Malolos City, Bulacan—Who would have thought that automotive would be a magnet for a young lady? If most people figure out what they want to do for a living sometime after high school or in their mid-20s, the interest in autos came, well, early to Waris C. Puquiz, a 16-year old Grade 11 TVL-Automotive student at Marcelo H. Del Pilar National High School.

This one and only rose among the thorns of TVL class caught the attention of DepEd officials who roamed around the corridor of MHPNHS Senior High School building during the very first day of opening of classes for school year 2016-2017.

Prior to her enrolment at Senior High School, she spent two years in Special Program in Sports (SPS) at the same school and was an outstanding basketball player during the City Meet. This was also the time that she was so attracted to the National Geographic Channel, where her interest in sports cars blossomed. She had that curiosity to study the parts of a car, all by herself.   One of her more interesting experiences was the day she actually drove a motorcycle and at present, she is driving a family-owned service tricycle. But the dream does not stop there, because someday she visualizes herself as an aircraft pilot, a world-class Filipina aircraft pilot at that.

Born into a family of all girls, (her eldest sister a Psychologist and the second a Pharmacist) Waris grew up exposed to her mother’s duties as secretary of their religious congregation and her father as an Accountant of Centro Escolar University-Mendiola Campus. Just like any other teenagers, she also indulges herself in computer games, but still, playing basketball with her peers occupies most of her free time.

As for her family’s support of her chosen track, “Everything is just so convenient, it’s just that I am so lucky to have a very supportive and loving family,” she says of the area she loves so much. “They taught me so much about endurance, about having a good attitude toward life, taking each day as an adventure, that alone keeps me moving forward and enjoy everything in life to the fullest,” she narrates.