Anihan Graduate Testimony

An Anihan graduate posted on Facebook her testimony about her experience as an Anihan scholar.

Maria Carmina Hinguillo graduated from Anihan in 2002. She started working in the country at a fast food franchise. After some years, she was able to find employment in Canada where she is now based. She supports her family and was the one who encouraged her younger sister, Ahmielitz, to study too in Anihan. Below are excerpts from Carmie's Facebook post on 4 May 2014:

Baking and more

"What does Anihan offer? Baking as our first thought. However, baking is more than just making dainty cakes and pastries and presenting them beautifully. Anihan taught me how to assess my entire work, this included…the time I chose my recipe, division of labor, procurement of the ingredients, working in the kitchen, the end product and ensuring the kitchen was left as clean as before I even stepped in. The whole process allowed me to analyze my strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. In short, it made me realize how vastly I can improve not just my baking skills but also as a person.

Developing my personality

My time as a student in Anihan was amazing and so much fun. I was the youngest of my batch and I had a very low self-esteem. I was always late and I didn’t even know how to fix myself except for my hair because my mother would get mad at me if I left the house without tidying up my hair. But my hair would stay the same until I went home. I remember one of my classmates pulling me to the powder room to fix me up, but I was too shy to look at myself in the mirror so I just ran away. Surrounded with girls a year or two older than me, I noticed how presentable a girl can become with some powder and lip gloss. And, having a Personality Development class, I learned that I had to make myself presentable not just to look good but to have self-confidence to face people.

Learning how to be a professional

Anihan is a school that teaches more than Personality Development and Baking. It teaches the student to have the professional work ethics that you would not learn from others. This is our edge, what we have in common. The regulations are strict but we all need this much to learn. The big sisters, we call them "ate", are persistent. They would look for you to talk to you even if you didn’t want to say anything. I remember hiding in the washroom before so I didn’t have the whole time to talk to her. But I missed her a lot when I left. I missed the person (Ate Jing) that gave me the feeling of assurance, that there is a person willing to listen to all of my whims, bitterness and childishness while keeping me focused on the right direction as I go along.

Going for my goals

I realized so much in just two years of my stay in this school. I was able to determine my priorities and goals in life. I learned the humility of accepting mistakes and understanding what I can do to make things right. Criticisms are challenges laid out for me, analyzing the situation reveal the problems and solutions. I feel sad, angry, happy, and such, as I go through difficulties, but at the end of the day, I always think of what I can thank for. And one great blessing that I have is my time in Anihan, that's why I sent my sister to study here, so she can learn as much as I did, and she is having a blast!

Time passes, people change, goals keep getting bigger and so we continually improve. I am currently working in Alberta, Canada as a store manager for two stores and I have a cleaning job at night. I am also, doing an online course in Bookkeeping. I was able to send my sibling to school and buy a decent home for my parents. Yes, an Anihan graduate was able to fulfill this much and more..."