UP Mindanao Architecture graduate Alexis Ken S. Cartajenas, 25, casually mentions that Architecture students are diligent and hardworking—and that those are two adjectives not applicable to him.

But the June 2012 Architecture Licensure Exam (ALE) results indicated otherwise: Alexis ranked second, at 83.50 percent, closely following the first placer’s 83.80 percent.

He’s now one step closer to his dream of establishing his own architecture firm.

Just another student

His journey started the day he decided to shift to Architecture at the University of the Philippines Mindanao, from Computer Science. He describes himself as a slacker—“I am not the most diligent type of student, I only get serious when I am challenged.”

He cites some of his after-school routines: hanging out with friends, watching movies with his girlfriend or playing PC games.

In his seemingly lazy student lifestyle, he finished the five-year course and eventually found himself one afternoon tirelessly punching F5 in a computer’s keyboard to refresh an Internet browser that showed the ALE results.

He rejoiced. He slapped high fives with his Architecture buddies. He wore a big smile that couldn’t be measured by a T-square. He ranked second and exceeded his own expectations.

Did Alexis ever see it coming? Yes.

Prophecy

“Before the exam, there were a lot of amusing things that happened. A friend, who claimed she has the ability to dream of things that will happen, texted me that she saw my name on the list of topnotchers,” he recalls. “That was about three months before the exam!”

Before the review, he’d joke around, telling his schoolmates and friends that he would top the board exam. “Maybe I wanted to make the joke and the fortune-telling a reality. Maybe that was why I decided to aim for the top spot,” Alexis says.

With rowdy optimism, he did get what he wanted.

But he had to go through a series of funny encounters on the day of the exam: forgetting the room number assigned him, being overwhelmed and nervous (Alexis says that taking a deep breath didn’t work for him), and being intimidated by smart-looking examinees.

Then he hit his gold mine: three pages of questions were on the history of architecture. “My favorite subject back in college,” he says.

His review routines, which entailed the appropriate use of long- and short-term memory, served him well. The exam result was more than he could ask for.

2bU talks to Alex about university life, the whirlwind world of an Architecture student and the words of wisdom he lives by.

How would you describe your college life?

My life in college was a battle between diligence and indifference. I experienced failure in a few subjects. I am not the most diligent type.

Deng Xiaoping’s maxim; “Hide your true strength, bide your time” is somehow a reflection of me. When it is time to come out, you come out, then strike fast with a blow.

Describe a day in the life of an Architecture student.

Bankrupt days due to costly plates, zombie days after sleepless nights, and in the case of UP Mindanao’s Architecture students, days when there are flying miniature trees and house models when you transport them to school on the habal-habal (a motorcycle that is the main means of transportation around the campus).

What’s the best thing about studying Architecture and finishing it?

You can give the world a monument—not a replica of an architect, but a building as an expression of his/her thoughts. Architecture is an expression of thought in a building. The cool thing is that it is a synthesis of science and art, and I could not think of any art as practical as architecture—you admire it, you use it and you experience it!

What advice can you give students and aspiring architects?

Listen to your teachers. I believe in this Japanese proverb: Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.

Find a mentor and learn as much as you can.

What are the words of wisdom you always live by?

The only things you cannot do are the things you have not attempted to do. Perseverance is the key to overcoming trying times.

There are also times people doubt and criticize you; do not get distracted, and use these two things to fuel your drive toward victory.