JOSEPH UNSAY (BS Chem ’07) ignored all signs pointing to the fact that he will top this year’s chemist licensure examination. Despite having aced his review classes and devoting most of his time to studying, Unsay was only hoping—not expecting—that he will emerge number one in this year’s exam.
“You’ll never be sure once you [take] the test,” said Unsay, who is also an assistant instructor at the Chemistry Department. “After I took the test parang (it was like), ‘Hmm, ang hirap hirap naman nito, ang hirap hirap naman noon (this one was difficult, that one was difficult),’” he added.
Yet, on September 11, Unsay’s name was first in the list of 227 examinees that passed the licensure exam given by the Board of Chemistry of Manila on September 9 and 10. Eleven other Ateneans also passed the licensure exam, making the Ateneo the top-performing school with a passing rate of 91%.
Unsay, meanwhile, got a rating of 88.25% in his exams. He and other examinees will take their oaths on October 6 at the Manila Hotel.
Believing in teaching
Unsay is currently teaching General Chemistry and taking up a Masters’ Degree in Chemistry in the Ateneo. These have also helped him prepare for the exam, he said.
“When you teach…you believe in what you’re teaching and you really know what you’re teaching,” he said.
Unsay added that he is at an advantage in terms of maturity with the subject, since he is taking up his masters’. “When you review, napagtatagpi-tagpi mo na ‘yung (you are able to connect the) pieces. It’s easier to see the different pieces of the whole field and put it into several thoughts.”
However, getting ready for the exams was still taxing for Unsay. “Siyempre hindi na ito basta-basta long exam or orals sa Theo at Philo…ito na ‘yon (This isn’t like the long exams or orals in Theo and Philo…this is it).”
“Your life can probably revolve around this. If you get your license, you can practice chemistry,” said Unsay.
Diligence pays
Last year’s topnotcher David Peralta (BS Chem ’06) attested to Unsay’s diligence in preparing for the exams. Peralta works as an assistant instructor in the Chemistry Department with Unsay.
“Even if he teaches or has research work in NCIC, he always studies. There were times when we would ask him to go out with us. He’d tell us that he would study first because it was just a few weeks before the exam,” Peralta said in a mix of English and Filipino.
The difficulty with the chemist licensure examination, according to Peralta, lies in not knowing what questions to expect. He said, “You know what to study for, in general, but the exact nature of the question we have no idea at all—that’s the difficulty in it.”
Unsay said it was hard to compress four or five years of one’s knowledge into just two days of examination.
Aside from being a Chemistry assistant instructor, Unsay is also a researcher at the National Chemistry Instrumentation Center (NCIC).
Follow the sign
Unsay wasn’t expecting to be topnotcher in the exam, but his colleagues thought otherwise.
“Parang niloloko na namin siya before, tungkol dyan and we really have a strong feeling na magtotop siya sa board (We were joking with him about this and we really have a strong feeling that he would top the board),” said Michelle Jose, a teaching assistant at the Chemistry Department and Unsay’s blockmate in college.
Unsay also topped his review classes, said Peralta. He added, “There were signs pointing to it, but of course, people were not saying anything final.”
“We just really believed that he could do it, and he did.”
