'Basic:' Civil Engineer Board Exam topnotcher draws laughs with calm post-exam reaction
Sometimes you gotta make it look easy.
ICYMI, the Professional Regulation Commission has released the results for the November 2022 Civil Engineering (CE) Licensure Exams.
A total of 8,029 students passed the examinations held last Nov. 19 to 20, with the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) hailed as the top-performing school with an overall passing rate of 95.45%.
The CE topnotcher, meanwhile, is Carl Jervin Rivera Magtira from UP Los Baños.
The road to being a board passer, let alone a topnotcher, is definitely no easy feat. But a chat conversation between Carl and his block mate Richard Pabroquez after the exams caught the eye of netizens.
In the screenshot, the topnotcher can be seen as calm and collected after the grueling examination.
"Kamusta carl? Ez? (easy?)" Richard asked.
"basic," the 95.00% scorer cooly replied.
"Never have I doubted you, man. Day 1 pa lang alam na," Richard wrote.
"Noon pa lang alam ko nang kakaiba yung talino ni Carl. Ibang klase talaga," Richard shared with PhilSTAR L!fe.
"Hindi lang mga classmates at kapwa students yung nakakapansin kundi pati mga instructors. Basta Carl Magtira kilalang kilala yan sa UPLB bilang mamaw sa mga subjects especially sa math. Naging representative din siya ng UPLB sa ibat ibang mga quiz contests."
Despite his known mastery, Richard also said that Carl's best attribute is his humility, as the topnotcher is always willing to tutor those around him.
"Contrary to what my post may have implied, sobrang down to earth ni Carl. Hindi siya yung "show off" type of person. Siya yung tipong estudyante na tahimik lang sa klase pero magugulat ka na lang siya na pala yung topnotcher sa mga exams," Richard said.
"Nakikita ko sakanya yung passion niya sa pagtuturo. Marami rin siyang natulungan nung college. Kaya nga minsan master carl tawag ko sakanya kasi pumasa ako sa isang engineering subject sa tulong niya," he added.
As blockmates and longtime roommates, the "basic" answer has always been the light way that Carl approaches exams.
"Ganyan lagi yung banatan namin, nasanay lang siguro sa pagdodota," Richard said.
"Maybe his 'basic' response is his way of keeping a positive mental attitude especially since the hardest part of the exam is the one scheduled for the next day."
"But knowing Carl, alam kong kahit anong sabihin niya after the exam, mataas pa rin score niya. Only this time, he got the highest score sa exam na 'to."
The post has since gained almost 118,000 reactions and 61,000 shares. Netizens have also been tagging upcoming board exam takers and jokingly asking Carl for "tutorials."
PhilSTAR L!fe has also reached out to Carl on his post-exam reaction.
Check out the full list of passers here.