‘Odette’ survivor finishes 9th in nursing board

CEBU, Philippines —  Farrah Grace Piscos Aton, a graduate from Southwestern University, made it to the top 10 of the recently concluded May 2022 Philippine Nurse Licensure Examination.

Aton landed on the ninth spot of the exam with a rating of 87.60 percent.

The 25-year-old from Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City shared that before learning that she topped the PNLE, she first checked the general list of passers because she was not expecting to top the exam.

“I actually checked the general list of passers first because I was too scared to check the topnotchers’ list because I wasn’t expecting anything, but I was also praying so hard for it,” Aton told The FREEMAN.

It was only when Aton saw her friend’s message regarding the results that she finally decided to check the topnotchers’ list.

And viola -- her name was there!

She added that she had to check the list twice to be sure if she indeed topped the exam.

“After I saw my friend’s message freaking out, I finally decided to check it (the topnotchers’ list) and it may sound really cliché, but it felt so surreal. I woke my mom and sister up and started crying. I had to check the list again to see if tinuod jud,” Aton said.

Aton, who graduated last year, said that she faced several challenges during her review which started back in December.

Due to Typhoon Odette that wreaked havoc in Cebu on December 16, she, along with her classmates, was unable to join the first week of their review because of the power outage and their struggle to find a good signal.

“It was very challenging sa first part because our review started on December 27 and because Odette happened on December 16, my classmates and I weren’t able to join the first week because of the power outage and lisod jud kaayo kuha signal,” Aton said.

Aton shared that she was lucky because her cousin lent her dorm room to her which had a generator that turned on during certain hours of the day.

When she started reviewing, she said that she had at least a week’s worth of recorded videos to catch up, on top the live classes she needed to attend.

Doubts

During the days of her review, Aton recalled that there were instances when she doubted herself and felt anxious.

“On most days, especially when the board exam was nearer, feelings of doubt kept on catching up with me. I would remember crying because I felt like my scores couldn’t even reach past the passing score sa among practice exams,” Aton said.

“I felt like I wasn’t learning anything. I felt like I was forgetting everything months before the boards. Days were spent with anxiety jud, even up to the time na ga boards and ga wait nalang sa results,” she added.

Amid the anxiety and stress, Aton said that praying, along with support from her family and friends, helped her overcome the challenges.

“Praying helped a lot. My mom would always remind me to pray when I would feel overwhelmed. There were my very close cousins, my family, and even my barkada. Everything I did was for my family, so they’ve been my biggest motivation to do better every time,” Aton said.

Aton admitted having put pressure on herself often which is why she had to change the way she looked at herself and remember to recognize her small improvements in order to further motivate herself.

“Oftentimes, it’s myself who puts too much pressure ra jud gihapon sa akong self. I had to remind myself to recognize my small improvements to further motivate me to study even harder,” said Aton.

Aton also thanked her Alma Mater, Southwestern University, and her review center.

“All of my lecturers who shared their inspirational stories made me realize that if they can do it, then so can I,” she said.

Message

To aspiring nurses, Aton said that they should trust themselves more, give themselves due credit, recognize their improvements, trust God, and most importantly, trust the process.

“Your biggest enemy and your worst critic will always be yourself. There will always come a time that you will chide yourself for the smallest things, for the achievements you wish you had, for the scores that you felt could have been higher if you studied more and that’s normal. But you also have to remember that the best person for you is yourself,” Aton said.

“When you go to the boards, you will have no one but you so be kinder to yourself. Trust yourself more. Give yourself due credit. Recognize your improvements and trust in God. Trust the process,” she added. — Chiel Martina Y. Condor, CNU Comm Intern, JMD (FREEMAN)