Surviving 'til Med School In Roughly $2/day Budget.

$2.00 Med school? You gotta be kidding me, you might say.

You might wonder how I survived my entire journey as a student with merely $2/day of budget. Well, to tell you the truth, I sometimes go beyond my budget, but most often than not, I see to it that $2 is my limit.

Now, wouldn't be telling you much about the budget but instead I will be sharing to you my journey to getting that "MD" with roughly $2 budget per day.

Let me start with sharing the first step I took before entering medschool.

Dream free. Dream wild. Dream high.

I have been told to dream big dreams. It's free, they say. And so I did. I dreamt of becoming a Nurse, an Astronaut even, Doctor... etc. Because when you dream, dream high. But growing up, I have realized that the dreams I dream are an impossible feat. It would be a challenge to achieve it given the financial capability of my family. And so I just started living, with the dream just breathing within.

After graduating from college, I did not proceed into Medschool as some would have expected me to, for reasons that my family can't surely afford to send me and sustain the expenses, and second I was still threading in waters of uncertainties, struggling to believe something that I see wouldn't be happening. And so I worked for 1 year and helped the family with the little money that I make, and saved as much as I can. But I knew, deep in my heart that God has called me and it is Him who will provide, and indeed He did!

And with a vision from God, I took the leap of faith, took up NMAT and sent applications for enrollment and scholarships for Medschool. It was indeed an impossible feat, but how smooth sailing everything was from application to enrolment (after enrolment it was never smooth sailing ), I knew from there that it was really meant to be. I remembered how He sent people along the way and provided for my accommodation in Cebu during NMAT and an interview when I had planned to wait out for the sun in the boat before going to the venue.

But after getting rejected in a school where I could take Medicine at the least cost, and after missing the scholarship applications at different schools in Cebu, I started doubting again, threading in waters of uncertainties. But then, I hold on to His promise and applied for a scholarship here in my current school, which I almost missed. I was able to send my application at the very deadline of acceptance of applicants.

Had I not received the scholarship, I wondered how I'm going to pick myself up from zero for I had already quit my job, and not proceeding with medschool with roughly 50k of savings in the bank, and my family still struggling financially.

God's faithfulness, through and through!

I still could not fathom how God did it, but His faithfulness brought me here. From the scholarship, to my sponsorship, and provisions, God has been faithful. Somehow, in some ways, with all His provisions, I survived 4 years of medschool with roughly 50k of savings, and I was never in lack. I tried to maximize all my resources to its greatest extent, and by all means possible to get by with my $2 budget per day.

I have been talking about my financial struggles that you may think I have not struggled in Medschool academically. But boy, I tell you, being in Medschool is indeed hard. It is a known fact that we all struggled, cramming notes, sacrificing subjects and exams, crying and weeping over failed scores,and barely passing. There were even times when I question myself if it was worth it. If what I'm tryinng to do will be worth it. But then again, I just remind myself why and for whom I am taking this impossible feat, and then I'll push through. All in all, it was God who sustained me from all these hardships with the best set of support system, close set of friends, batch Zalgiatroz (Batch extraaa!!!), inspiring doctors, my family, my prayer warriors, and most especially God's promises through His Word.

Today (rather yesterday), I celebrate God's faithfulness, and give all the glory to the Lord! I am thankful and will be forever grateful to everyone used by God to help me be where I am today. To the FM Romualdez scholarship, thank you for giving me the opportunity to take this shot into becoming who I am and where I am today. To my principal sponsors, Tita Emelyn and Tito Martin, thank you so much for covering the rest of my miscellaneous fees and for providing me with laptops and cellphones I couldn't afford to buy with my budget. May God bless you immensely for your generous hearts. To my parents, MamaLory and Papa Edwin, thank you for being my foundation of strength and support, this one's for you. Ilang saging at gulay din ang nailako natin to come this far. Ilabas na ang kalabaw. Ilabas lang kailangan pa natin yan sa farm. To my siblings all my extended family Lolo and Lola in heaven, Lola Ekya, Uncles and Aunties, cousins, thank you for your prayers and support. To MJJJLM, BioDaray, Superfriends, thank you for being my breather. To my medschool buddies, last row girls, to TeamWork, thank you for making medschool fun and a little less hard. To batch Zalgiatroz, thank you for making medschool a little extra and fun, yeyyy, we made it!!! Thank you to the DRTRMFI-CM administration, faculty and staff for the opportunity to be mentored and trained.

Dr. JENE CORILLO

Doctor of Medicine

Batch Zalgiatroz

Class of 2021