GRACELYN Celestian Ygot’s triumph in ranking second in the March 2024 Elementary Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) has evoked a bittersweet personal history — she is the only one in a brood of four to enter college and graduate.
Ygot, who scored 92.20 percent, dedicated her achievement to her father, a farmer; mother, a stay-at-home mom; and her three older siblings who, despite having no permanent income, supported her studies.
“Now, I can give back to them,” she said in an interview on Sunday, May 26, 2024.
Ygot, 23, hails from Bugho, a mountain barangay in Moalboal.
The path to college education was not easy for Ygot, as she had to walk sometimes seven kilometers from Moalboal National High School back to her home in her senior high school years. Few motorcycles traveled to her barangay, making the commute challenging, especially in the afternoons, she said.
Despite hardships, Ygot carried on with her studies.
Ygot was also inspired by her cousin, Christine Hamelon Celestian, who ranked second in the 2021 Elementary LEPT.
Entering college was initially difficult for Ygot, who was uncertain about her career path. She eventually chose to study Elementary Education at the Cebu Technological University Moalboal campus and found motivation and purpose along the way.
“I prayed to be a topnotcher but wasn’t really expecting it since the exam was so hard,” Ygot said, noting that she had prepared for the exam while staying in her boarding house in Cebu City while training at a business process outsourcing company.
She admitted that doing a self-review in the boarding house was often boring, as it was difficult for her to resist dozing off.
Ygot advised future test-takers, if their families have the money, to prepare at review centers so they can lay their hands on verified and accurate materials and to remember that their aim to excel is “not just for yourself.”
Ygot was among the 10 graduates from Cebu-based schools who made it to the top 10 of the March 2024 LEPT for elementary and secondary levels. / CDF