“There can be miracle when you believe”. Tears were slowly rolling down my cheeks as our graduation song was sung by the two ladies in front of the stage, not of sadness but of so much happiness that I felt at that very moment. There was indeed a miracle on that day from above. I am very grateful for everything God has given me. That song really fits to what I have gone through. That was for those stressful days and sleepless nights as I go through the five years of battle to achieve such a wonderful title – Engineer.
Going through college has taught me a lot of lessons that mold me as an individual. Graduating in high school also means to me like graduating from being dependent on my parents. Unlike high school, wherein they have been at my side on every step of the way such as going with me to school as I process my enrollment, college has opened doors for me. I learned how to be independent in my own ways. I processed my registration alone, took the entrance examination alone, proceed on my enrollment on my own and started to make money on my own.
Engineering course has seemed very appealing to me so I went to a little investigation on what would I be like when I obtain such degree and I was so impressed and made me decide that I should take the course no matter what. Attaining this degree gave me a lot of challenges. First and foremost was during my first three weeks when information came to me that I was then included on the list of scholarship grantees of Argao Tertiary Education Assistance Program (ATESAP) since most of the top applicants decided to enroll on the other universities in the city. Granting that I will be there scholar, I would have to choose what course I have to shift with since they are only accepting four-year courses. I right away processed my papers for the shift and it was filed on the school registrar. But when I came to Madam Pinote’s office (that was way back when she was our director of student affairs), she stopped me from shifting to another course and bridged me to another scholarship – the Salas Foundation. She told me, sayang daw kayo akong nasugdan for it’s almost a month since I started. I was so happy for that opportunity she has given me. I am very lucky that I was enlisted for the Salas Foundation Scholarship.
The course was not as easy as I thought. First year to four year was so challenging. In every semester, Math subjects were always present. We had Algebra, Geometry, Solid Mensuration and Trigonometry. We even had Differential and Integral Calculus which I had difficulty with. More and more Math subjects came through and I was thinking, hala kutaw na kaayu akong utok ani napuro na math ang giatubang. But every time that I feel so down with everything, I keep thinking that there were a lot of children out there that are deprived with education that they need and there I was given the chance to study free of fees. And that what motivates me to continue what I have started.
On the final year, it has gotten even more challenging for us. It was when we have to accomplish three theses and get it hard-bounded. Undergraduate Research took me a very long time to accomplish since I had trouble in finding a sensible topic since most of my ideas got rejected during the proposal stage. Most of the recommended methods for the study are already done by the previous batches and we ran out of ideas to choose from and our panel has definitely high standards in selecting the topics to proceed with. Fortunately, I’ve got the approval of the panel and I proceed right away with the data gathering phase. But that was not all. We have to accomplish the other two books; Feasibility Study and Design Project. Feasibility Study is done individually (the same with Undergraduate Research) and Design Project is done through partnering. I was so blessed when I was given the chance to partner with my best friend – Junryl Belleza – that I didn’t have any trouble in coordinating with him. We shared every sleepless nights, day in and day out just to accomplish everything on time, together with the “love of his life” – Zyra Llesol – that let us stay long in their lovely home and borrow her family for a few days.
Thanks to God above that he makes everything fall into place and makes every moment perfect at the right timing. We successfully defended our theses just in time and made that graduation day possible. Mama Rogina, Papa Vicente, my senior, Gincent, my sister. Thank you for the support on every step of the way. I hope I made you all proud. And to you Dr. Eric Salas, I owe you big time and thank you for making this success possible. I can now soar high, strive for my dream career and be the man that I want to be. I am hoping to see you soon. You are indeed a gift from God to everyone you are helping.
– Engineer Vicente Davin Jr.