October 2013 CPA board examination topnotcher Jackson Apostol of Nueva Vizcaya recalled the days when he was told “that I could not get a good college education because I was not studying in Manila. Since then I promised myself that I would prove them wrong” (“Studying in prov’l school didn’t faze CPA topnotcher,” Across the Nation, 10/22/13).
He reminded me of a medical practitioner who asked me, upon learning that my son Fermin placed fourth in civil engineering board exams in the 1970s, where he graduated. When I told him Fermin graduated from Bicol University, Legazpi City, he forthwith said, “Sayang, dapat sa Manila,” boasting that his sons, who studied in well-known universities in Manila, passed the medical board examinations with flying colors.
Fermin studied for two years in the College of Engineering at Mabini Colleges, Camarines Norte. When he got a perfect score in the final examination, the college dean advised us to transfer our son to Bicol University because Mabini Colleges was closing its College of Engineering the following school year. Unfortunately, the engineering units he earned at Mabini were not credited, so he stayed in Bicol University for another four years.
After graduation, my son asked me if he could review in Cebu City to be with his classmates, to which we agreed because of the high cost of living in Manila. Fermin, however, took his civil engineering board examination in Manila.
—GODOFREDO O. PETEZA SR., JP Rizal Street, Barangay Camambugan, Daet, Camarines Norte