CALAMBA CITY, Laguna (PIA) – An aspiring educator from Laguna took a different route when he took the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) two years after he finished his course and landed a second spot in the recent board examinations.
“Wag mong i-pressure ang sarili mo. Kapag feeling mo hindi ka pa ready mag-take ng licensure exam, wag kang mag-take,” Joshua Custodio Marimuthu said during the Philippine Information Agency’s Usapang PIA program.
Marimuthu hails from Calauan town and graduated from Laguna University in 2021. He passed the 2023 LET for elementary level and ranked 2nd among 77,777 passers.
He shared his humble beginnings and why he took a break before taking the licensure exam in order to provide for his family as a breadwinner.
“Pagka-graduate ko, bilang breadwinner sa family, naghanap po muna ako ng work. Currently working po ako sa BPO industry for more than two years and then focus lang po muna ako sa pagpo-provide sa aking family,” he said.
Marimuthu added: “By that time na pandemic pa, wala kaming masyadong pagkukunan [ng pera] kailangan talaga namin ng resources, kaya nag-work muna ako.”
This year, a friend encouraged Joshua to finally take the licensure exam. Since he couldn’t afford to enroll in a review center, he found ways to review through borrowing old reviewer materials of his friends and online free lectures on different websites.
“I cannot afford enroll in a review center, nagask lang ako sa mga friends ko ng mga resources nila and yun ang ginamit ko sa pagrereview. Aside from using those printed materials, nanonood din po ako sa Facebook and Youtube ng mga naglalive na naglelecture para sa LET para mas ma-retain yung mga information and knowledge from printed to audio visual. Ito yung mga nagamit kong resources during the review,” Marimuthu stated.
Balancing his time for work and review, he lets his body and brain rest first after working to function well during his self-review time.
He added: “Ang ginawa ko po kasi ay hindi ko prinessure ang sarili ko na magreview ng magreview ang iniisip ko lang po after work since pagod hindi ko pinupush sarili ko to review, ang ginagawa ko hinahayaan kong magpahinga yung katawan at utak ko and then tsaka ako ulit nagrereview para hindi sayang yung mage-gain ng utak ko na info kapag pagod na magereview.”
Marimuthu said he didn’t expect to see his name on the second spot of the list of passers. He thanked his alma mater for the knowledge and skills he acquired to make the feat possible.
“Aside from teaching us character, ‘di naman pwedeng mawala yung competence, well-equipped kami sa mga lessons and resources, so maraming salamat Laguna University sa paghubog at pagbibigay ng knowledge skills at character sa akin,” he said.
The board topnotcher reminds the future LET takers not to pressure themselves and to know the importance of proper rest during the review.
He said: “Wag mong i-pressure ang sarili mo. Focus ka lang sa pagre-review at wag mong pagurin ang sarili mo sa pagre-review. Part ng pagiging productive ang pagpapahinga.”
Usapang PIA is a weekly online program by the Philippine Information Agency Laguna, streaming live every Friday, 11:00am-11:30am on Philippine Information Agency CALABARZON and PIA Laguna Facebook pages. (AM/PIA-4A)
