COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES – This girl is not a nerd. She is just a typical colegiala who fought the good fight to realize her dream.

“I am a boring person.” This is how Alyssa Mae Barando Agustin, a BS Pharmacy cum laude graduating student, pictures herself. She could be described as a petite, slim, and soft-spoken lass with a timid smile and a shy disposition. Such depiction seems to fit well with the print on her shirt: Little Miss Pharmacist.  Nevertheless, she is the only one from CHS who will graduate this year with an academic (or Latin) honor. This phenomenon is the first in the history of the college, as most of the honor students usually come from the BS Nursing program – while the BS Physical Therapy course has yet to produce one.

Born on the 28th of May 1992 to Mr. Nestor A. Agustin of Laoag City and Mrs. Rosella B. Agustin of Claveria, Cagayan as the third of four kids, Alyssa had her elementary education at the Holy Spirit Academy of Laoag City and graduated in 2004. She then moved on with her secondary schooling at the Ilocos Norte National High School-Special Science Class and graduated in 2008. During these academic experiences, she did not garner any distinction as a top student. As far as she can remember, she got involved as an officer in only two school organizations: the Homemakers’ Club and another one she could not recall. This may have been significant for their family runs an eatery near the Laoag City Hall.

She then pursued tertiary education in the University – her first course of choice being the BS Pharmacy program and her second as the BS in Chemical Engineering course. According to her, the influence and encouragement by her Chemistry teacher way back in high school was so great that she got inclined with these collegiate offerings. The sad thing is that her father did not want her to become a pharmacist: he wanted her to be a nurse like her sister. Even so, this challenged her to excel in her chosen future career.

During her college days, she confesses that she did not have a strict study routine. All she did was to review if there is an expected examination and work on assignments as they come. Like any archetypal student, Alyssa uses the formula of prayers plus effort, together with the insatiable desire of further knowledge. “I see to it that I am always eager to learn because when I would think that I already know almost all regarding a particular subject matter, I would then feel that there is nothing more to be learned,” she said. Fair enough, because when growth ends, decay begins.  She finds the Pharmacy course challenging, although she states that her first impression of a pharmacist is being the customary dispenser of medicines in drugstores. Now, she says that pharmacists play an important and crucial role in safeguarding the health of the populace in more ways than one. She received a scholarship from the Philippine Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (PACOP) last January this year.

Asked what kind of drug she is, Alyssa claims to be a multivitamin. Why? “I am a person who is optimistic and always sees things on the positive side. Just like a multivitamin: more energy, mas happy!” she exclaims.

Alyssa maintains that she has no musical or artistic inclinations, no sports or dance interests, and is not much interested in school politics – her only experience as an organization officer in college was as the Vice-President of the Peer Counselors’ Club, a position that she occupied through the prodding of her classmates.

Her future plans consist of reviewing for the Pharmacy Board exams come this June, and then move on with further studies on Clinical Pharmacy or Medicine. She also wishes to land on a job as a clinical or hospital pharmacist. But as of press time, she is busy with her Words of Thanks for the 15th Joint Clinical Graduation, Pinning, and Ring Ceremony on March 29. With the success she has right now, Alyssa is very much thankful to both God and her parents.

True enough, one really does not need to be a genius to excel in one’s chosen field. Being a true person inside and out is enough for this would focus one’s energies toward a selected goal. Just like Alyssa, our lone Latin, who always keeps this motto in mind and heart: “If things do not come out the way you expect them to be, hope that something better will come along.”