ALL SEVENTEEN Atenean takers of the 2012 Chemist Licensure Examinations made the cut. It is the second consecutive year that the Chemistry Department scored a 100% passing rate in the Chemist Licensure Examinations.

The two-day exams were held last September 18 and 19. The Professional Regulation Commission announced the results on September 21. The Atenean passers were all first-time takers of the said exam.

The Atenean passers of the licensure exams took their oaths before the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel last October 12, three weeks after the release of the results.

“It flatters us that we’re doing 100% for two years in a row,” said Chemistry Department Chair Nestor Valera.

“But we’ve always done well for the past ten years, and as far as I can recall, Ateneo would normally score between 90% and 100%.”

Out of the 642 persons that took the exam, only 292 passed, recording an overall passing rate of 45.48%. This saw a drop from last year’s rate of 52.54%, wherein a total of 331 out of 630 passed.

Preparing for the exam

Valera noted that nothing more than the basic course programs and services were provided by the Chemistry Department to its students when it comes to helping them prepare for the exam.

He said that although no particular preparations were extended to the takers, he was confident that the very curriculum offered by the department compensated for it.

“It’s a curriculum that is based on our best judgment and training. We’re also guided by the Commission on Higher Education or CHED, but they only give you the minimum requirements so we try to—as far as course and laboratory [work] are concerned—do more,” added Valera.

Tyrone Cammayo (BS Chem ‘12), one of the exam takers, said that he and other examinees enrolled in review centers outside the Ateneo.

“We were on our own to choose which review school we were going to enroll in,” he said. “Some of us enrolled in schools around Katipunan, while others—I think only one—reviewed in other centers.”

Meanwhile, another taker, Edward Chua (BS Chem ‘12), explained, “They [didn’t] expect that currently enrolled students of the Chemistry Department [would] take the exam because most students take it after graduation.”

Regardless of this lack of supplementary help from the department, both Cammayo and Chua held the similar sentiment that their course program honed them to be fully capable of passing the exam.

They said that their success can be largely attributed to their teachers’ knowledge and expertise.

“I really think that Ateneo has a good chemistry education, not just for chem majors, but also for the other college students who take up chemistry as their natural science [course], because the teachers are really great. They are actually doctors who took up their [doctorate degrees] in different universities abroad,” said Cammayo.

Future outlook

The top 10 examinees and the most outstanding schools in the exams were also heralded by the Philippine Board of Chemistry in the oath-taking event.

However, no Atenean examinee this year was able to land a spot in the top 10, as compared to last year wherein takers Valerie Miclat and Henson Lee Yu placed seventh and ninth, respectively.

Valera said that this did not concern him much. He explained that the overall passing rate is more essential than bagging a spot in the top 10.

Cammayo noted that passing the board exam, and thus being a licensed chemist, is a great help in landing a good job.

“[My friends] said that employers really want them to have a license as chemists in order for them to be hired. So I think that passing the board exam is a great help, especially for some of them who said that if you have a license, chances are, the salary will be much higher,” he shared.

Chua, however, thought otherwise. “I think [job opportunities] depend on what kind of job or how high a position they are aiming for,” he said. “So, I think having a license is just a plus factor, and it’s still your skills that matter… because some people still get hired without a license.”

As for the chances of future Atenean takers, Cammayo, Chua and Valera are all confident that the skills and abilities of the Chemistry Department’s students who would soon take the Chemist Licensure Exams bode well for them.

Valera said that since the Ateneo’s chemistry program is an honors program, he is certain that the students are largely capable of passing the exams.

“We’re not really concerned about passing rates. It’s almost certain that if they do pretty well [in the program] and [if] they have good study habits, then they should pass the board exam,” he said.

Miclat, who is currently with the Chemistry Department as a teaching assistant following her topnotch performance in the exams last year, shared some tips to help future takers.

“Just reread all the important materials and [solve] a lot of problems. So, it’s basically just a lot of diligence, hard work, and of course, prayer—a lot of prayer,” she said.

“For me, it’s just a matter of hard work, and if you really want to pass, then I don’t think there’s any reason for you not to.”