
“Diri siguro para ha akon.”
These are the words that penetrated the mind of 23-year-old Ma. Rochelle V. Candido right after concluding only the first day of the Philippine Nurses Licensure Examination (PNLE), held last November 9 and 10, 2024.
Candido, an alumna of Samar State University (SSU) – College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CoNHS) and belonging to the Batch Azurite, nailed an impressive rating of 91.60% landing fifth on the list among the 29,349 PNLE passers.
“It feels surreal to be part of the topnotchers, following in the footsteps of the two previous topnotchers from SSU-CoNHS,” Candido expressed.
Long before her success, the topnotcher once described herself as “a student na nangarap.” Her journey toward the license is a testament that no real success is attained without sacrifice as she admitted committing to a daily routine of 10 to 12 hours of studying while in her review period under Toprank Review Academy, which somehow contributed to her health being compromised days before the actual board examination.
“I don’t take naps just to complete 10 to 12 hours of study each day and even sacrificed my health for this. Days before [the] exam, nagkasakit pa ako. Five days before the boards, I still wasn’t feeling well,” she revealed.
Candido further emphasized the intense struggle as she experienced a phase of tearful nights for obtaining results she deemed disappointing while in preparation.
“… I received bad scores and cried over them. Every night, umiiyak ako because I felt like I still didn’t know enough,” she said.
“But I realized that these moments are reminders that we can’t know everything at once, we just need to take things one step at a time,” she added.
Candido gathered her collected confidence on the first day of the examination after pouring massive effort for the long-awaited event. However, she disclosed being immediately stunned by the first five questions that put her expectations on a twist.
“During the actual board exam, I reminded myself nga bisan diri ako 100% confident, at least I know in myself that I had prepared for this, but not until I saw the first five questions. Makuri na dayon and skipped those just not to waste my time,” she claimed.
“Thoughts and doubts started to creep into my mind, ‘nasiring masayon an board exam, pero kay ano kamakuri man hini?’,” she added.
Despite the overwhelming uncertainty brought by the first wave of the examination, Candido took up faith and mustered the courage to face and conquer the rest of what awaits.
“… I cried, thinking I had not done my best. But then I realized I needed to show up again kay tomorrow was another chance to give it my all and do my best,” she stated.
Prior the release of the results, Candido filled the remaining days with trust and prayers as she continued to battle persistent anxiety and doubts.
“There were so many what-ifs running through my mind. Despite the doubts, I chose to trust the Lord, believing nga kun para ha akon, para ha akon,” she expressed.
From rendering years of profound hard work and determination in becoming a dignified registered nurse, to finally having a complete grasp of that dream now, Candido dedicated her success to her father, who passed before she was able to earn a Bachelor’s degree.
“My father was really the one who always encouraged me to do good in school and had been very supportive ever since. We dreamed together of me pursuing a career in the medical field. Unfortunately, he passed away before I could even achieve any of these,” she said.
“He has always been one of my greatest sources of strength throughout this journey. So gindidedicate ko talaga ini ha iya,” she added.
Moreover, the topnotcher expressed her gratitude to the university and extended her message to aspiring nursing students.
“Thank you SSU-CoNHS. It is truly an honor to be an alumna of Samar State University. Continue to serve with excellence,” Candido stated.
“To all the dreamers, believe in yourself kay that’s the very reason why in the first place we dreamed of becoming a nurse, why we dreamed of becoming what we wanted, it is because naniwala tayo sa sarili natin. Just dream big–no one can stop you. Di mo mamamalayan, nakuha mo na ngayan hiya,” she added.
Thus far, Candido holds the highest rating among the two previous topnotchers, Lorelie Charresse Pomentil and Charles Gabon, produced by the university, maintaining a three-year streak of the SSU-CoNHS topnotchers legacy.