THE GOOD LIFE

by: Megs S. Lunn

Surviving Poverty

Computer Support Research

. I learned how to memorize the keypad of the typewriter and can type 90-word per minute. I had a typing job for the whole of my college days. My classmates paid me P10.00 per page back then. To do research is another way to earn money. There were many papers to be encoded during my college days, including the whole theses, and so my own thesis was done without me spending a single centavo. All the payment from the typing jobs paid off my expenses for my own thesis.

Student Assistant

In college, if you are a student assistant, you get at least P50 per day allowance. You also get the chance to sit on your college Director’s table, answer the phone, and learn how to take down minutes and the like. If you can be trusted, you may get to keep all the student’s records and sign the permit too. Being a student assistant, I learned how to be friendly with all the college professors and they came to trust me with everything else in their office. BEWARE! Do not lose that trust. You should be honored and privileged. The worst scenario is thst, you may not reach your goal.

Freelance Tour guide

This is good for you if you love the subjects of Geography, History and Literature. Likewise, if you love going around places, this will suit you, because you can tour the places that you like for free. Being a freelance tour guide is an exciting job . You get to know the different people from various cultures and you also acquire connections, plus salary that can support your semester’s tuition fee. I also get to buy my favorite clothes. This is another way for me to attend conventions for free, get freebies, and learn while having fun too. Whilst I hate those subjects I mentioned above, I love to travel.

Ghost

You have read it right. Are you good in English or in Public Speaking? Then this is your chance to be a ‘ghost’ writer. Even the greatest speaker of all time like Ronald Reagan had a ghost writer. Are you good in declamation or oration? It is time to pass on your material for a fee to the next generation. It is also another way of sharing what you have to others. You have done a good deed, and at the same time you earn from it.

Cleaners

If you don’t want to be a ‘stay-in’ school girl, then you can do a part time job once a week depending on the need. If nobody cleans your friend’s house because they are away for a vacation, then fill in and get well paid while they are away. When they get back, you may also get a ‘pasalubong’.That is an additional bonus for you for doing a good job in the upkeep of their house. Also, if it is quiet, you can study on their couch after the chores are finished.

Editing.

Are you good at grammar and lay-outing? Is writing your passion? If so then you can apply to any school board paper or a publishing company which prints newspapers, books, or souvenir programs, as a copy editor, editor or a columnist. What they pay can buy you extra cell phone loads, a fare back and forth to school, or else you can treat yourself to a fast food corner. Your parents will not worry for your next ‘pamasahe.’

Cellphone Load Business

Are you a cell phone fanatic? If you want to get a free load, then join the’ Load na dito’ business. Now adays , students spend too much on their cell phones just to pass ‘unsolicited’ quotes and so on . If you are in school, your classmates do not have to run outside anymore, but rather, they get a ‘pasa-load’ from you for a fee. In return, you get a load too through a commission with which you can load your own mobile phone without asking Papa or Mama for a load. How about it?

Always remember, there is no such thing as poverty. You will survive if you are willing to work. I am proud to say that, I was my own scholar at college. All of the above (except the cellphone load business, for I could not afford a cellphone then) helped me to survive college and enabled me to bring home to my parents the diploma they nearly deprived me of because they did not have money to send me to school. To those who are lucky enough not to have to go through these trials, congratulations! But to those who want to achieve a good education but can not afford to do so, you have all the chance in the world, just work hard and you will succeed/TE