CEBU, Philippines - The University of Visayas yesterday rewarded 21-year-old Ana Mae Villamor for landing fifth place in the Licensure Examination of Teachers last March 2012.
Villamor a native of Carcar City, Cebu, was given a cash incentive from the UV, as well as the promise to be reimbursed of the amount she paid during her four-year stay in the University.
t the best thing that happened to her is that the UV is giving her the opportunity to live her life-long dream of becoming a teacher.
Villamor was hired by UV to be one of their teachers while she pursues her master’s degree in the school.
While working for her degree of Bachelor of Elementary Education Major in General Education, Villamor was a working scholar when she was second year and further worked as an ESL teacher. But she said she stopped her work because she wanted to focus on her review.
Aside from her acquired education and learning all throughout college, Villamor said that her school and its education department helped her and fellow examinees prepare for the exams.
Villamor, the fourth of five siblings and the only one who has yet finished college, gets support from her mother who works as a farmer. Her father died in 2005. She said that two of her brothers have a hard time finishing their studies because they have hemophilia, a bleeding disorder that prevents blood from clotting normally.
This is why Villamor also volunteers with the Hemophilia Association of the Philippines that chose her to join a convention in Manila recently where she got the call about the LET exam results.
“A friend called me up and said she passed,” said Villamor adding that she immediately replied if she passed and when she was told that she did, it took her around 20 minutes to get the courage to ask if she got in the top ten.
“I didn’t want to ask because they might think that I was being overconfident, but I needed to ask and I needed to know,” she said.
Now, because of her accomplishment and the help extended by UV, Villamor said she will be sending her younger sister to school as well.
UV Dean for the College of Education Dr. Nerissa Lopez said that they are very happy that one of their own made it again to the top examiners.
She said that every year, they motivate students to prepare well, helping them by preparing test questionnaires for students to review. Students also go through an intensive in-house review where they only pay a minimal amount plus they invite good reviewers from Cebu and Manila.
Lopez said that if she is not content with the performance of the students during the review, she recommends they make additional preparations.
“But the secret is that we have very good teachers,” shared Lopez who said that they only hire those who have professionalism in teaching and have the capacity to inculcate in students everything they need to know. —/BRP (FREEMAN)