A GRADUATE of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu has earned a spot in the Top 10 list of passers in the recently concluded August 2023 Psychometricians Licensure Examination.
With an 87.20 percent rating, Trisha Marie Amistad from Barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City placed 10th in the examinations. She is the lone topnotcher from Cebu.
Amistad told SunStar Cebu on Thursday, August 10, that she hopes that her feat would encourage more young Cebuanos to pursue a career in psychology.
She acknowledged that there is still a stigma wrapped around mental health, but she encouraged the youth to consider taking the course because it is important to give importance to mental health.
“Mental health is very important in this day and age... Psychology is really a fun [degree program]. It is not only noble but also very insightful to human experience,” she said.
Amistad said she could not believe that her name appeared among the top 10 passers of the exam since there were other reviewees who kept on acing the pre-board exams than her.
She said prior to entering college, psychology was not her first course choice but her second. She initially thought of pursuing political science.
She said she fell in love with it along the way and decided to take the licensure exam to “help others improve their mental health, while building advocacy.”
Amistad graduated from UP Cebu with magna cum laude honors last July 2022.
She dedicates her success to God and also to those who believed in her, including her family and loved ones.
A total of 6,133 out of 8,370 examinees passed the Psychometricians Licensure Examination, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced on Wednesday, August 9.
Bianca Patricia Tiglao Reyes of Bulacan State University-Malolos, with 89.60 percent rating, ranked first in the list, while Nyle Kate Gabinete Matias of University of Mindanao-Davao City and Coleen Sumadia Ylagan of St. Alexius College shared second place with a rating of 88.80 percent.
Third place went to Zandra Aliah Gacutan Guzman of Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Main-Sta. Mesa and Eric Noel Bangot Jabagat of Ateneo de Manila University-Quezon City. They got an 88.60 percent rating.
The Ateneo de Manila University was the top performing school with 78 passers out of 78 takers, or a 100 percent passing rate.
While Cebu Normal University (CNU) was the sixth top performing school after it received a 92.6 percent rating for having 58 passers out of 63 examinees.
The licensure exam was conducted by the Board of Psychology in different locations in the country, including Cebu, from August 1 to 2.