Last week, Valerie Concepcion graduated from college at 30 years old. She is now a proud Psychology degree holder of Arellano University. The actress could have finished college 10 years ago but she admittedly had different priorities after high school. “I was 16 then and already in show business earning money.  And then,   I got pregnant. I had to work for my daughter. I had to give up school. But I decided to go back to school even after over a decade primarily to impart the value of education to my daughter. I believe education is really important. It’s a different fulfillment knowing that you finished school. I want my daughter to be proud of me and give her an inspiration to study knowing that mom moved mountains just to finish college.” Valerie Concepcion Valerie recalls the first time she enrolled in college a decade ago. She signed up to go to AMA University back then. “I was having butterflies in my stomach. That was 2014 and I was 25 years old that time. After a year, I stopped again at 2nd year college because I started doing teleseryes left and right. “But another opportunity to study came last year. The Expanded Tertiary Education, Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) of Arellano University is our government’s way po to help working Filipinos like me to finish their studies. You have to be 25 years old and above with work experience to qualify and enroll in their program. “If you are diligent enough, you can finish the four-year course in one year. Classes are every Saturdays and there are modules and tasks that you have to do at home where you are given specific dates to finish the tasks. Exams are scheduled with your classmates in school. There is also a major thesis to finish and community service which serves as your on-the-job training. “My classmates ranged from 30 to 50 years old working students so it was easier for me to adjust because I didn’t feel so old. And after a year, in God’s grace I finally graduated.” Asked what else motivated her to go back to school, Valerie said, “It was my parents that served as inspirations because both of them finished schooling. I may have made a mistake stopping college because I was a teenage mom. But where you fall is also where you should rise up. And I did not let that ‘mistake’ ruin my life but instead it made me stronger. “I also realized I need a back-up plan in case I get married and we transfer to another country. I need a degree to be able to work there.” Valerie dedicates her degree to God, to her parents, to her daughter Heather Fiona, to all the single moms and her fans and supporters. “But I also dedicate this degree to myself. I owe this to myself. If I did not push myself to study I wouldn’t have succeeded.”