When Success Refuses to Arrive

By Joe Larano Jr.

Not all Filipino stories in Canada end with applause. Some end in silence, with no fireworks, no big announcements, and no clear finish line. This is the story of Dave Singuian, sixty five years old, once a college instructor in the Philippines, now a man still waiting for the life he thought he would have when he first arrived in Canada in 1995.

Dave came with a suitcase full of books and certificates. Back home he taught literature and history in a provincial college. His students admired him. He was the type who stayed after class to listen to their problems, the type who believed education could lift people out of poverty. When he left for Canada, the community gathered to send him off. Everyone said the same thing. “Teacher ka na doon”. You will surely succeed.

Canada was different.

His credentials were not recognized. Teaching jobs were few, and most required local licenses he did not yet have. To survive, Dave took the first work he found. Factory shifts. Warehouse work. Night jobs that paid enough to keep the rent going. He told himself this was temporary. He said this was just a phase.

But phases can last longer than a lifetime.

He tried upgrading. Enrolled in short courses. Submitted papers. Applied for bridging programs. Every rejection letter arrived like a small reminder that he was not starting from zero but from below it. He would come home after twelve hours on his feet, open his old lesson plans, and wonder when he stopped being a teacher.

Years passed. The accent he once worried about became permanent. His books from the Philippines gathered dust in boxes he moved from one basement suite to another. Friends who arrived after him moved ahead. Some became managers. Some went back home, tired of the struggle. Dave stayed.

There is no sugar coating here. He did not become a professor in Canada. He did not open a school. He did not reach the life he imagined when he boarded that plane in 1995.

What he did reach was something quieter.

At work, he is the one new immigrants ask for help. He explains forms. He translates policies. He shows them where to find free English classes. When someone loses a job, Dave is the one who brings coffee and listens. He is still a teacher, just not in the classroom he once dreamed of.

Every January, he still writes resolutions in a small notebook. Learn one new skill. Save a little money. Do not lose heart. They are simple goals, but behind them is a lifetime of stubborn hope.

People often ask him why he did not go home. He pauses before answering. Home, he says, is no longer just a place. It is the road he walked, even when the road refused to lead him where he wanted.

This year, he does not talk about promotions or new careers. He talks about stability. About being able to pay rent on time. About keeping his health. About staying useful to others even when he feels invisible himself.

Dave Singuian did not make it. Not yet. And maybe not in the way we usually define success. But every morning, he still wakes up before dawn, packs his lunch, and walks into a world that never fully welcomed him, carrying the same dignity he once brought into his classroom in the Philippines.

His story is not meant to inspire applause. It is meant to remind us that not all victories are loud. Some victories are simply about staying.

And sometimes, that is already a kind of success. (Contact: jblarano@gmail.com)