Architecture exam topnotcher to students: Dont be too hard on yourself
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 21 June)—Aside from hard work, Fritz Mari Sangalang Sendrijas, an architecture licensure examination topnotcher, reminds students to take time off from studying.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. If you have time to have fun, have fun with your friends but just make sure that it is not too much,” he said.
Sendrijas, an academic achiever, said he always made sure to find time for himself while he was juggling between various academic responsibilities.
“During college, you try to really form a bond with your friends. As college students, the pressure is really great, especially when you decide to take architecture—you expect many sleepless nights. Upon reaching fifth year when you are doing your thesis, it’s very mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. It’s really your friends who can help you,” he added.
Sendrijas was also a grantee of the Ateneo de Davao University’s Jubilee Scholarship Fund (JSF), a program offered to students who have graduated as valedictorian or salutatorian in high school.
He recalled drawing courage from friends to survive college, including those sleepless nights to prepare for classes the following day, and even during the grueling period while reviewing for the licensure examination.
Sendrijas, who led the 2,924 passers out of 4,784 examinees who took the 2023 Licensure Examination for Architechts, said it is important that students trust themselves and have faith in God.
It was his family and his knack for mathematics and art that inspired him to pursue architecture.
“I was very happy. I was with my sister when the results came out. I cried and then my sister cried—tears of joy. My father was also very happy. Even during the review, they were telling me what is important is just to pass. When I was a child, I was not pressured to achieve something someday, for as long as I will do my best,” Sendrijas said.
Coming from a humble family, his mother, a housewife, and father, an ambulance operator at the Davao Central 911, taught him to value education.
He owed to his parents his success in hurdling the challenges in school and in passing the recent licensure exam, making him the first architect in his family.
“Since elementary, we have been taught by our parents to really value education, so we did our part as well to help them. I was a scholar since elementary, until high school and college. I worked hard, and luckily, I became an honor student,” he said.
Sendrijas said he did what most aspiring architects do to prepare for the licensure exam.
“I decided to resign from work to focus on my review for months. I enrolled in a review center. It was very challenging for me as a student because I was not really a studious type of person,” he said.
To prevent burnout, he said he adopted his own learning preferences and remained consistent with reviewing his notes, regardless of how much time he would spend studying daily, which usually varied from four to eight hours, and on some days, just an hour.
“I’m not really into reading but I know if I really want to pass the board exam, I need to exert an effort in studying. So what I did, although I don’t really study for longer hours in a day, I decided to be consistent in studying,” he added.
He said studying with friends also helped him to address his weaknesses.
“You need to be with your friends, maximize your strengths, and try to overcome your weaknesses as a group because it’s very helpful. And more importantly, pray and make time for God,” he said.
Sendrijas admitted he was aiming for the top during the first few months of reviewing for the board exam. But the enormous pressure that came with dreaming of landing on top started to get the better of him.
“I was preparing to become an architect and not just to become a topnotcher. There was too much pressure on my part if I aimed for the top because out of thousands of examinees in the Philippines, there is only a small probability that I would top or even make it to the top 10,” he said.
The new architect envisioned himself owning his own firm in the future and teaching future architects.
ADDU’s School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) is one of top five performing schools in the country.
Of its 61 examinees, 49 passed the licensure exam with a passing rate of 80.33 percent.
Meanwhile, the University of Mindanao announced that they have 97 passers this year, “the most number of newly produced architects by a university in Davao Region.” (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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