Striking a Balance during a Pandemic: A Portraiture of Working Filipino Students in Online Learning

Working while studying is an opportunity, at the same time, a challenge. Negotiating between studies and work during a pandemic and finding compatibility and balance between the conflicting roles lead these students incredibly phenomenal, making their life stories inspirational. The study focused on exploring the experiences of the working Mathematics education students, their acquisition of learning, and the voices that shaped them in face-to-face learning before and the ongoing online learning due to the pandemic. The participants were seven students at a state university in the Philippines who were working students enrolled in an online learning modality. The researchers used the narrative inquiry design in utilizing storytelling and portraiture, employing poetic portrayals of experiences to capture the richness of narrated texts. Data yielded the following major themes: (a) images and voices of the past and the acquisition of learning in face-to-face classes, (b) images and voices of the present and the acquisition of learning in online classes, and (c) images of the future and the portrait of a working Mathematics Education student. The images and voices of the past and present were both positive and negative but empowering. The participants, at this time, were challenged on how they could juggle their multiple roles and satisfactorily perform each of them. Images of the future were also positive. The emerging portrait was a resilient working Mathematics education student who has achieved balance amid responsibilities by a solid support system, a high level of courage and self-efficacy, and faith in God's providence.