CEBU, Philippines - Twenty-three year old Marie Cris Carmelotes Regner dreamed of getting a college degree and finding work so she could help her family. After all, she was the eldest of a brood of six and her parents, her father, a welder, and her mother, a manicurist, could not afford to send all of them to school.
The road to turning her dreams into reality was not easy. In fact, it was bumpy all the way and she had to make a few stops to recover from the bumps. But all the hardships do not matter to Marie Cris now. With pride and tears in her eyes, she proudly says, “I am a board topnotcher!”
Marie Cris Carmelotes Regner, a Bachelor in Elementary Education graduate of the University of the Visayas – Toledo, finished top 7 in the latest Teachers Board Exam.
Marie Cris, who is from Buanoy, Balamban finished high school with honors under the DOST curriculum at the Buanoy National High School in 2004. Because she was a class valedictorian, she was able to get a full scholarship at the University of the Visayas Associate in Health Science Education program, a preparatory course for Nursing. “Nursing was the trend then so I went for it,” she said.
The first year was a breeze because of the full scholarship that she got, plus, her father was then working as a welder in Saudi Arabia. Her dream of finishing college was threatened, however, when she started the second year. Her father lost his job at that time and, a point shy from getting another scholarship, she was left to rely on her mother for her tuition. “I had to maintain grades to keep my scholarship. Scholars should not get grades lower than 1.6 and sadly, I got a 1.7 grade in one of my subjects so I lost the scholarship,” Marie Cris said.
Realizing that her earnings cannot send her daughter to school, Marie Cris’ mother advised her to drop out. But stubborn Marie Cris borrowed money from a classmate just so she could enroll for the first semester. Luckily, her mother was able to obtain a loan to pay for the rest of the semester. The second semester was harder because then she had to borrow money again from a classmate for the enrollment and did not take the prelims, midterms and pre-final exams because she could not pay for them. “I befriended my teachers in the minor subjects so I could take the exams. I was lucky we had money when it was time to take the final exams and I was able to pay my dues,” she recalls.
Marie Cris then had to face the reality that she could no longer continue studying. In 2006, she stopped school and worked as a tutor for one of their well-to-do neighbors.
In 2007, after saving up some money tutoring, she decided to enroll at UV Toledo’s Education Program. “The tuition was cheaper but I still had to work after school so I can pay the tuition,” she said.
Last March, Marie Cris earned her Bachelors in Elementary Education degree with an academic excellence award and started to review for the Teachers’ Board.
“I could not afford to enroll in review classes so I reviewed on my own, using the reviewers of classmates who could afford review classes. I would save money to get to Toledo from Balamban, borrow their reviewers and have them photocopied,” she said.
Then came the time for Marie Cris to finally take the board exam. From Balamban, she took a V-hire to Cebu City on September 25 but during the trip, she experienced chest pains, possibly from stress or too much excitement. She was rushed to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center by the V-hire but the doctors there could not attend to her right away so she went home to a relative’s house in Lahug.
During the testing day itself, on September 26, Marie Cris arrived 15 minutes late at the testing center. “I left home early but got stuck in traffic because I had no idea that the Alay Lakad was on that day. I was such a mess but before I started answering the test I prayed ‘Lord I am here not for myself but for my family and my school. Your will be done,’” she said.
And God’s will was for Marie Cris to be among the top. On November 16, a classmate sent her a text message to inform her that she was the top 7. This was followed by phone calls from the university administration.
“I could not believe it. My mother jumped and cried with joy after receiving the text message but I told her not to be too happy yet because the news might not be true,” she said. But the news was very true and although being a board topnotcher has not sunk in yet for Marie Cris, she admitted she is very happy that her efforts have paid off.
Marie Cris plans to work as a teacher and pursue a Master’s degree. Albeit the bumps and stops along the way, her dream of finishing college has finally come true.