France Jumao-as – Graphic Designer

france-javier-jumao-as-vaHello, I’m France Javier Jumao-as, but you can call me Habs 🙂

I am the eldest in the family with two younger sisters. I always appreciate the life God has given me because I have this perfect family. I have sweet and loving parents and we live a somewhat comfortable life.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been fond of techy stuff, gadgets, and anything related to computers and electronics – these things are my stress relievers. But aside from playing with gadgets, I also draw and listen to music whenever I’m alone. Everybody gossips about the kind of life I have. Some are jealous, while others are glad. What a happy perfect life, right? Then suddenly things fell apart.

After I graduated from grade school, my parents both lost their jobs. My dad worked as a security guard rather than being a purchaser of a big store company. My mum does freelance bookkeeping rather than being a secretary at the company which dad also worked.

A month after losing their jobs, they started fighting. My mum regretted leaving her job, but it was my dad’s decision to let her quit and look after their children. Soon, they broke up and left – first it was dad, then mum.

I and my sisters were left to fend for ourselves. I was just 14 years old then. I went to my grandparents and begged them to let us stay with them. They agreed and I was so thankful they accepted us.

Many years passed by and we lost communication with our parents. I never hold a grudge against them because even if I despise them, they are still my parents. I managed to help my grandparents to earn a living even though I was still young. I worked while studying for the sake of my younger sisters and for the future, I can give them. Even if my hands smell like mud every time I went to school each day I wasn’t ashamed of it. My hands are always dirty because I help my grandma tend the garden so that the plants will be healthy and can be sold to the market.

Life really was hard during those times… but if I frown and just let life wreck me, then what would happen to my sisters? They were my inspiration. I pursued my studies so that when I graduate, I can then help my grandparents with the expenses.

I thought the storms in my life had gone, but then this literal typhoon came to our country. Typhoon Haiyan wrecked our house and the crops that we planted were all damaged. My grandparents were already too old, so I made a temporary shelter for my family. Thank God nobody in my family got hurt.

We slowly got back on our feet, but sadly a week after the typhoon my grandpa died. I became the sole breadwinner of the family. So even if I managed to enrol in college, I had to stop so that I could work and earn for my grandma and my sisters. I stopped pursuing my study in Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Biology. I didn’t even finish one semester.

I found a job as a traffic enforcer in our local government unit in Ormoc. I was a liaison officer at that time and I encouraged my younger sisters to continue their studies. When my sisters managed to graduate from high school, I wanted them to continue to college but I can’t afford their expenses. I had to look for another high-paying job. Luckily, I managed to find one as an enumerator in the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. I managed to support both of them in their studies. But life is full of unexpected events and human as we are, we make mistakes. I got my girlfriend pregnant.

My son came into my world and I promised to give everything I can just to give them a good life. I again had to look for a much higher-paying job. God is always good. I was hired as an encoder at BGT construction and Innovations Inc. After a few weeks, our graphics designer left his job. The company was having a hard time searching for a graphics artist. I did everything to solve our company’s dilemma in looking for a graphic artist. In just 2 weeks I mastered Photoshop by just watching YouTube video tutorials and after mastering Photoshop, I started learning some of the Adobe software like Illustrator and InDesign. My employer saw my talent and was amazed when looking at my works.

My boss promoted me to a graphic artist. At that time, I said to myself I must learn more. I started studying video editing. I also made a company logo appearance intro by using Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere pro. I never got bored of doing my job because designing gives me a mysterious pleasure to do more and create more designs and stuff.

In 2020, the global pandemic came and forced workers to work remotely. Our company temporarily stopped operating for 1 month but with salary. I spent my days with my family and chatting with people online. One day, I and my friends were kicked out from a chatting website because we’re Asians. I promised my friends that one day I’ll build a website that will allow us to chat without limitations. They laughed and said good luck on learning how to code.

I know for sure that I don’t have an idea of how to code, but after 5 days of YouTube watching and learning how to install and make a website, I managed to make one. I also purchased software just for us to chat. From 10 users, my website now has 100 plus users. They like my designs and they said among all the chat portals they’ve seen, mine was one of the most unique ones.

I’m so glad that I managed to learn to how code even if I didn’t go to school just to learn it. Now I can design multimedia and websites. And I know I can do more. I stopped working for the company last January. My two sisters will soon graduate from college. I have my son and a wife, and my grandma who is living with us. I promised to cherish this family because I love them more than life itself.

For a copy of France’s resume please click here.