She is a mother who never imagined to be away from home and be a teacher in a foreign land. She never even thought of teaching for it was never her profession. But because she wants to give her children a better life, she took that risk.
Estrella Fernandez, 39, a single parent from Quezon City, needs to work extra hard so that she could provide for her three children – Elaiza Marie (19), Jaren Marie (14), and Jazrell (5) . She and her husband got separated almost three years ago.
Estrella's daughters - Elaiza Marie (19), Jazrell (5), and Jaren Marie (14).
Instead of staying with her kids, Estrella decided to go abroad to fulfill her responsibility as a parent. She worked in Japan for 12 years and decided to transfer in South Korea.
“Nung 1996, nagtrabaho ako sa Japan. After 12 years, lumipat naman ako dito sa Korea. Bale almost three years na ako nagtatrabaho dito,” -(In 1996, I worked in Japan. After 12 years, I transferred here in Korea. I am working here for almost three years already,) Estrella said.
She decided to work in South Korea as a teacher. Even though she didn’t have much experience in teaching, she pursued it in a foreign land and applied in Iksan International College a year ago to teach English to children in pre-school.
The hardworking mom was once a factory supervisor in Korea for two years before she became a teacher. She transferred to a different job so that she could have higher salary.
“Mas mataas din kasi ang sinasahod ko dito kaya ito na rin ang napili kong trabaho,” (The salary here is higher that is why I chose to work here,) she shared.
During weekdays, she goes to school early in the morning, not missing a single day of teaching little children to speak English fluently. Being a kind-hearted and a sweet teacher, she treats her Korean students as her own.
Estrella said she always misses her children especially when she sees the pre-school students playing in the park with their parents. To overcome her homesickness, she’s always online 24 hours a day and seven days a week to make sure she could talk to them as much as she can.
“Nahihirapan ako magtrabaho in a way na I am away from my kids. Alam naman ng mga anak ko na ang ginagawa ko para sa kanila is for their best,” -(I find it hard to work in a way that I am away from my kids. I know that my daughters understand that what I am doing is for their best,) she said.
Same goes with her daughters, the eldest, Elaiza shared the moment when she misses her mom so much that she cried the whole day. She said that it was hard for them to be separated from their parents but they understand it completely. When she is online, she always find time to chat with her mom and share her problems and other sentiments that happened in school.
“There are times when I misses my mother so much. That is why I always open my Facebook account to chat with her. I admit that it is really hard to be away from our mom especially that she is the only parent we have. But I know it’s for our good,” Elaiza shared.
Estrella’s passion for her work as a teacher has helped a lot to support her family. She now earns enough to provide her children their needs and wants. But Estrella admits she still does not want to go back to the Philippines until they are not done yet with their studies.
Truly a mother at its best! Despite having to deal with life the hard way, Estrella said she will continue to persevere to become the best mother as well as a father. Teaching may not be her dream job, but for her, it is an opportunity to impart knowledge to her Korean students as well as to provide a brighter future to her young daughters.
onlinejournalism419 
The story presentation you did about a Filipina over-seas Filipino worker is good. But somehow, her story seems so common, we always hear a story like hers in our other fellow countrymen. I think your story will be more attractive if you added some story of her beside about her family. A story which is something that we never heard before about OFW mothers.
(93)
Nash De Leon
Here are a few points to consider:
Your title is quite problematic, the its you are referring to is the mother right? I think you used the incorrect pronoun. I think it should have been her.
I think your lead would have been better if you have briefly narrated the separation of Mrs. Ferandez from her husband and the reason why she left the country (which is stated in the second paragraph).
Third paragraph, 2nd sentence- use of preposition- transfer in South Korea=transfer to South Korea
12 paragraph- remember to check your quotations and edit them-SV agreement- when I misses= miss
I think a better angle to your story would have been how Mrs. Fernandez stood as both the mother and father of her children despite the distance. I think this angle would have made a stronger impact on your article.
I think your article’s angle was vague in the sense that there were some times you were focused on her work as a pre-school teacher and then there were also parts as a mother. Try to be more consistent as to which is which.
The title was not justified in the article because the article lacked a bit more information as to how Mrs. Fernandez became a mother at her best and you would still ask the question why was she at her best even after you finish reading the article.
I think you could have done a much better article. But, nonetheless, I think it was good.
90
Excellent job for having a factual output. The title is okay for me, however, it will would be nicer if you have replaced it with a more attractive one. The lead is well-written and slight descriptive. I also like your putting up her exact words during your interview, with English accurate translations. And the conclusion provides an exclamation mark to every one that each parent should work hard despite obstacles for the sake of their family and children But, I saw several mistakes in this article.
These are:
1. “Estrella Fernandez, 39, a single parent from Quezon City, needs to work extra hard so that she could provide for her three children – Elaiza Marie (19), Jaren Marie (14), and Jazrell (5) ….”— what she will provide? it’s very tricky.
2. “…applied in Iksan International College a year ago to teach English to children in pre-school.”— instead of writing children in pre-schoolers, you may use pre-schoolers.
3. “Being a kind-hearted and a sweet teacher, she treats her Korean students as her own.”— treat as what? a friend? a partner? as her own children? It creates many meanings so be more observant next time.
4. “To overcome her homesickness, she’s always online 24 hours a day and seven days a week to make sure she could talk to them as much as she can.”— To make this sentence easier to understand, please put immediately where she goes online… put Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.
5. “Same goes with her daughters, the eldest, Elaiza shared the moment when she misses her mom so much that she cried the whole day.” Who cried the whole day? Elaiza or her mom?
6. “But Estrella admits she still does not want to go back to the Philippines until they are not done yet with their studies”— It would be better if you have wriiten “…until they aren’t finished with their studies”
That’s all!
Here is your grade… 92!
it was interesting to read, but there are some errors, and the title is not justified
your grade is 91
First of aLL, I FIND this article very common. there is no a common story you just have to find out the right and interesting angle.
-This is not even a personality sketch because it lacks info. about your subject
-Also the arrangement of ideas and events have no direction you just finished it just like that.
– You repeatedly wrote “a mother at its best” duh, you are reffering to a female person so you should use her.
your grade is 88
Your article is promptly written and really best suit in a lifestyle section of a newspaper. I applaud your effort of featuring a particular person who have a related story. However, I found it so short and it somehow didn’t have the good ending. In my opinion, I think it still need to elaborate the unique and emotional story of the person you featured by using sub heading and fragmented stories. Because her story is somehow common, you should justify why her character best describe a mother.
On the other hand, your article is an epitome of good translations of quote and proper positioning of information. Just be careful on choice of words like “Estrella Fernandez, 39, a single parent from Quezon City, needs to work extra hard so that she could provide for her three children…”–it’s much better if you recast ‘she could provide to’ into ‘she could sustain her children’s need.’
Overall, this is a good article. Your grade is 92. 🙂
Think of a better and more catchy title. It’s a bit dull. the article is good. just check the grammar and proper punctuation.
-90
Mothers working abroad are stories that can always touch the heart. However, one can become desensitized if he or she always reads the same stuff like this. Your angle is a very common angle. I’m not saying that it is a bad choice. It’s just that maybe you should have written it in a more creative manner.
93
This is nice article however it lacks something.
there were no excitement upon reading every paragraph.
it was dull, but never the less you did a great job on interviewing an overseas working mother.
Grade: 89
You could experiment on producing a more catchy title. It’s more like that your title is common. Maybe you’ve ran out of creative juices when doing this.
Presenting it in a more creative or different angle could have saved it.
90
Your angle about OFW women will inspire more OFWs on how their should extend their nuturing even if they are far from home. It was an inspiring article. next time, I would suggest that you find an interesting part that you can use as to highlight your story. Great job! (93)
ang tatay pag nalayo sa anak OK lang pero pag nanay parang ang hirap. maganda sha kasi na hihighlight ung mga mothers abroad. at yung mga anak dito. 90
Informative but may I suggest to add some palabok.
Good read though. Grade is 90