‘Learn beyond the classroom’
Those taking up the Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy examinations should become active learners and “read beyond the classroom discussions” if they want to make it on top.
This year’s topnotcher Anthony Palaran Acenas shared this strategy when he and other passers of the licensure examinations were honored by Southwestern University officials last night.
Acenas, who graduated magna cum laude last year at SWU, topped the February 2016 Physical Therapist Licensure Examination with a rating of 89.35 percent, leading 521 passers.
His childhood friend and neighbor Nancy Karen Sabandal ranked 4th with her 86 percent rating.
The two topnotchers are residents of Tinago, Bato, Leyte.
SWU has 25 passers out of 60 examinees.
Acenas, Sabandal and other SWU passers were honored at the PT and OT department quadrangle by school officials led by College of Rehabilitative Sciences Dean Dr. Lohindren Adorable at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Their names were read out loud in front of the PT and OT students of SWU.
Dr. Adorable thanked the passers, especially Acenas and Sabandal for giving honor to the school, saying they were an inspiration to other students.
When it was his turn to speak, Acenas encouraged the students to study harder in order to achieve their dream.
He said the students must not be discouraged even if they got low grades as long as they learned much during their classes.
“I also told them to read beyond classroom discussions. I think, that’s one of the factors why I topped the exam,” Acenas said last night.
Acenas didn’t expect to make it to the top 10 because he got sick 18 days before the examination.
“Actually, I was surprised about the result,” he told Cebu Daily News.
When asked how he prepared for the exam, Acenas said, “I am not that bookish. I had enough rest, supplements and milk.”
He credited his success to “hard work, prayers and family motivations.”
Acenas also visited the Simala Church in Sibonga town, the Virgen Dela Regla Church in Lapu-Lapu City and the Basilica del Sto. Niño and San Vicente Ferrer Chapel in Cebu City.
On exam day, Acenas recalled that he forgot to sharpen his pencil.
“Luckily I was able to borrow a sharpener from another examinee,” he laughed.
Acenas said he will return to Bato, Leyte today because he wants to spend more time with his family before deciding on his next plan.
“I’m not going abroad. I want to serve here in my country. My priority right now is my family,” he said.
He said he is weighing several options, including the possibility of taking up medicine.
He may also apply as a teacher or work in a clinic.
Acenas took up PT course after seeing his mother, Fe, suffer from back pain.
“I also want to care for other people who are suffering from back pain like my mother,” he told Cebu Daily News.
His mother, Fe, is a nutritionist working in a hospital in Hilongos while his father, Alfonso, is a fisherman.
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