Two Ateneo de Davao University graduates (AdDU) were hailed as topnotchers in the August 2021 Architect Licensure Examination (ALE) held last August 27 and 29.

Jose Angelo Mangcupang and Joshua Seth Jabile, both alumni of AdDU, placed sixth and tenth, respectively. Mangcupang garnered a rating of 81.60 percent, while Jabile obtained a rating of 81.10 percent, as announced in the results released by the Professional Regulation Commission on September 6.

Mangcupang and Jabile shared with Atenews how anxious they were while waiting for the results of the board exams. Jabile described the eight days of waiting for the results as the “longest waiting game of his life.”

“Seeing my name on the Top 10 was thrice as overwhelming to when I saw it in the beginning. It took me hours to comprehend, and everything felt so unbelievable,” Jabile said.

Meanwhile, Mangcupang shared that he prepared for the worst and hoped for the best because of how difficult the exam was.

“Nanlamig ako when I saw my name since anxiety was also slowly building up the following days after the exam,” Mangcupang mentioned. 

Both Mangcupang and Jabile faced challenges while preparing for the examination, such as uncertainties, adjusting study habits, and anxiety. Still, they overcame these challenges through determination and the support of the people around them.

“Setting my schedule and making sure I am on top of the topics I had to review helped me a lot. Having enough time to rest is also equally important,” Mangcupang said.

Jabile also expressed his gratitude for his family and friends that encouraged him to push through with the examination.

“I was lucky enough to be in a circle who kept on believing in ourselves and continued to move forward. Thus, supporting each other and having the same goal made us the best versions of ourselves and resulted in this beautiful blessing, passing the Architecture Licensure Examination,” Jabile said.

Mangcupang added that prayer was very powerful throughout the journey as it helped ease his anxiety.

“Prayers are very powerful, and surrendering to God the things I cannot control eased the burden I was carrying.”

Besides Mangcupang and Jabile, 24 more Ateneans also passed the architecture licensure exam, as posted by the Ateneo de Davao School of Engineering and Architecture on their Facebook page.

Only 849 people took the ALE for the August 2021 exam because of quarantine restrictions, which was significantly fewer than the 2,229 students who took the January 2020 ALE. Of the 849 candidates, 560 passed the exam (65.96 percent).

University of San Carlos graduate Benson Heinrick Go garnered the highest rating for the August 2021 ALE with 83.50 percent. 

Since no school had more than 50 examinees, the PRC did not publish a list of the top-performing schools for the August 2021 ALE.