I took the board exams way back 2018.
It was my first time taking so I was really nervous and excited at the same time.
Unfortunately, I failed the exam… I got depressed after that and started to question my abilities. I had all these plans for my future and when I failed the exam, all my plans were ruined. At that point, my faith was shaken. My family told me not to question God’s plans but that failure made me question Him.
I lost faith in Him.
I didn’t understand why I failed.
I prayed and studied so hard to the point where I was afraid to sleep but I still failed.
After getting the results, I cried the whole night and I stopped eating for a week. My grandparents took me to church and I honestly was so closed-minded that time that I stopped reading my bible and stopped praying all together. I went back home with a heavy heart. I was so embarrassed because all my friends passed the exams and I didn’t.
My parents were really supportive but they didn’t give me time to heal. Instead, they made me take the exam again on March 2019. I didn’t enroll to a review center again because I didn’t want to make my parents pay again because at that time we couldn’t afford to so I opted to study on my own.
I took the exam again and I was honestly not surprised that I failed it again because I know I didn’t make an effort because I was still not over my first failure. It was a stupid thing to do but at that time I wasn’t being rational.
When I realized that I only have one more chance before I would have to take a refresher course, it was the wake up call I needed to get my act together. A teacher in college was kind enough to inform me of an in house review which allowed to stay at my hometown. At first, I was embarrassed to go, but I came to terms with my failure and finally acknowledged that maybe failing the exams had a purpose.
I made an extra effort in reviewing. Fast forward to March 2020. I was already in the hotel with my fellow reviewees where we had our final coaching. That time I was so ready to take the exam and be a licensed RMT but God had a different plan because COVID pandemic happened. 5 days before the schedule exam, PRC decided to cancel it for safety purposes. I honestly didn’t know what to feel. They said that maybe the exams will resume on August so I kept studying but it was cancelled again since the virus was still not contained.
Then my Dad got really sick afterwards.
That was when I finally understood why I had to fail all those times.
Because if I didn’t fail, then no one would be there to take care of my Dad.
Since I was busy taking care of my Dad 24/7, I did not have the time to study anymore. When PRC announced that the exams will be re-scheduled on January 2021, I sent PRC an email requesting that I would like to take the March exam instead and they, thankfully, granted my request.
I still did not go back to studying up until the very last minute. I was procrastinating and started studying again when I had only one month left. I was cramming but I still wasn’t serious with my studies. I knew I needed to study properly but I didn’t have the motivation to up until I opened my email and the first thing I saw was an email from my bible app and it said “God provides relief in our struggles.” After I read that I put more effort into studying but kept on getting stuck in Microbiology. I couldn’t seem to finish it on time to the point where there was 11 days left before the board exams but I was still studying Microbiology.
I was panicking and I was retaining nothing.
My saving grace was a zoom worship call where a classmate of mine who passed last January 2021 said that she prayed for peace of mind and it helped her a lot.
Since I was just rekindling my relationship with God, I decided to do what she did. I prayed for peace if mind and that somehow all the things I studied would come out of the board exam.
The last 11 days were definitely hard. I studied the whole day and would sleep for 2-4 hours, then I would repeat that all over again. I had a lot of challenges before I could take the board exams. It was like God was testing my faith in Him since I just started believing in Him again.
5 days before the exams, I was scheduled to get swabbed but I woke up late. I was panicking a bit then I remembered that God is good and maybe that was a test, so I calmed down and went to Red Cross anyway to try my luck. I almost didn’t make it to be honest and I prayed really hard. I said, “Lord if para sa akin talaga to and if I am meant to pass the boards this March 2021 please let me make it to my appointment today.” I was an hour late but I still managed to get swabbed that day and I knew I would pass the exam.
Fast forward to the day before the exam. My sister was driving me to the city where I will take the exam when I encountered the second challenge. There was a problem with the Air BnB we rented because the owner failed to inform us that we needed to bring a medical certificate with us. My sister was in a panic but weirdly enough, I was so chill the whole time. While my sister was making calls to see if we could get medical certificates, I stayed with our bags and studied to pass the time. We had to wait almost 3 hours before we were finally cleared and given the keys to the room.
I know they said that you should no longer study the night before the exams but I was still studying up until 11 because I could not sleep. When I arrived at the testing site, I found out we were not allowed to review in between exams. I got scared but I told myself that I have studied so hard I am sure that it was enough for me to pass. I spent the breaks sleeping. When they handed out the exam papers, I was so surprised that I did not have a hard time answering the Day 1 exams.
Whenever I would encounter a question I didn’t know I would pray and it was so odd how I would fall asleep after praying and I would dream of the question and the answer to it then I would wake up. It happened quite a lot especially on the second day of the exams and to be honest taking the exams with a mask and face shield on is very uncomfortable but you just have to grin and bear.
While I was getting ready for the second day of exams, I discovered that I had my period. It made me so uncomfortable and worried about leaks but I was lucky enough to have a female proctor on that day. Thankfully, I survived the 2nd day without any problems.
After the exams, my teacher came to the testing site and we prayed with my other classmates who took the exams. The waiting game was really hard. I could not sleep so I resorted to doing chores that would physically exhaust me just so I can sleep. And to add more to my anxiety, the results were delayed.
When the result did come out, I was unaware of it. I was busy making dinner that night so I didn’t get to check my phone. After I finished cooking, I checked my phone and I was so confused why people were congratulating me. A classmate chatted me saying I passed the exams and I ran to my Dad and screamed, “Daddy RMT na ako!” At first he did not believe me and asked me to check the results again and so I did and my name was there… I was so overjoyed… I called my mom and my sister to share with them the news…
I doesn’t matter if you get delayed… God made me wait 3 years for the title RMT… I am sharing this because I want to inspire those who failed the board exams and those who have not taken it yet to not be afraid of failure and to keep moving forward…
God doesn’t always answer our prayers with a “YES”…
He sometimes answers us with “WAIT” and that’s okay…
I hope that those who have failed the test will not lose faith and would work even harder because if I can do it then so can you guys… Do not be afraid to take the exams again because failure does not define who we are instead it makes us a better version of ourselves…
Thank you Doc Krizza your encouraging posts have helped me when I had break downs and it has given me hope that someday I will pass the board exam…
And also thank you for letting me share my story ♥️
~ EB, March 2021 RMT ni Lord
Doc Krizza-Almond 