She lived in the slums with her six siblings, growing up with a very hard life, but Astrid Tuminez proved that you could always change your situation and that being poor is never a hindrance to success.
Of course, it did matter that she and her siblings received help from Catholic nuns back when she was still 5 years old. At the time, she was offered a chance to go to school; this changed her life.
“My father is not here anymore. My mother is 84. Neither of my parents went to college. My mother had a very hard life… My sister raised me. She was only 15 years old and had to raise six siblings,” Tuminez shared in her acceptance speech.
“I was raised in the slums of the Philippines and I was five years old when Catholic nuns offered me and my siblings a chance to go to school. So that changed the entire trajectory of my life.”
Thanks to these nuns, she and her siblings were able to go to school. They would later send her to Union High School of Manila where she graduated.
Photo credit: Gulf News
A brilliant young student, she was given the opportunity to study in the US back in 1982. Since then, her life improved so much and she would later acquire US citizenship.
After earning her Bachelor’s Degree, Tuminez studied at Harvard University, earning a Master’s Degree for Soviet Studies. Then, she went on to Massachuetts Institute of Technology, earning her PhD for Political Science and Government.
Recently, she was voted unanimously as the new president of Utah Valley University (UVU) in the United States.
Photo credit: Utah Valley University / YouTube
She is an adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore, Lee Kuwan Yew School of Public Policy and holds the position of regional director for corporate, external and legal affairs at Microsoft Southeast Asia.
With her many achievements, it is hard to tell that she had once lived in the slums. What an impressive lady!
