ELLA, 26 YEARS

I'm Marienella Adriana Balanay, Ella for short. I was born and raised here in the capital city of the Philippines, Manila. I'm 22 years old and turning 23 this coming November. I am the eldest amongst my four siblings so all my life I spent it taking care of my little sisters and looked after them whenever my parents were not around. Maybe that is one of the reasons why my heart is close to kids. I earned a Bachelor's degree in Education at the age of 19 in one of the top-performing universities here in our country. Not just only I graduated as a scholar, I graduated with different academic excellence awards like being a President's lister or a Dean's lister. As part of the completion of my course, some time in my college, I taught in our school's community outreach learning center. I completed two terms in teaching and taking care of preschoolers. Also, that same learning center was used as our main topic in our group thesis or study. Currently, I am working as a Sales assistant in one of the top bicycle outlet stores here in the Philippines. In my previous job for almost three years, I worked as a Marketing Assistant. The reason why I choose to work in a bicycle shop now is because I am a cyclist. I've joined several races before and traveled the Luzon island by only using my two wheels. Now, I thought of applying for this because I know I'm too young and I still have a lot to learn and I think I am brave enough to do that. I may not know a lot of things, but one thing is for sure, It would be my pleasure to learn and I am very eager to do that.