Son of construction worker tops 2024 Electrical Engineers licensure exam

Raymond Geoman, 23, Electrical Engineers Licensure Examination topnotcher

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Back in high school, he helped his father with construction work during the weekends when he had no classes.

Throughout his college years, he worked hard to maintain his scholarship so he could receive a discount on his tuition fees.

The recent top scorer of the Cebuano licensure exams for Electrical Engineering persevered through all these challenges, which later propelled him to greater success.

Raymond Geoman, the 23-year-old native of Mantalongon, Dalaguete in southern Cebu, placed first in the licensure examination for Electrical Engineers with a 95 percent rating.

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Raymond is the third of four offspring of Marino, a construction worker, and Paulina, a housewife.

Greatest inspiration

The young lad revealed that his “greatest inspiration” is his family.

“I have witnessed how hard my parents worked to support us. My father used to do three hours of overtime work and even worked on weekends. Because of this, I studied hard to obtain scholarships to further support my education,” Geoman said.

By helping his father with construction work, Geoman said that he “acquired skills in furniture making and other tasks related to building a house.”

Marino and Paulina Geoman, Raymond’s parents. | Contributed photo via Raymond

Moreover, he also earned enough compensation from assisting his father and described it as “a great experience” because it taught him about “the challenges of a construction job.

“Surely, it will be useful for me when I have a job dealing/managing with those types of workers in the future,” he said.

Raymond added that he was unable to assist his father when he entered college because it was difficult for him to go home during weekends.

Electrical Engineering: Not my first choice

He may have landed the first spot, but Geoman said that Electrical Engineering was “not” his “first choice.”

His initial preference was Civil Engineering (CE), but due to the lack of Level III accreditation required for his DOST Scholarship in CE, he attempted to enroll in Mechanical Engineering (ME).

However, when he enrolled in ME, he was informed that the accreditation had expired.

Consequently, he was left with the “option to shift to Electrical Engineering.”

“Now, I can say that shifting to Electrical Engineering is a blessing in disguise because I realize that my skills and knowledge are all inclined towards Electrical Engineering. Moreover, I have always had a passion for tinkering with things that have electrical parts and components since my childhood,” said Raymond.

Maintaining the scholarship

As someone who strives to obtain a discount for his tuition fee, Raymond said that his biggest challenge in college was “maintaining” his scholarship.

“Because it (the scholarship) is the main thing that I rely on to continue my studies. I also had to aim high to attain an academic scholarship in order to receive a tuition discount. I’m thankful that I have successfully overcome those challenges, and now I am already a licensed Electrical Engineer,” he said.

Furthermore, during college, his mentors and Electrical Engineering YouTube creators helped him gain more knowledge for his degree.

“I am inspired by their knowledge and how willing and passionate they are about sharing it. Aside from university lectures, I also watched electrical engineering YouTube videos during my free time. From those, I was inspired to absorb relatively more advanced topics in electrical engineering,” Raymond said.

Enveloped by academic pressure, Raymond is grateful for having a strong support system rooted in his parents.

“Wala jud na nagkulang og remind ako parents na magtarong sa pag eskwela..and pirme jud na naay emotional support kada naay events like contests,” he said.

Moving forward, Raymond said that he is still “undecided” as of now about which field he would pursue for his career but “most likely” he would be working in the “transmission and distribution sector.”

Raymond said he wanted to take a rest for a few weeks for now while he is still finalizing his career path.