How a UP student of 18 years earned her diploma at 40

In her viral graduation post, Sadorra said her detours were hard to explain. “Ang shortcut ko lang, nagtrabaho ako,” Sadorra said. 

“Sa totoo lang, marami rin kasi iba’t ibang parang passion at that time na napaka ideal mo as a student, tapos gusto mo lang na maraming ma accomplish, matulungan,” she added.

'It's really energy management—not time management'

According to Sadorra, there is a maximum residency rule at UP. She explained that for a four-year course, an additional two years is allowed. The student may either appeal or be dismissed if they exceed the allowed number of years.

"In my case, after ko i-enroll lahat ng kailangan kong i-enroll, marami akong na incur na incompletes, so kailangan kong I-submit ‘yung mga requirements ko. Kapag ganun, pwede kami mag enroll for residency,” she explained. 

Sadorra said that there are times that she was enrolled for residency while at the same time completing her requirements, all while still working. 

“May mga times na naka-enroll ako for residency, ibig sabihin, I don’t go to school kasi I don’t have subjects but I have requirements to complete, pero nagtatrabaho talaga ako kasi nga, mas urgent for me ‘yung work at some point,” she added. 

“May mga times na binitawan ko talaga siya kasi parang [iba] rin yung attraction ng work,” she told L!fe. 

“Yun din yung bilin ng tatay ko actually nung ni-release niya ko to study, ang sabi niya ‘Anak, hindi madaling pagsabayin ‘yung [trabaho].’ Akala ko kasi all along, it’s a matter of time management, budol ‘yon,” she said, chuckling.

“Hindi lang siya basta time management. It’s really energy management, motivation management, na parang ‘e kumikita na ko,’ parang ganon so ang hirap," she told L!fe.

Flourishing career

While trying to complete her requirements and working at the same time during those 18 years, Sadorra had multiple jobs: research assistant, registration assistant, and resident assistant. She also experienced working in a wet market to help her aunt sell fish.  

She shared that although she is not the breadwinner, she needed to work not just to provide for herself, but to also help her family. 

Along the way, Sadorra was also given opportunities that allowed her to earn more. She got an exchange student scholarship in Korea and landed a job in the Korean embassy and Korean Cultural Center where she became the first Filipino staff at that time. 

Additionally, she was also referred to and got accepted as a teacher in the Star Magic workshop, where she taught the Filipino language to artists like Sam Milby, Catriona Gray, and Edward Barbers, among others. 

Sadorra has achieved greater heights in her career and passion for teaching even without earning a diploma, so why still bother to get the degree? For her, her motivation to pursue it after all these years is driven by the need for self-fulfillment.  

“I just knew deep in my heart na lagi akong may insecurity, lagi akong may sense na incompletion talaga ‘yung may burden ka within na ‘hindi ka pa rin tapos,’” she said. 

“There would be times na I would write conference papers, I would be introduced, tapos ‘yung mga katabi ko may mga PhD, MA tapos nung ikaw, wala kang degree, so masakit siya,” she recalled. “Sabi ko na talaga, I really need to go back and finish.” 

The final push

After countless appeals and lengthy deliberation, Sadorra was given the academic year 2022 to 2023 as her final chance to finish her degree.  

“Sabi ko, 'Ito na ‘yun, if I let this go, sobrang sayang' so kailangan ko na siyang by all means na tapusin,” she said. “Nung last two months [of the semester] talagang nag stop ako ako mag-work at all, kasi alam ko na kapag sinabay ko na naman siya, hindi ko siya matatapos,” she added. 

Her last attempt to finish school wasn’t smooth sailing as she needed to adapt to the changing policies and learning systems, in addition to “breaking the barrier” in working with her younger classmates. Sometimes, she gets teased too for being a “student emeritus.” 

“Kahit sabihin mo na wala kang ginagawang masama, pero may hiya, may shame factor na ‘bakit kasi hindi ka pa tapos?’” she said. “Akala kasi ng iba tamad ka lang, hindi ka lang nag pursige; ang dami kasing pwede i-judge sa iyo dahil hindi nila alam ‘yung full na pinagdaanan mo,” she added. “So I had to swallow all of that.” 

Since she could not use her earned units from the old curriculum, Sadorra had to take another nine units while taking her thesis, which means she needed to take classes in minor subjects, like marine science, in her last year. 

Sadorra shared she struggled with it at first, but with her unwavering faith, she was able to see it as another learning experience.  

“Marami akong ganiyang moments, God would bring to a certain situation where I thought it was a big burden. I thought things are super messy, ‘yung mga desisyon parang mali in my eyes, pero Siya, pinaparealize niya na ‘I’m in control,’” she said, noting that she’s lucky that her detours allowed her to hear her calling for teaching. “God was showing me na ang daming nangyari sa buhay ko na hind talaga aksidente.” 

Sadorra couldn’t be more grateful for the support system she had—professors, friends, and especially her family—who didn’t discourage her during the process. “They just knew that I really want to teach,” she said. “Alam nila how much I love school, how much I love UP,” she said.  

“Hindi tayo pare-pareho talaga ng journey, and mine could be a special or different case,” she said. 

“Sa iba kasi parang ang dami kong sinayang na oras, but for me, hindi talaga siya nasayang kasi looking back, ang dami kong natutunan na hindi ko basta rin matututunan in the four corners of the classroom.” she added.  

More than finally earning her degree, Sadorra couldn't be happier to have achieved another feat with her viral graduation message which sparked inspiration among those in the same situation. 

“May mga nag message sa’kin na ‘na-inspire ako sa journey mo,’ ‘gusto ko na rin bumalik ng school,’” she shared. 

“Siguro ‘yung advice ko, hindi naman talaga nasusukat ‘yung success sa diploma, sa totoo lang,” she said. “Pero if you really see sa field or sa job mo, or kahit sa sarili mo na lang para sa fulfillment na ‘gusto ko talagang makatapos,’ then do it.” 

She also stressed the importance of reaching out for help, which significantly aided her in the last days of finishing her requirements.  

“What I learned in this last semester was to really ask for help, actually nung ginagawa ko ‘yung thesis parang akong nagkaka mental paralysis because I was so afraid to fail again,” she said. “I was so afraid na hindi ko na naman siya matatapos.” 

“What I did, I asked my friends to call me to check on me kung natutulog ako, o nanonood lang ako ng K-drama,’yung ganun, ” she said. There were times when her friends would work with her to keep her energized. 

Above all these, Sadorra revealed that what mainly kept her going was her anchor on faith. “Yung hope sa diploma, sa tao, nagfe-fade ‘yan e, pero pag si God, sobrang constant kasi Niya,” she said. 

“May mga miracle Siyang ibibigay sa ‘yo na kapag kailangang kailangan mo na, hindi siya made-delay e, He’s never late, He would always provide your needs kapag kailangan mo na,” she added. 

“I think ‘yun yung combination: grit, ‘yung support, and ‘yung faith.” 

After finally earning her diploma, Sadorra now plans to take her master’s degree or get scholarships to study abroad. She also aims to teach in regular institutions after working as a freelance teacher for years now.