The New and Improved Louie

Sep 03

LouieLife , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

It has been seven days since the Nursing Licensure Examination (NLE) results (NLE) results were released, and until now, the idea that I passed it and ergo receiving the two most coveted letters by the 91,008 examiners to be put after their names has not completely sunk in yet. It was a feat that I actually thought I lost, given the fact that most of the 500 questions that I had to answer back in July 03 and 04 were extremely hard, some of which were not discussed during my undergraduate years and even during the review sessions I undertook prior to taking the examination.

Early Friday, the 27th of August, I received text messages that the examination results were due to be released anytime during that day. Automatically, anxiety controlled my brain; my breathing was laborious, and I could hear my heart pound. I can hardly focus on anything. I decided to pray the rosary to take my mind off it. An hour passed, the results were still unavailable, the Professional Regulation Commission’s (PRC) website was inaccessible, obviously due to the massive internet traffic (imagine thousands of examiners and their families accessing its website all at the same time). Just to keep myself calm, I watched an episode of Top Chef, the bickering chefs and the mouthwatering food gave the desired effect that I wanted. It’s like morphine to a patient who is having excruciating pain. Okay, that’s enough.

Around noon, on Facebook, I started to see some of my batchmates posting on their walls that they passed the NLE. I headed over to Inquirer.net (which I was already checking almost everyday), while the page was loading, my level of anxiety started to reach its peak. “What if my name wasn’t in the list? I thought yet again. It’s a question which I’ve been avoiding since God knows when. But it turned out it was a question I didn’t have to answer. Also, I and some of my friends jokingly decided that should we fail the exams, we would tell everyone who’ll care to listen that we failed because of technicalities, and not because we’re incompetent. I’m so happy that I don’t have to tell that lie.

When I saw my name, a rush of emotions went through me. I immediately texted my parents – who immediately called to congratulate me – and posted on Twitter and Facebook about my triumph. Waves of greetings greeted me, from my family, batchmates, high school and college friends, and even from my online friends.

During the next few minutes when I learned that I passed, in between phone calls, congratulating my friends, and thanking everyone who congratulated me, memories of my review sessions last April to June rushed through my mind: How I didn’t show myself in some of the review sessions (some of the reviewers were horrendous); the everyday lunches either at Jollibee or McDonald’s (including Saturdays and Sundays); how I painstakingly read “Public Health Nursing in the Philippines” which I think is the most boring nursing related book I’ve laid my eyes upon; how I and the rest of my batchmates were constantly reminded that we had to review at home and burn the midnight oil if necessary; how I didn’t follow those reminders, only reviewing when I wanted to, slept for at least eight hours per night, watched TV shows that I keep track, and got engrossed with John Green’s “Looking for Alaska” when I had to review; and how I got tired listening to the reviewers and answering sample questions during the final intensive coaching. Enough of these memories. Let’s move on.

I broke the news to some of my friends that they passed too, all of whom told me that I shouldn’t play games with them before finally believing me. All of them were obviously happy with our achievement. And to double our happiness, two of our batchmates were in the top 10. One of whom, the top 7, Nico Paulo Dimal is my friend. He was one of my thesismates, a groupmate for two semesters and during the summer term of school year 2008-2009.

But for some, luck was not on their side; it evaded them for some reasons. It’s really saddening. I’m not even sure if I consoled my friends who didn’t make it properly. All I could tell them was that I feel sorry for them, that they don’t have to be pessimistic, get over with their depression quickly, start reviewing again, and that they’ll be in my prayers.

Now, I’m waiting for the letter that PRC will send (which I believe would contain my ratings and what should I do next); hopefully it’ll give me an explanation on why I passed. I can’t wait to see my college friends who passed, especially Nico and my groupmates. That is going to be tremendously fun, no doubt. Also, I’m excited to get my professional ID issued by the PRC, so I can finally have at least two valid IDs and open a new bank account.

Why I’m NOT Fat

Jul 15

LouieLife , , , No Comments

(and a few unorthodox tips on how not to get fat from an undernourished individual)

A Blurry Sense Of Magnitude I was born thin; Twenty years later, I’m still skinny. Yeah, I was never a fat kid. I wasn’t teased for being fat back in grade school. The last time I checked my body mass index (BMI) — a simple statistical measure that determines if your weight is proportional to your height — I was under the category “emaciated” (which is worse than “underweight”) and I think I’m still under that category.

I’m not blaming anyone — my parents for that matter — except for myself for being a very thin person who has to use a belt every time I wear pants. My Dad and Mom did everything that they could just to make me gain weight. I guess, they’ve bought all of the brands of multi-vitamins out there in the market and forced me to drink them when I was still a kid. But nothing much happened. There were a few instances when I received comments like “Oh, it looks like you’re gaining weight.” But seriously, no matter how many times I check my weight, the scale just points to the same number.

Where is the problem? Maybe it’s my metabolism, maybe it’s my diet, maybe it’s just the scale. But I’m more inclined to believe the second one. I think I have a faulty diet…

I eat only when I like what’s on the dining table. I don’t eat strange-looking foods, I don’t even touch them. Generally, I hate fish, especially if it’s fried and it has a scary looking face (e.g. tilapia, lapu-lapu). Also, I don’t like eating anything that still has shells which would need me to manipulate my food. My Mom would tell me that they’re delicious. Well, everything to her is delicious. To me, they’re bland. I don’t like under seasoned foods. My taste buds are hard to please. Lately, the foods that are being served to me aren’t something that make me salivate excessively (okay, that sounds disgusting). In Filipino — and in the most simple term, I’m pihikan.

Tip 1: Tell your Mom, your maid or whoever prepares food at your home to cook foods that you do not like. Kill your appetite. But please remember that losing a big amount of weight in just a few days is not good for your health. Eat a small amount of what was prepared for you, also so as not to hurt the feelings of your cook.

But I definitely want to have a normal BMI. That’s what I want to achieve while I’m being a bum. It may sound easy for you, but for me, it’s really hard. A lot of people I know says that fast food makes gaining weight just as easy as walking. To me, it’s not applicable. During my review sessions that lasted for three months for my licensure examination (which was definitely hard) I was eating lunch either at Jollibee or McDonald’s almost everyday (including Saturadays and Sundays), and as far as what I think and look like, I hardly believe that I gained any weight. But then again, the stress that I was in during that time could have been a contributing factor on why my weight stayed the same. Oh, well, I guess, I’ll just eat more servings of whatever is on the table.

Tip 2 (which could be used in conjunction with my first tip): When cooking, prepare a large amount — something that would last for a few days. Then, refrigerate. Finally, reheat. Repeat steps two and three as many as you can. No matter how sumptuous and yummy your food is, its taste would get destroyed. At the end, your appetite would be gone.

PS: I hope they’ll make a counterpart of the reality show “The Biggest Loser” and give it a title of “The Biggest Gainer.” I’ll definitely audition for that show. LOL.