The Roads We Take

©darrengarcia

So ACET results have been released earlier this day...and I believe that a number of students are now rejoicing and the rest, well, pretty much depressed. 

Take it from a non-passer...You didn't pass like me? It's not the end of the world! We all have this urge to reason why we didn't pass. In my case, I chose quota courses (with honor courses). You have to be in the upper 10% of the ACET passers to be catered into the degree program. Talk about CONFIDENCE, I had the guts to indicate only "with honor" courses as my choice. Actually, it's because of the simulation test that boosted my ego. I remember getting a 93% in the ACET mock exam from my review center.

The point is... we have every reason to rationalize why we didn't pass, but will that change anything? Honestly, it's quite difficult to accept that some of your classmates passed, and you didn't. However, comparing yourself to others won't do you good. 

Things to do:

• Accept the truth- learn to little by little absorb the fact. DO NOT rationalize. DO NOT compare.
• Look back- deeply take time to realize what your main goal has been for the past few years. Have you been studying your whole high school life just to pass ACET? If you're saying "yes" and that it was your dream school from the start, think again...you don't go to school to pass an entrance exam, you don't waste 4 years in high school just for a single test...there's so much more in the meaning of education.
• Look beyond- DO NOT BE RIDICULOUS! Widen your mind. Universities don't dictate your life. You may have failed the expectations of people around you. BUT TAKE NOTE, everything on earth is temporary...their failed expectations will be surpassed by your achievements in no time. Look beyond your college life. Do not limit your mindset on the present.
• Hope for the best- if you know you did your best, maybe it's not really for you. Every year, when the results are out, it is a tradition/routine/habit that non-passers would say that maybe "God has better plans for them". It is in this season when Jeremiah 29:11 becomes famous. Why is this so? because the verse SPEAKS THE TRUTH and it becomes our SOURCE OF COMFORT. It might be tiring to hear that cliche, but I tell you, it has a reason why it made itself through time. IT IS POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE.

True to life experience...

It is normal to feel sad, no one in the right mind rejoices when he fails. Nevertheless, you must learn how to overcome your depression and turn it into a challenge upon yourself, for your response to the situation has a great impact. Will you surrender  it to God? His ways are higher than our ways.

When I failed the ACET, instead of destroying the rest of my day, what I did was pray. I put my whole trust on him rather than on myself. The next disheartening event after ACET was UPCAT, instead of UPD, I got a slot in UPLB(my second choice). I never wanted to leave Manila and live my life in a province. But it is God who directed me to this path... After a week of seeing the UPCAT online results, another mail came. The letter congratulates me for getting an average of 90% in the UPCAT. It is very apparent that God's hand worked on me. He placed me where He wants my purpose to be fulfilled. 

AND HERE I AM...in the BEST place where I could be.

I am now in the University of the Philippines Los Baños taking Agribusiness management. I could not imagine myself being more happy. I am very much contented and satisfied, as my grades can reflect it. I have the coolest probinsyano friends and the coolest teachers too...Not only do I have a sense of emotional contentment, but also a realization towards life. God chose the right people beside me in the proper time so that I could ponder something greater than I expected. 

Bottomline is... 

"Do your best and God will do the rest"