BACOLOD CITY - There were thousands of students who flocked to Bacolod high schools when classes opened on June 1, but none made a splash more than a 77-year-old freshman.

Rizalina Marba of Bacolod City, who enrolled as a 1st year high school student of Medel National High School this term, became an instant campus celebrity and an inspiration to her classmates.

Marba said, the last time she went to school was way back 1948. As a freshman high school student at the time, she dropped out from the Sagay City National High School in Negros Occidental because she had to look after her young children, whom she had at the tender age of 13.

She said she had always wished to finish her education and become a nurse despite being poor. Recently widowed, she enrolled in school using her monthly pension.

According to her teachers, Rizalina is very attentive and has a good memory despite her age.

After finishing high school, the mother of 9 and grandmother of 26, is hoping to take up a nursing course in college.