Newly-licensed civil engineer and Technological Institute of the Philippines (T.I.P.) alumnus King Justine Guardario is bent on serving the country, after placing eighth out of the 5,887 hopefuls in the April 2023 Civil Engineering board examination.
“I told myself to give back first to those who helped me. I also want to keep training myself to be a good engineer in the field, continue learning, and to serve the community… I prefer to work for the Philippines,” said Guardario when asked of his initial plans after the results were announced.
Guardario was a scholar of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and graduated cum laude last year at T.I.P. Quezon City. He also spent his senior high school years in the same engineering college, which he credited for nurturing his love for math and science.
Landing in the Top 10 out of the thousands who took the recent licensure exam came as a welcome surprise for Guardario and his family. He said the news brought them “tears of joy.” The experience filled him with genuine happiness.
“I feel super grateful. At first, it was not sinking in because I really did not expect to become a topnotcher. I was just enjoying the review process,” he said. Guardario reviewed for the board exams for around six to seven months with two of his closest friends.
When asked if it was his childhood dream to become an engineer, the T.I.P. alumnus hesitated. He was interested in many fields, but eventually decided to pursue civil engineering. He chose to specialize in structural engineering because he enjoyed learning it more.
In college, Guardario was an active member of various student organizations and also taught his fellow students. He was part of online study group tutorials, teaching math, science and other engineering subjects. This made him consider the possibility of joining the academe as well.
“That’s one of the things I love to do, to teach and offer tutoring services, skills that I developed (with my mentors) in the Math and Physics departments,” said Guardario. He finds teaching as a great way to inspire people and share his knowledge with others.
His friends and fellow T.I.P.ians Lloyd Cebrero and Randel Nievera attested to his expertise. Nievera described Guardario as the most learned person in their group and thanked him for being a positive influence, which helped them ace the licensure exam, too.
“We really excelled because of our group studies… King is the most studious among us. His hard work just rubbed off on us, so to speak. I don’t study as hard as him, but his influence pushed us harder to pass the board exam,” Nievera said, echoing the thoughts of Cebrero.
Guardario’s advice to future licensure examinees is to “enjoy the process of learning” and give all their best during the test without succumbing to the pressure of it. “You really have to prepare for it and believe in yourself,” he underscored.
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