A testimonial delivered by an alumna of FAITH Colleges during the Incorporation Rites 2024
By AEZLE ASTLEY F. LAJA, MD
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Magna Cum Laude
Class of 2018
Never in my wildest dreams have I thought that I would be standing here, speaking before an audience this big. So, if one would ask me “Is this a dream come true?”, I’m afraid I have to say no. Because in all honesty, I have not dreamed of this yet. I have not dreamed this big yet. So much so, that when Dr. Ren Salcedo first reached out and asked me to share a testimonial during the incorporation rites, I have to read the message several times, take a screenshot, and send it to my family just to make sure I was not hallucinating.
Thank you so much po for this honor and privilege.
Thank you po for giving me something that I have yet to dream.
I would like to start my story with the summer of 2012. I enrolled in BS Nursing as my premed and was just waiting for the semester to start, when I suddenly got a call from a faculty of College of Nursing, informing me that I was the only one who enrolled and that it would be difficult to continue the classes with only one student. She then told me that there was a big possibility that BS Nursing would be temporarily closed for the year. So, if that would be the case, what would be my plan?
During the time, there was an overflow of nurses in the Philippines, so much so that many became call center agents because of the lack of job openings in hospitals. And if I remember it correctly, it was the year that I saw on national television a list of college courses the students was discouraged to take, and BS Nursing was one of those courses.
So, having less enrollees would be understandable, but being the only one student was not anticipated by me and my family. I was an Apolinario Mabini scholar, for which I am very grateful. I was able to give something to my family because there was a monthly stipend and semestral book allowance, on top of the tuition fee discount. I cannot let go of that scholarship, so I said to Ma’am, “Shi-shift na lang po ako Ma’am.” At that time, the only other medical course available at FAITH Colleges was BS Psychology.
That is how I got into Psych. I spent two years there, which I really loved and enjoyed. But then I shifted back to Nursing when I was in 3rd year Psych because I heard another call. This time, I did not receive a phone call. It is said that Nursing is not just a profession, Nursing is a calling, and at the time, Nursing was calling me. So, I decided to shift back to Nursing.
It was in BS Nursing where I learned that there is something called the art and science of caring. It is here where I learned the true meaning of “care” in the term “healthcare.” It is here where I learned the side of humanity that only a few people get to see. I was able to see the vulnerable side of man and how taking care of them may not change the whole world, but it means the world to them.
This was where I truly learned the three core values of FAITH Colleges—Competence, Commitment and Compassion.
Now let’s talk about these three core values.
Competence. Defined as the quality or state of having sufficient knowledge, judgement, skill or strength (as for a particular duty or in a particular respect).
In the medical field, specifically, to be a licensed medical doctor, years and years of studying and training are needed to have the sufficient knowledge and skills. That about 21 years, more or less: two or three years in preschool; six years in elementary; four years in high school; four years in college; and four years in medical school. All that and after graduating from med school, one year of internship, and then the board exam.
After becoming an MD, you are now called a general practitioner. And from there, there are a lot of career paths a licensed MD can take. And one of those paths is to undergo residency training. This entails more years of studying. Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Family Medicine are three years; Obstetrics and Gynecology, Emergency Medicine take four years; General Surgery takes five years. After residency, if you want to have a sub-specialty, it entails fellowship training, which is commonly a one- to two-year period.
I am currently at the bottom of that hierarchy of MDs. I am yet to be called a resident doctor. I had my pre-residency training in a Department of Health hospital in Pasig, but I am still waiting for the papers to be signed to officially include my name in their roster of employees.
Why do I have to share this? Because if we have a goal to excel in our chosen field, we must first submit ourselves to the harsh training needed. This is where our professors enter the picture. They are the ones with the knowledge, wisdom and experience necessary to make us competent in our area. Make the most out of the time and the effort they spend teaching you.
Right now, you are being referred to as freshmen, froshies. Right now, you have four or five years in front of you before you sit here again, and be called graduates. What you have before you is a clean blank slate, ready to be painted on.
As you have a blank slate now, grab every opportunity to paint. Grab every opportunity to learn. Not only because we were told to study this, or study that. Be active in acquiring knowledge but more importantly, in acquiring wisdom from the lessons and from the teachers themselves.
You can think of it as going to war, because every time we seek to learn something new, something better, we are waging war against our old ways, we are waging war against our old selves. Education equips us with weapons needed for victory.
When we have prepared and have all the needed weapons, it is ultimately the person himself who will draw the sword and slay the enemy. So be as active as you can in learning. Don’t just wait for learning to happen, actively seek knowledge and wisdom. Make it an adventure as you aspire to be the person you will be in the future. Look up to the future you, because that is the only person you should aim to be. The better you, the wiser you, the stronger you, and hopefully, the happier you.
As a hiker walks and walks to find a better view, let us keep moving forward towards the better you.
Now, let’s move on with commitment.
There was this time when I was in med school, during the pandemic while I was at home. I decided to take a break and went downstairs. I found my youngest brother, who was in second grade at that time, beside my mother, studying and doing his module. I saw that he was struggling to study because he wanted to play outside, understandable for a seven-year-old, but because mothers can become lionesses when children don’t listen, my brother stayed, sat down, and kept on his module. Seeing that, seeing a little child struggle to study was like an eye opener for me. I said to myself “how dare you give up so easily, when a little kid still tries?” “How dare you try less than what a little kid does?”
So as long as there are little children who try to sit still, and try to learn and study, even when they don’t like to, I should also try, even when I don’t want to. You can take a break, but don’t stop. The little kids in school are still trying.
This is an important part of adulting. Because there are times that it will not be a matter of whether we like to do it or not. It now becomes, do we HAVE to do it? and HOW do we do it?
Every year that we get older, the more often that we would do things we don’t necessarily like or enjoy doing. In the journey to become a doctor, and even after becoming an MD, there are a lot of times that quitting is very tempting. But the burden of having an unfinished business is heavier still than the exhaustion we sometimes may feel. The burden of leaving a dream that my family and I have cherished for so long, is heavier still than the exhaustion we sometimes may feel.
That is why we keep on trying. Let us all add a little “umph” to that try, and the triumph will get by (see what I did? Try and umph? TRIUMPH?)
Last core value, we have compassion.
Another story from med school. Most of our instructors are medical doctors, but we have one doctor who was the president or the Chief Medical Officer of a private hospital in Pasay. Being the president, he said he was able to see the statistics of the whole hospital, and there is one interesting thing that he observed. He noticed that it was not the smartest doctors that have the most number of patients coming back to them. Smart in the sense that they were the topnotchers in med school and in the board exam. In our heads, we were like, if not them, then who had the longest line of patients in their clinic?
He revealed that it was the “average” doctors during med school and board exam. Why them? Because they have very good interpersonal skills, because they were the ones who have good and long doctor-to-patient relationships, and even doctor-to-family relationships.
One thing I got from that was being smart is great, being smart brings people to places, it brings people closer to their dreams. But having meaningful relationships wherever we are—whether we are interacting with patients, customers, clients, students, or even our fellow employees—having good and meaningful relationships allow for more efficiency in the workplace and more fulfillment when we look back to our accomplishments.
Having compassion while we excel in our chosen field is like being a bright light that illuminates the way, but at the same time like a warm blanket in someone’s cold winter day.
We are not just smart, we are confidently smart with a heart.
That is the story of Tin Man, right? In a world where technology thrives, he started searching for a heart, and he found that heart here in FAITH.
That is how significant these three core values can be. Competence, commitment, and compassion. Uphold them day by day, and they will be the fuel as we climb and conquer every mountain before us.
I am excited to see what the future holds for you, because I know you will rise and be successful. How do I know this?
Because YOU HAVE FAITH.
YOU ARE IN FAITH.
THE HOME OF COMPETENCE, COMMITMENT, and COMPASSION.
THE HOME OF THE BRAVEHEART.
That is my hope and prayer:
Keep moving forward; add a little “umph” to your try; and don’t forget the heart.
See you all on your next mountaintop, and may we all keep the faith.
Ad Astra! First Asia!
