Student: Restituto (Jay) Glazewski. Major: Accounting. I am an overcomer who grew up in the Philippines and attended MATC as a full-time student. After high school, I went to college for my first semester in nursing when tragically my father died in an accident, and I had to drop out of college. I moved to the capital far from my family to support them. For more than a decade, I couldn’t attend school because I was my family’s sole breadwinner. I had low paying, dead-end jobs. Only after I was married to my husband and moved to the U.S. was I able to continue my education. Also, I had realized that nursing was not for me, so I pursued accounting at MATC. When I thought of going back to school, I felt intimidated because English is not my first language and I feared that I would fail in my classes. My husband always supported me through that, and I got a unique opportunity to become a full-time student because of his career. This opportunity allowed me to have plenty of time to work on my assignments and projects, and soak up the knowledge I gathered from my courses and supportive instructors. Now, what I am looking forward to after graduation is to gain experience by working part-time while pursuing my bachelor’s degree part-time. My ultimate goal is to finish my master’s and become a CPA while learning from work experiences. Advice for students: My advice to my fellow students planning to continue their education is to never give up on your dreams because you never know where you will be. I never thought I would move to the U.S., much less that I would be able to pursue my college education ever again. Additionally, try to surround yourself with people who support and believe in your potential, even if you can’t believe in yourself. Sometimes asking for help is necessary to keep you going and feel motivated.