"Me , The Boards and the #13"

"Me , The Boards and the #13"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

The world is full of people who see signs and those who do not. Then there are those who see the signs and totally ignore them because they are listening to something else.

I first saw the number 13 popping up 3 days before the actual board exams. 13 being the number for bad luck it was coming up  a lot as I was taking up the boards and after it. I was assigned to Room 313 in MLQU , I was student #13. The exam was August 2013. Someone would see the signs and already decide that this was an ill-fated thing. It was locked in for me but I saw it as something that was for me. Claimed it despite my fears. Kept Faith despite the doubts. My Dad and Brother said that it was my lucky 13. I believed them despite the number. I came into the exam with a humility that I did not have, I have shed off the arrogance that I had in the past. I was able to see that I will not be able to do it on my own. My logic alone will not be enough. The things I read will not be enough. I would also need to believe. (Neo ikaw ba yan?). #13 would not leave me.

On the 2nd day of the exam we have been warned through text messages that various syndicates were targeting the examinees Notice of Admission (It is our test permit so to speak). They would then ask you to pay 1000 pesos so that they would release it to you after swiping it from you. The NOA was important , it was needed for our goals. As I took a seat on the 3rd floor of MLQU to read my physio notes I noticed a CDB (Cracking D' Boards) Clear Envelope  with a NOA still in it. Thinking that someone was sitting in that spot and just went to the bathroom I paid no mind to it until about 30 minutes later.I was curious so I looked and found that it was one of my classmates , someone who I passed by but never really got to talk to. I said is this a sign? Where was the number 13 then? I looked at the guys name and counted. It was Francis Joseph. #13 poked its head at me again. I looked for the guy and met up with Freddie Combo another classmate that I chatted with a lot during breaks and we found him. The relief on Francis' face said it all. I was all to happy to hand him the NOA. I wondered if it was someone else who found it? Would they have kept it and kept him from taking the exam? It would mean an automatic zero and that zero would adjust the grade curve to let a vast majority pass. I know I would not want anything like that on my conscience and then I said to Francis to just focus on the exams now. I stopped reading my Physio notes and prayed silently in a secluded spot. I felt a calmness come over me. The Physio exam was like a blessing. I smiled knowing that someone else was taking the boards properly now because of me.I have managed to make a difference in a person that I have never talked to before in my life. 

When the exams were over. Before handing my final answer sheet and questionnaire I offered a silent prayer. I did not break my pencils as tradition dictated in these exams. I gave them to charity. I kept one. Now I and 2200 others would wait. Then came Maring and the Holidays. The agonizing days of waiting stretched on. There was no word when the exam results would come out. Was there another #13 somewhere here that was presenting itself? One final jinx? One final seed of doubt that was setting itself? It was Maring. The 13th storm that has come ashore. Following the storm naming system M is the number 13. Would it prove lucky or not? I am writing this today to show that my parents and brothers were right. I passed. 

One more thing that my wife noticed.I was Exam Passer 531. 31 is 13 reversed.Signs or not. To God be the Glory.