no sense.

There were moments when I’d stare at the screen wondering,

“Who designed this language? Why does it work like this?”

And strangely…

I loved solving those problems.

Maybe I didn’t become a civil engineer.

But I realized that what I truly loved wasn’t concrete, bridges, or buildings.

It was solving difficult problems.

I simply found a different way to build things.

And that’s how I found my place in tech.