The Cost of Trying to Build a Future

Nursing has become an integral part of the Filipino identity, representing our compassion and deep commitment to serving and caring for others. This is one reason Filipino nursing students are consistently recognized as competent, resilient, and dependable. Because of this reputation, we are expected to meet exceptionally high standards long before we even earn our licenses.

But what happens when those expectations collide with the realities that many students face every day?

Beyond the pressure of becoming future healthcare professionals, the many systemic challenges in the Philippines have made the nursing journey increasingly difficult. Heavy academic workloads, financial hardship, and the rising cost of living continue to test not only nursing students but college students across the country.

Different programs may have different demands, but many students are fighting the same battle of finishing higher education despite growing obstacles.

Heavy academic workloads are common in tertiary education, but nursing demands far more than most people realize.

A typical week consists of lectures, laboratory classes, return demonstrations, examinations, and hospital duties, all competing for our time and attention. During clinical exposure, we are expected to apply everything we have learned while recognizing that every action and decision can directly affect another person's life. The fear of making mistakes is constant, and the pressure to meet high expectations can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Yet I eventually realized something.

This is not an experience unique to nursing students, nor is it mine alone.

Across colleges and universities, countless students carry their own version of this burden—balancing demanding academic requirements, financial struggles, and personal responsibilities while trying to earn a degree. The challenges may differ from one program to another, but the weight of pursuing higher education in the Philippines has become a shared experience for many.

And for many students, academics are only one part of the struggle.

Financial constraints force many students to balance school with work simply to make ends meet. Some get only a few hours of sleep before rushing from class to work. Others miss lectures because skipping work means losing income they cannot afford to lose. It is common to see students asking professors for make-up quizzes or extensions because their work schedules made attendance impossible.

While many educators try to accommodate these realities, understanding alone cannot pay tuition, buy meals, or cover transportation.

For students from low-income families, every new requirement often means another difficult choice between meeting academic obligations and helping support their households. Some skip meals, delay buying required materials, or borrow money just to comply with school requirements. They continue showing up to class exhausted but determined because they know that earning a college degree remains one of the few opportunities to improve not only their own future but also the lives of their families.

As if those challenges were not enough, inflation has made college even harder.

The increasing cost of food, transportation, and school supplies means that even basic daily expenses have become difficult to afford. Many students stretch every peso, settle for cheaper meals, or skip them altogether just to save enough for projects, laboratory requirements, and commuting expenses.

College is no longer just an academic journey. For many Filipino students, it has become a daily struggle to stay enrolled despite limited resources.

The challenges faced by nursing students reflect a broader reality experienced by countless young Filipinos pursuing higher education. Whether studying nursing, engineering, education, or any other discipline, many students carry the weight of financial hardship, rising living costs, and an education system that often demands more than it is able to support.

Their resilience deserves recognition, but it should never become an excuse for accepting these conditions as normal.

Inflation does not only raise prices—it also pushes education further out of reach for many Filipino students. If the government truly believes that the youth are the nation's future, then investing in education should not be viewed as an expense, but as an investment in the country's future.

The goal should not be for students to simply survive college, but to graduate with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities needed to build a healthier, more prosperous, and more equitable Philippines.