Maino sets her own standards

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
IF YOU want to achieve success, get rid of the negative vibes in your life and set your own standards, says a single mother of two.
Margaret Maino, 30, who hails from Inauabui village of Mekeo area at Kairuku district in Central is the only girl among a family of six brothers.
She completed Grade six at Inauabui Community School in 1994, moved onto Mainohana High School to complete Grade 10 in 1998, then completed Grade 12 in 2001 at Caritas Technical Secondary school. She was selected to attended Gaulim Teachers College in East New Britain and graduated with the Diploma in Primary Teaching in 2003.
“When growing up, I saw that life was hard as everything we did in life would require money and one could not rely on others all the time to take care of them. So I had to set my own aims,” Maino said.
She began her teaching career in 2004 in a primary school in the Kairuku area.
At the age of 20, in 2008, she got married to her now ex-husband and became a mother to two beautiful daughters, nine-year-old Airei Yolanda and six-year-old Henrietta.
She was still determined in reaching heights in further education, to reach goals of success in her career and to earn a good life for herself and her two girls.
But like all young women at her age, life was prone to challenges and difficulties especially when newly married and trying to juggle personal life with education and career as well.
“I worked hard myself in good and bad times to achieve successes in life.
“After eight years of being in the teaching field, I decided to take up further studies at the University of Papua New Guinea.”
Maino said with the many challenges that she had faced with her now ex-husband and her children, her family was always there to lean on at the time of her difficulties, especially in her marriage.
“So in 2011, I took up further studies at the UPNG) and graduated with the Bachelor’s Degree in Professional Studies in Education in 2013.
“Being a single mother, life was not easy for me to take up studies, having the pressure of my marriage problem as well as my studies. I managed to press on regardless of the problems I encountered in life.”
Maino said with her love for knowledge and her passion to pursue a number of other qualifications, she had to divorce the father of her two daughters in 2013 to concentrate on her studies and life after that.
“I wanted to be a free woman to concentrate on my studies to take care of my two girls as I was happy without a husband,” she added.
She said life was indeed hard but with the help of her immediate family, especially her parents and six brothers including their wives, she strived through and succeeded in life.
“Above all, I thank God for being my strength in these times.
My marital status did not prevent me from pursuing my education and career.
“So from 2013 to 2014, I continued with my second degree and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature and English Communication as a major and Journalism and Public Relations as a minor in 2015,” Maino said.
She said despite having the ups and downs in life, she managed to obtain those two degrees from UPNG.
Maino said during her studies at UPNG, she taught as an English language tutor at the UPNG open campus.
“I was also selected by Population Services International (PSI) to conduct research in the NCD, Morobe and East New Britain provinces on a part time basis.”
She also had some journalism experience from working with the National Broadcasting Corporation.
“Today I am a happy woman working in the Division of Education in Central Provincial Administration serving the people and the teachers of my province,” Maino said.
She added that she wanted to achieve several educational qualifications because she wanted to have some knowledge in several fields of study and jobs.
“So I can be a freelance person who can do other jobs. In the event that I advance in other jobs, I have certain knowledge, skills and attitudes to apply in certain fields, to address and attend to issues appropriately.”
“The payoff for my studies is the job I have now.”
Maino is currently the executive officer to the Central provincial education board as well as the primary schools coordinator.
“This a great achievement in my life as a young aspiring woman.
I also have the qualifications of a journalist and I can become a journalist if ever I wish to in life.”