“Time management is a pure thing,” said ninth placer Mr. Emman June Pahinte Rubin.

Rubin, who garnered 84.20 percent, was among the 211 Liceo U test-takers who passed the December 2011 nurse licensure exam. Of the 67,095 would-be nurses who took the exam, only 22,760 passed.

In an interview, Rubin attributed his feat to time management, hard work, motivation, prayer, and luck, stressing that one has 24 hours a day to make his or her life productive. “We have to value education to be on top. If we don’t, we will not learn to persevere,” he added.

When asked about what he felt immediately after the announcement of the result, he said he was so happy that he shouted “Mga silingan, top 9 ko!” Prior to the result, he put his cellular phone to “silent mode” because he did not want to receive a text message that he did not make it, or that he simply passed─not topped─the board, not to mention the “pressure of my being a cum laude graduate.” He is the third Licean to graduate cum laude in the history of the College of Nursing.

According to Rubin, he is indebted to the University for the quality training that it offers its students, citing the unceasing motivation of his clinical instructors for the students to excel, the extensive hands-on training in the College of Nursing, and even the comprehensive instruction during the first two years in college where the general education subjects are taught. “Indeed, the University’s vision toward ‘total formation’ is true,” he remarked.

Inspired by the feat he has just attained, he plans to conduct in his hometown in Medina, Misamis Oriental, an orientation on the life of a nurse to motivate others to pursue a career in nursing despite the dwindling demand for nurses here and abroad.

He dedicates his success, firstly, to God and, secondly, to his parents Mr. Emmanuel P. Rubin, municipal electrician, and Mrs. Catalina P. Rubin, public elementary school principal, for all the love and support they have given him and his younger twin brother Emman Carl, an accountant, with whom he used to compete for honors during their elementary and high school days.

Unknown to many, Rubin is an athletic person, plays the guitar and the piano, and loves to crack jokes. While he was a serious type of student, he still went out with his select group of friends, but made sure that his extra- and co-curricular activities would not interfere with his studies.

As a board top notcher, Rubin was commended by Dr. Mariano M. Lerin, C.P.A., university president, and Dr. Ma. Chona V. Palomares, college dean. He will formally receive a plaque of recognition and a partial (75%) scholarship grant (fully transferable) from the University, which entitles him to pursue any other four-year course in the University, subject to the rules, policies, and regulations of the University. He will receive the awards during the University’s 57th commencement exercises on March 29, 2012, 8:00 a.m., Liceo Civic Center.