To teach, to touch, to thank
There are a million things one can do in 25 years. It’s a significant amount of time to learn, change, grow, meet people, meet yourself. To spend all these years in one place, serving students is the epitome of commitment, enthusiasm and, perhaps, even love. Dr. Edna Miranda spent 25 years molding, teaching and seeing students in Holy Cross College come, grow and go.
In 1992, Dr. Edna finished her Education degree at Holy Cross College. Four years before receiving her diploma, she was a struggling student. Dr. Edna grew up in a simple family. Her father passed away when she was younger, so she, her mother and her siblings were left to face the world together. They had to tighten their belt. To go to college, she had to apply for scholarships. She qualified, but these universities were located outside her hometown Sta. Ana. Her family couldn’t afford the daily expenses if she had to travel every day to go to school. Fortunately, she shares, Holy Cross College offered her the same opportunities. She grabbed it. And through the years leading up to her graduation, her family did not shell out a lot of money.
She is beyond grateful for this. “Without Holy Cross College, I wouldn’t have made it this far,” she said during the interview on Radio Libertas program Alumni Spotlight. “Poverty is not a hindrance when you have goals in life,” she added.
It was also in Holy Cross College where she learned to be a good teacher. She drew inspiration from one of her own teachers, Ms. Gloria Silva. She was taught how to dream for her students and how to have a genuine concern for them.
“What I learned from my teachers in Holy Cross College is the genuine concern for the students. They treat you like family, as a daughter or son they want to succeed in the future … I applied that,” she said in Kapampangan.
She pursued her career in teaching at Holy Cross College. She taught elementary, high school and college students. And while she was teaching, she was also learning. She took up a Master’s Degree in the Arts of Teaching the English Language at Philippine Normal University and a doctorate in Educational Management in Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela City.
As a teacher at the school with a heart herself, Dr. Edna witnessed how Holy Cross College cares for its students. She trusts the institution and the people there. The teacher believes in the education and values formation that her Alma Mater provides, so Dr. Edna enrolled her children here. It’s not only one way of saying “thank you” to the school that helped her get where she is now, but it’s also her way of paying forward the generosity that Holy Cross College showed her.
Dr. Edna now works in Germany as an educator. And although thousands of miles away from her Alma Mater, she continues to watch and wish the school of a heart take care of the Kapampangan youth. Like it did to her all those years ago.
Watch the full interview of Dr. Edna Miranda on Alumni Spotlight here.