By Mariz Tanya Cabacang (Dolores National High School)

Borongan City (5 October) -- Kuya Matrix, our school guard, tells all the sacrifices of being a guard having small wage to sustain the needs of his big family.

Waking up at around three in the morning, attending his role as a father and as a guard, sleeping for about an hour, these are only a few of what Kuya Matrix (as what DNHSians fondly call him because of his big, cool goggles) has to bear for the sake of his family.

It was already late in the afternoon, when light and darkness were like quarreling in the sky. I had a chance to have a little chit-chat with Kuya Matrix while waiting for my ever-late service, (actually we were 15 waiting for our service but the others were busy chattering with girly stuffs, while the campus man entertained me with his humble story. I am really inspired listening to the life of someone who's not quietly known to most of us in school but is cheerfully watching over us and the school properties. Who would even care for a guard?

Kuya Matrix told me that he really did not want to be a guard. He is confident he can contribute more service by being a town police. He said he graduated in a prominent police academy, the Philippine National Police Academy, but because of the crisis we are facing today, he has no choice but to accept the job.

I consider him my idol because in spite of his financial problems he still manages to smile like nothing worries him. He told me that being a school guard is really a tiring matter. He said he has only an hour or two to sleep. He also said that his wage is not even enough to feed the family but he accepted the job because it is the only one available.

An exact example of a hardworking, humble, sacrificial, kind father and guard is what Kuya Matrix is, truly, an idol and a hero.

I hope I had inspired you.