In Wayne’s world, excellence is a choice

WAYNE TANDINGAN

Even as a child, Wayne Lawrence Tandingan already developed a love for natural science, a branch of science which deals with biology, chemistry and physics.

He can still remember those childhood years when, instead of wanting to go out and play with children his age, he would go borrow science textbooks from his two older siblings and his father’s fellow college faculty at University of Cebu (UC) as he wanted to learn more.

He pursued his love for natural science and took up Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at University of San Carlos (USC) and graduated in April 2016 cum laude.

Last Tuesday, Tandingan topped the May 2017 Chemical Engineer Licensure Examination (CELE) with an average of 85.20 percent.
“Wala gihapon ko katuo. Usahay makapangutana ko kung damgo ba ni? Na-happy gyud ko kay nakapadayon ko sa streak sa San Carlos,” he told Cebu Daily News.

(I still could not believe that I topped the exam. I asked myself if this is a dream. I am very happy that I was able to continue the streak of the University of San Carlos.)

By topping the CELE noard exams, Tandingan is now the fourth graduate from USC to be ranked first in licensure examination results released in May by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). A USC law graduate landed first in the Bar exam while two accountancy graduates share the first place in the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensure exam.

The CELE results, released by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) last Tuesday, showed there were 320 who passed out of 561 graduates who took the examination in Manila and Cebu.

Aside from Tandingan, Carlo B. Galicia from the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) ranked 9th with an average grade of 82.10 percent.
Tandingan was still in Japan with his family and girlfriend when he learned the results. He granted Cebu Daily News an interview through Facebook chat.

“I think naay two types of people nga mag-review. Those nga consistent na every day, disciplined unya pud kanang panagsa ra pero grabe modala og tuon kung tingtuon. Ako ng ikaduha,” he said with a laugh.

(There are two types of people who review. Those who are consistent and study every day and are disciplined and those who only study occasionally but are focused. I belong to the second.)

He attended a review class from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. every weekday in a review center in Cebu and did self-study from early afternoon to midnight as his preparation for the board examination.

His girlfriend Abegail Abad is one of his motivations to study hard. She also served as his review buddy.

Tandingan also credited Abad, who like him also passed the May 2017 CELE, for ensuring that he remained focus in his review.

“Ang challenge gyud bitaw is mentally preparing for the board exam. Dako gyud kaayo og pressure nga maka-pass for the family, for the school and i-continue nga 100 percent (passing) for San Carlos,” he added.

(The challenge is mentally preparing for the board exam. There was pressure to pass for the family, for the school and to continue the 100 percent for San Carlos.)

There were 17 CELE examinees from USC and 16 passed the examination, or a passing rate of 94.12.

“Rest is very important! Know and own your study style. Study hard. Work is a vector quantity, it has magnitude and direction. Work hard and put effort in the right direction,” when asked what would be his advice for the incoming examinees.

Tandingan finished his elementary education at Colegio del Santo Niño and graduated with first honor. He completed high school at the Cebu City National Science High School as sixth honorable mention.

The 23-year old topnotcher is a native of Barangay Tisa in Cebu City and the youngest of three children of William and Lurendina Tandingan.

His father William is a college teacher and his mother Lurendina is a high school teacher both at UC.

After passing the board examination, he will have a break before starting to work at Petron Philippines, which granted him his college scholarship.