Arizo
Daryl Arizo, 21, was playing chess at home in Barangay Damolog, Sogod town, when he received a call from a friend on Thursday that he made it to the top 3 of the Registered Electrical Engineers (REE) licensure examination.
He got an average score of 91.40 percent.
“Naglayat-layat gyod kos kalipay sa pagtawag sa akong mga classmate ug mga text nila nga na-top gyod daw ko (I was jumping for joy when my classmates called and sent a text message that I made it to the top three),” he told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview on Friday.
Arizo, a scholar of the Department of Science and Technology and the Aboitiz Foundation, said that passing the REE examination was already an achievement.
But making it to the top 3 was a needed boost to his plans to land a job that will allow him to also take care of his family’s needs.
Aside from P75,000 cash incentive that he will get from their school for being a REE topnotcher, a job with the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) also awaits him.
Arizo, the second of three siblings, graduated magna cum laude at the Cebu Technological University (CTU) main campus in March. He said that he never thought that he would finish college, much more pass the REE examination, because the earnings of his mechanic father was barely enough to support their family’s needs.
He also had his share of struggles.
“Maglisod ko usahay pagtuon kay ang akong gipuy-an boarding house kay langas ug magtulo kon mag-ulan. Mobaha ug masudlan pa og tubig.
Nangita lang gyud ko ug paagi makatuon ko. Moadto ko sa balay sa akong classmate para mag-review (My stay in a boarding house was very difficult because the area was very noisy and the roof would leak every time it rains. Our surroundings would get flooded and floodwater would sometimes enter the boarding house. But I found means to study. I would sometimes go to a classmate’s house to review my lessons),” he said.