Focus, prayers ensured success

Learn to value discipline. Focus, pray and relax.

Three Cebu topnotchers  of the Nursing Licensure Examination (NLE) said these are their  secrets to excelling in the examinations.

Patricia Teodoro Pintac, a 21-year-old nursing graduate of Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU), placed 4th in the July 2011 NLE and got the highest score among all those who passed from Cebu schools.

She  said preparing for the test was not a piece of cake.

“It was challenging to absorb four years of lessons in a span of just  two months,” she said.

“That’s why you really need to focus.”

Sixth  placer Jacob Cabrera Reyes of Cebu Normal University (CNU) had a different sacrifice to make to concentrate on  the review.

“After my graduation, I decided not to open my Facebook account and promised to check it only after the board exam,” he said.

Reyes said aside from mental training, he also  made sure he did not have a dispute with anyone and that people helped him pray for success.

Tenth-placer Deo Robert Castro of CDU said  reviewers should also learn to unwind and relax.

He said too much pressured when studying would impair comprehension.

“It’s never a sin if you hang out with friends a bit,” he said.

However, he said examinees should never take their review for granted.

“It’s for your own future.”

Pintac said she has always been an achiever and is  used to studying, but she still went through taxing weeklong, dawn-to-night reviews.

Last Saturday, when the exam results were about to be released, Pintac said she forced herself to sleep because of nervousness but woke up  to the screaming of her mother Marylou.

“Oh my gosh,  I was shouting of course.  Shouting and giggling when my friend called me and told me the news,” Marylou said.

She said she was proud of her daughter but did not expect her to place fourth in the examinations.

Pintac graduated magna cum laude in CDU. She was first honorable mention at Cebu City National Science High School and third honorable mention when she finished elementary from St. Theresa’s College.

Marylou advised parents of nursing graduates who will soon take the exam not to pressure their children and to  give them all the support and love they need.

Pintac admitted she had to give up time for family and friends during the review but was lucky that they always understood.

Reyes said CNU graduates were  conditioned to aim for number one.

“We dream of reaching the moon, so in case we don’t, at least we land on one of the stars,” he said, “and here I am, on one of the stars.”

All 181 nursing board examinees of CNU passed the exam with three in the top 10.

Reyes advised future nursing board examinees to make sure that they are in a peaceful state of mind so they can give full attention to their review.

“If we study, we shouldn’t pay attention to anything else,” Reyes said. /Patricia Andrea Pateña, Correspondent