Whether we like it or not, failure is a necessary stepping stone in building our dreams and reaching for our goals in life. Just like the success story of this Aeta teacher who recently went viral after finally passing the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) after 25 tries.
Teacher Gennie Panguelo has proven that failures should never stop anyone from living their dreams.
The Aeta teacher is currently working at Tarukan Elementary School in Tarlac and at the same time finishing her PhD in Teaching and Management, after completing her Master’s Degree.
According to teacher Gennie, after graduating with a degree in Education, she immediately landed on a job in the Department of Education as a teacher to her fellow Aetas. During that time, the government was not strict when it comes to professional licenses. In fact, Aeta teachers like her who didn’t take the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) were allowed to teach.
Teacher Gennie first tried to take the LET in 1990, but she failed the exam. The following years, she still tried her best, yet she always failed.
In 2010, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) started to issue their warning to those who are teaching without licenses. Because of this, she experienced being insulted and discrimination from other people after consistently failing the LET.
Teacher Gennie recalled:
“Sinasabi nila matanda ka na, ‘di ka pa pumapasa.”
All these failures were about to change when she was granted a scholarship under the Carl Balita Review Center (CBRC). Teacher Gennie finally passed the board exam on her 25th try in March 2016 LET.
Despite the many failures she experienced, teacher Gennie did not give up on her dreams. She would receive Carl Balita’s Gawad Agila 2018 Award, including a cash prize of Php100,000 because of her outstanding performance. They also made a film based on her story that showed Teacher Gennie’s struggles and successes.