Home is where the heart is for this resident of Tawi-tawi who won the civil engineering exam

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / November 28) – After winning the civil engineering license exam in 2021, Rajiv Nooh Dalagan Amil wants to gain experience from industry experts and return home to Tawi province -Tawi to pursue his dream of starting his own construction business.

In a telephone interview, Amil, 23, said he wanted to contribute to the development of his hometown by creating his own business.

He was inspired by his parents who are both civil servants. His mother, a certified public accountant, works at the Audit Commission and his civil engineer father is a retired employee of the Tawi-tawi Department of Public Works and Highways.

Tawi-tawi is a member province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Amil graduated from Ateneo University in Davao in April 2019 and traveled to Cebu in June 2019 to revise at the Megareview Tutorial Center, which took him as one of his academics.

He scored 93.25%, leading 2,374 passers-by out of 6,474 candidates nationwide. Two other Mindanao graduates included in the top 10 are Art Gil Lumapas Granada of the University of the Southeast of the Philippines (6^e place) and Maruel Jade Christian Bering Alidn at the University of Mindanao in Davao City (9^e to place).

He recalls encountering several challenges while preparing for the exam, including living away from his parents, struggling with self-doubt, and dealing with exhaustion from prolonged blockages in Cebu.

“During the online exam there were a lot of challenges. I had a hard time adjusting to the blockages here in Cebu. I cannot go home, ”he said.

COVID-19 lockdowns have resulted in exams being postponed to 2020 and in 2021, the exam scheduled for May 2-3 has been postponed to November 14 and 15.

Amil remembered listing his motivations just to keep his momentum going whenever he felt weary and slack.

“At the start of the exam, I summarized my reasons for staying motivated and my goal – I wanted to be in the lead. I took this with me. It’s my key whenever I doubt myself and feel weak. I will not give up, ”he added.

Academically successful since his elementary days, Amil admitted he was aiming for the top spot to redeem himself from his shortcomings in college. In his third to fifth year, he doesn’t do well after losing his focus and motivation.

“I was very disappointed with my setbacks at university. I especially wanted to redeem myself… In addition, my parents supported me a lot, since I was staying in Davao for the university ”, he declared.

Amil said he performed well in his sophomore year, where his talent for numbers and persistence put his name on the president’s roster for two consecutive semesters.

After being on the jury, Amil told his parents that he might not get the top spot because the other candidates were better prepared than he was.

“They knew I wanted to be on top. But I called my mom after I took the exam. I told him that I don’t know if I would make it anyway because the math exam was very difficult. Others were really prepared. I told him that I didn’t expect it anymore but I still hope to reach the top 10 “, he added. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)