IT HAS become a habit of graduates of Cebu-based schools to top licensure exams.
University of Cebu (UC) is no exception.
This year, its graduates again dominated the top 10 of the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineer Licensure Examination.
Last year, 11 UC graduates occupied the top 10 slots. So you could even say that the school let go of its stranglehold to give graduates of other schools a chance to shine.
So I’d like to congratulate 21-year-old Joseph Vincent Satura, who topped this year’s naval exams with a rating of 92.20 percent.
Not bad for someone who took up the course not by choice but because it was one of the limited degree programs supported by his scholarship grant.
The other seven UC graduates who made it to the top 10 happen to be his good friends. They were his classmates since first year.
They probably never thought they’d make it to the top 10. After all, when they were still at school, they only vowed to help each other graduate and pass the licensure exams.
Joyce Kimberly Alejandro and Ross Norman Bacus, who took the second spot with a rating of 88.6 percent, must be beaming right now. So is Prince Kyle Abanid, who placed third with 88 percent.
Benson Jade Madriaga landed in fourth place with 87.6 percent. Christian Joseph Duliguez took the seventh spot with 86.2 percent, while Jonez Marie Chiu and Wrynzler Wyrken Toni Timbal secured the ninth and 10th places with 85.4 percent and 85.2 percent, respectively.
All of them are probably still reeling from the news, which was a welcome respite from all the killings that have taken place in the metro and the deaths from the tragedy in the landslide that struck the City of Naga.
Many people have been asking whether it’s still safe to live here. And I don’t blame them. If you base it on what you read in the news and on the internet, you’d probably think that all hell had broken loose and that people were dropping like flies.
Okay, so maybe “hell” is too harsh a word to describe our present situation. Maybe purgatory is more appropriate.
As for dropping like flies, well, if you happen to have your hand in the drug jar then you might as well accept that your judgment day may come sooner than you think. The Duterte administration has made no secret that it wants YOU. Dead or alive.
But I digress.
This column is about the eight UC graduates who reminded us that Cebu is not really such a bad place to live in. That it’s not all about the illegal drugs trade. Or the poverty on the streets.
Sometimes, it’s about a group of friends who realize their lifelong dream.