Paul Llacuna Ladesma and Marvin Ebora
TWO new civil engineers from the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) and the University of San Carlos (USC) were topnotchers in the November 2017 Civil Engineering Licensure Examination.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) released the official list of the board exam passers and topnotchers in their website yesterday.
Paul Llacuna Ladesma of USC placed sixth with a 95.80 percentage rating, while Marvin Calonge Ebora of the CIT-U landed on the eighth place with a 95.45 percentage rating.
Ebora and Ladesma both graduated magna cum laude from their respective universities last April.
Ebora, who lost his father at an early age worked hard to be consistently on the Dean’s list and prioritized maintaining his scholastic requirements for his alumni scholarship.
“Lipay gyud kaayo ko. I was expecting nga dili na ko ma-sulod kay sa last day sa exam, na-rattle man ko,” said Ebora.
“During sa review, nag aim gyud ko nga mo-top. But during the exam, ang ako nalang ato nga makapasar unta ko. Mao mas dako akong kalipay nga na-top pa gyud,” he added.
( I always aimed to top the exam but on the last day of the exam, I was flustered. That is why I was really elated when I still landed on the top 10.)
He said they were financially hard up because it was only his mother who was earning as a school vendor, supporting four children.
“Naglisod man mi kay akong mama, who is a school vendor, siya nalang tawn ang nagsuporta namo. Sa among kalisud, mas nagkugi ko pag-ayo,” he said.
(It was our difficulty that inspired me to work harder.)
On the other hand, Ladesma, who also targeted being on the top 10, made a conscious plan of how to achieve his goal.
“First, I must take care of my body. Unhealthy habits greatly affect our performance. Then, I monitored my performance by plotting all of my review exam scores in an excel and by doing so, I was able to see my weaknesses and reinforced them,” Ladesma told the reporters.
Before the examination, Ladesma feared he would not be able to achieve his goal because he could barely top the examinations during the first parts of the review.
“When we push ourselves to the limit, we bring out greatness within us. And collectively it may be a catalyst in bringing society forward,” said Ladesma.
Youngest of three children, his parents are both government employees to whom he dedicates everything he has attained.
When asked about their plans after topping the board exam, both of them said they wanted to pursue a Masters degree but might consider field experience first if the opportunity arises.