LIKE Cinderella, the simple lives of two young women changed forever in one night, although theirs came only an hour earlier than the proverbial midnight metamorphosis.
When the clock struck 11 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5, it did not leave Camille Dimagiba and Chinky Claudine Sedurifa any glass slipper, but it left both women a better gift.
Dimagiba and Sedurifa are two of the four Cebuano Psychology graduates who topped the 2016 Psychometrician Licensure Examination last month.
Dimagiba, who placed eighth, is the highest ranking Cebuano test taker. Sedurifa, on the other hand, ranked
ninth.
While most of her batch mates were vying to be top notchers, Dimagiba had her eyes locked on landing a spot among the “cream of the crop” standees displayed along the entrance of her school’s administration building.
Inside jobs
For a Cebu Normal University (CNU) graduate, she spent her four years passing by the standees of past board top notchers, most of whom were from the College of Nursing and Education.
“I was aiming for a standee, not as top notcher. It was an inside joke among my circle of friends. I’d tell them we have to get ready on how are we going to pose for our standees. It wasn’t just my dream, but my friends’ too.
They believed in me and I did not let them down,” she told Sun.Star Cebu in an interview yesterday.
Like the fictional damsel, Dimagiba had to face adversities, only hers came in the form of doubt.
She admitted to feeling not knowledgeable enough for failing to finish a single book and eventually thought of not taking the exam last month.
Push
The youngest in a brood of five girls, her sisters were supportive in whatever she felt best and wise for her.
But with friends constantly pushing her not to quit and an engineer grandfather who’s been longing for a family member to top the board exams, Dimagiba shed her doubts.
Among these friends was Bernard John Ezra Icamen IV, who along with Melissa Malong of the De La Salle University-Health Science Institute, bested the 6,183 exam passers with a score of 87.80 in the Nursing Licensure Examination last June.
Dimagiba ang Icamen were not only schoolmates in CNU, but they were batch mates as well during their time in Cebu City National Science High School (CCNSHS).
When word of the results broke, it was a fellow test taker who told her of the news.
It wasn’t until her phone’s crazy shaking over the mounting texts and calls from friends and relatives that she slowly accepted that she not only passed, but more than anything, topped.
Dream
“I didn’t even answer the messages and calls of our eldest so she called dad and just like that, my parents were awaken and they knew. I didn’t want to talk to anyone because it’s so surreal. I was about to retire for the night, so who knows if it was just a dream? I even asked why would PRC (Professional Regulatory Board) post it at this time? Aren’t they supposed to operate only during office hours?” she asked.
Dimagiba’s inspiration springs from the strength of her mother, saying she admires the woman for raising all five of them well.
Sedurifa shares the same profound devotion towards her mother, who was the first person she shared the good news with.
“I immediately went to her room, told her about it and we were hugging each other, sharing a moment while tears of joy rolled from our cheeks,” she said.
Like Dimagiba, it was a friend who broke the news to her, to which she responded, “Are you dreaming?”
A graduate of the University of San Carlos, Sedurifa, who is also an alumnus of CCNSHS, also started to doubt herself, after drill scores during their review rendered low scores.
But with friends and family to lean on, she began to look at things in a better perspective.
“Because they believed in me, I started believing in myself too. I turned pressure into motivation to push myself to study,” she said.
She reminded not only those who will be taking the test in the future, but anyone who wishes to fight for their goals to never doubt themselves that they, too, can top the board exams.
“It’s called self-fulfilling prophecy. Every failure or success is an experience, so don’t let fear hinder you from reaching your potentials,” Sedurifa said.
Dimagiba, on the other hand, told fellow takers who did not make the cut to remain headstrong.
“Maybe were just in different timezones. This is not a race. Let us succeed in our own pace. Outdo yourselves, trust me, better things are coming and you will rise again,” she said.
Aside from the two women, the other Cebuano top notchers were University of the Philippines Cebu graduates Raffy Jones Sanchez and Jedaia Rose Doñoz who ranked ninth and tenth, respectively.
Meanwhile, Vincent Evangelista of the University of San Jose-Recoletos placed third in the Psychologist Licensure Examination.
The psychometrician licensure exams were conducted in 8 testing centers in the country, with 3,690 passers out of 7,312 takers.