Michael Prince N. Del Rosario, better known as Prince, of San Fernando, La Union is considered a “lucky charm” by those taking the board exam. Prince is the second of four siblings and his parents’ job are repacking and selling charcoal.
The board exam takers request Prince to personally sharpen their pencils so he could ‘pass his luck’ to them.
In an interview with PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) the 33-year-old licensed nurse and teacher disclosed on September 22, 2022 how he achieved his goal in life.
“Graduate ako ng Bachelor of Science in Nursing sa Lorma Colleges nung March 2010. Nag-take naman ako ng Certificate in Teaching sa DMMMSU [Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University] nung March 2015. Nag-top ako sa board exam ng nursing, rank number 8 nung 2010, at top 1 sa licensure examination for teacher nung 2016.”
But there were years that he became addicted to online games when he was a high school student.
Because of his obsession, he stopped studying and allegedly hid it from his parents. He also managed to fake his quizzes, field trips, JS prom and even his report card.
According to Prince, he wasted three years by not studying. He even faked his graduation. Fortunately, the Department of Education has an Alternative Learning System and he managed to qualify for college. He took up Nursing as it was the ‘in’ thing that time and a possible path to go abroad.
He admitted that college life was difficult because apart from the lack of budget, the wave of online games was always there.
When he was about to take the board exam, he also had a problem with the cost of boarding and tuition fees for the review but he disclosed he did not have any difficulty in the exam.
Prince confessed that since first-year college, he dreamed of becoming a topnotcher. He also admitted that he followed certain superstitious beliefs when he took the board exam; examples of which was he wore a red underwear and placed a peso inside his shoe.
In his two board exams, the pencils he used were sharpened by topnotchers.
In his first board exam, he was a little surprised because he made it to top 8. He was more confident in the second board exam he took.
Because of his perseverance and diligence, Prince is now a National lecturer at Carl E Balita Review Center o CBRC
And because many board-exam takers who passed used pencils which Prince himself sharpened, he was called “the lucky charm topnotcher.”
He is also currently studying law, and will take the bar exam next year.
He has an advice to young students, “Huwag na huwag bibitiwan ang inyong pangarap, at ipaalala sa sarili nila kung bakit ba nila ito ginagawa at kung para kanino ba ang kanilang tagumpay. Sa halip ay ipag-pray natin na magkaroon ng lakas at kakayahang malampasan lahat ng ibabato sa atin ng kapalaran.”