CIT-U Eng’g Dep’t dean on 4 board topnotchers: I expected them to top exams

CEBU CITY, Philippines — She was expecting her students to top last August’s Mechanical Engineering Licensure Examinations especially since seven of this year’s graduates were honor students.

Evangeline Evangelista, dean of College of Engineering and Architecture Department of Cebu Institute of Technology-University, said this during a press briefing at the school where four mechanical engineering board exams topnotcher were presented on September 2.

“I was already expecting that this batch will top the board exams because in this batch they have seven honor graduates with Lester (Toledo) as summa cum laude. I knew that they will emerge on top,” said Evangelista.

Read more: Four CIT-U graduates top mechanical engineer board exams

She was referring to Lester Toledo, who topped the exam with a score of 94.65 percent; Reginald Sinay, who got the 3rd spot with a rating of 93.95 percent; Noel Christian Dela Cerna, who took the seventh place with a score of 93.05 percent; and Damacino Sarte Jr., who placed 10th with a rating of 92.45 percent.

She said that the three other honor students also passed the exams.

People behind success

The four topnotchers attributed their success to the school, the people who helped them, and their family.

“I really did not have that hidden intellectual talent, but just balancing academics and extracurricular activities with the help of my colleagues and the school (helped me to succeed),” said Toledo, who is from Biliran in Eastern Visayas.

Toledo, however, described himself as a “naning” (diligent) student

“I am your typical naning (diligent) student. Coming from the province, I really felt inferior at the start of my college journey. And so, I boosted my confidence by studying hard and by immersing myself in different organizations and engagement,” he said.

“I joined the student press, debate society,  peer learning,  and others and held different leadership positions. It was then that I realized that I should not just focus solely on academics but also in other aspects on order for me to grow holistically as a student and as a professional in the future,” Toledo said. 

Toledo also said that studying in the city had opened a lot of opportunities for him.

Aside from Toledo, Sinay and Dela Cerna were also very active in their school being part of various school organizations and the student council.

Stepped up

Sarte, however, was not that active in the school organization.

“Out of the four of us here I am the one with less school engagement. I just enjoyed my college life. However, during the review, I was more focused, wanting to pass and to also bring pride to my school, CIT-U. I stepped up,” said Sarte.

On the other hand, Engineer Roberto Base Jr., chairman of the mechanical engineering department, said that were training their students to succeed in their chosen career path and not just for the board examinations.

“We don’t train our students just for the examinations all of them go through the process and with this we produce highly competent and values-driven technologians,” said Base.

Toledo agreed with Base as he again thanked the school for its support in helping them prepare for the examinations.

“The most valuable support I guess, especially from the ME (Mechanical Engineering) department is the consistent follow-ups. Usually, before getting our Transcript of Records,  our chairman gives a one-on-one talk with each student regarding our preparedness for the upcoming board,” he said.

“Also, the faculty visits us in our review center for a ‘kumustahan’ session. They constantly monitor our weekly exams and even preboard exam scores in order to trace, who are those students needing help and such. Our teachers really encourage a strong bond within our batch, for us to extend help especially to those who are struggling,” he said./dbs

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