FOUR Cebuanos made it to the top 10 of the licensure exams for elementary and secondary teachers that were held last September in 25 centers in the country.
Three Cebu graduates made it to the top 10 in the exams for elementary teachers, and one made it to the top 10 for secondary teachers.
Rhea Mae Calisang Ongkit of the University of the Visayas-Dalaguete finished Top 7 in the exams with a rating of 88.20 percent.
Ongkit, 21, a municipal scholar who hails from Ilaya, Cawayan, Dalaguete, said that poverty and family are her motivation for her success.
"Si mama kay housewife, si papa kay forklift operator sa Pier 1. Upat mi ka managsuon and ako'y eldest maong naningkamot gyud ko (My mother is a housewife. My father is a forklift operator at Pier 1. I'm the eldest of four, so I really have to work hard)," she said.
She added that her family had to borrow money to send her to a review center.
"Inutang ang kwarta nga gipang-enroll sa review center (The money I used to enroll was borrowed)," Ongkit said.
After graduating valedictorian in high school, Ongkit applied and was accepted as a scholar of the municipality of Dalaguete.
In college, she took Bachelor of Education Major in Elementary Education (BEED) and graduated Cum Laude at the University of the Visayas, Dalaguete.
"As a student, naning gyud ko gamay. I always prefer culture of excellence rather than culture of mediocrity," she said.
She said did not expect that she will land in the top 10 of the exam.
"Wa gyud ko nag expect nga makapasar kay honestly, lisudan gyud ko sa exam. Hapit pa ko nihilak during sa exam kay nahutdan ko'g oras pero wa ko nagpadala sa time pressure," said Ongkit.
She said that as of now, she has no plans yet on what to do next.
"For now, wa pakoy plano kay murag overwhelming pa kaayo ang mga panghitabo. Sundon ra nako ang plano ni God para nako," she said.
Ongkit shared the seventh place with five other examinees.
Cebu Normal University's (CNU) Immanuelle Anne Apos Ocaya and University of San Jose-Recoletos's Dianne Claire Campos Pulvera finished at ninth place with 87.80 percent rating.
For the secondary level teachers, CNU's Anne Mica Romano Lim made it to the eighth place with 91.40 percent.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) administered the exams in 25 different centers in the country.
Only 18,409 elementary teachers out of 90,750 examinees (20.29 percent) and 60,803 secondary teachers out of 126,582 (48.03 percent) passed the exams. (MVB/Wenilyn Sabalo, USJ-R intern)