TACLOBAN CITY – It took three decades for this man to realize his dream, but it’s certainly worth the long wait.
After failing several times in a span of 30 years, Antonio Galejan who is now a senior citizen finally passed the licensure examination for teachers (LET) in a sheer show of perseverance to achieve his ambition.
Now, the 60-year old Galejan is a licensed teacher.
Based on the results issued by the Professional Regulation Commission, Galejan was among the 12,074 passers out of 22,454 who took the examination in January 2022.
"It's never too late to achieve your dreams as long as you don't quit and work hard for them," said Galejan.
Teacher Galejan first took the licensure exam in 1989 but was not fortunate in a failure that lasted until 1997.
He never gave up. After all, he has his family that served as his inspiration in pursuing his dream of becoming a full-fledged educator.
In 2016, he again tried his luck when he took the LET for secondary, Major in Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE). But he was simply not lucky. The streak of failures even went on until 2019.
Did he give up? No.
He believes that everyone has his or her own time and age is not a hindrance to one’s dream.
Lady Luck finally smiled on him when he came across a group of young professional teachers from the Lawaan Educators’ Guild (LEG) in Lawaan, Eastern Samar. This group gives free weekend review sessions.
He took advantage of the free review and was amply rewarded as he became among the six reviewees of LEG who passed the board exams.
LEG is also known for its recent achievements in producing high percentage of LET passers.
Teacher Galejan said LEG has been helpful and persistent in providing him comprehensive review for the exam, and to those who cannot afford to enroll in review centers.