Born with a condition that left him totally deaf, Kevin Gamboa defied the odds to grow up as normally as possible. He recently went viral for passing the board exams for Teachers and holding the distinction of being the only person with hearing impairment to pass the Licensure Exams for Teachers (LET) this year.
Kevin’s mom, Luisa, admitted that she felt the world collapse upon learning that her child was deaf. They officially learned of Kevin’s condition when he was two and a half years old. She had been in denial before that, feeling that her precious fourth son was alright and was just progressing slower than other kids his age.
But after undergoing a thorough checkup with a neurologist, they were told that Kevin had profound hearing loss. His parents would send him to a private school for people with hearing impairment in Manila.
Kevin would need a lot of help and some really expensive schools; thus, Luisa went through a difficult time, financially and emotionally. Thankfully, her son received scholarship and financial assistance from New Zealand. However, Luisa had to leave her family and work in Australia to support his needs.
He began his education at Granada Education Foundation but he was later moved to Hebron Christian College in San Rafael, Bulacan where he graduated from grade school and high school.
For college, he went to the Deaf Evangelistic Alliance, Inc. School in Cavinti, Laguna where he completed his degree in Elementary Education in 2015. That same year, he took his first LET but failed. He went on to take the exam many times yet failed again and again.
Photo credit: ABS-CBN News
Luisa tried to persuade her son to find a job first so that this would take his mind away from his failure to pass the LET; however, the young man was determined to focus on his reviews as he really wanted to become a teacher.
Though he experienced several failures, Kevin did not give up. Instead, he studied harder and did further research until he finally passed in the March 2019 LET.
Now that he is a licensed professional teacher, Kevin hopes to find a job as a special education teacher with the Department of Education (DepEd) so he could help other kids like him studying at public schools.
