HE PLACED sixth in the Nursing Licensure Examination in 2002, graduated cum laude in the same year and received two consecutive Quezon Leadership Awards. Amid all these recognitions, UST Nursing graduate Earl Francis Sumile never expected to be named to The Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP), which he considers the “crowning glory” in a student’s life.
Out of the 408 nominees, he was one of the top 30 students from all over the country who vied for the award.
“I am just part of the chosen 30, unlike Ate Len (referring to Arlene Maneja of the Faculty of Civil Law), who is part of the top 10 students awarded in Malacañang. Traditionally, there should only be 10 but they would like to emphasize that TOSP is The Outstanding Students of the Philippines and not Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines,” Earl said.
Sumile and Maneja were the only UST graduates who made it to the final 30 this year. All of the 30 are equally deserving and would be given equal TOSP responsibilities, according to Jose Concepcion, executive committee chair of the TOSP.
Humbling experience
According to Earl, the award came unexpectedly. He was also a finalist for the Hitachi Asean Leaders’ Conference.
“Hindi ako nakasama sa Top 4 ng Hitachi, so this time, I was not really expecting, kasi ayoko ma-frustrate,” he said.
The University submitted its nominees to the TOSP screening commmittee last January in different categories such as Medicine and Health, Business, Science and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences. The finalists were selected according to three important aspects: leadership, social responsibility, and academic excellence.
“Sobrang saya, and yet beyond that joy and ecstasy is a responsibility. It is more of a humbling experience. It is as if you were given that award because you have a mission to do and to give, and not to get out of college.”
Earl has applied with at the Philippine Heart Center. He is occupied with his responsibilities with the TOSP while waiting to be hired. Seventeen of the 30 outstanding students are in Manila to conduct talks and symposiums on leadership, community service, and student empowerment while the rest have gone home to their provinces.
“Although hindi kami nire-require ng TOSP, it is the personal choice of this year’s batch to live up to the commitment. It is not just after the TOSP or after college that we could serve and share,” Earl said.
Once they are able to raise funds, they would eventually venture into outreach projects for TOSP, Earl added.
Not all rosy
Earl laughingly recalls his college life, where he would be constantly teased for being a religious person.
“Niloloko nila ako sa college. They always call me Blessed Earl. They look at me as a holy, saintly person. Sinasabi nila, hobby ko daw iyong magdasal. No, it is not true,” he laughs.
The joke probably started when he became president of Pax Romana and started winning numerous inter-collegiate Theology quizzes in college.
He says he comes from a very religious family. Although Earl is the youngest of three boys, he was the only one who was able to finish college.
“I come from a middle-class family. I was able to make it through a scholarship grant by the college.”
Earl says that he has lived a normal life contrary to what other people say. He explains that the difference lies in the way he looks at things, with love for God as his motivating factor.
“My college life is a time well-lived for me. I have devoted my time not only to my academics, but I have shared it with others as well Masaya din ako kasi napatunayan ko that the people from the College of Nursing are not nerds.”
Although he describes his college life as full of fun and lessons, it was also a time for struggles and challenges. Like any other active Thomasian, Earl found it difficult juggling his time between academics and extra-curricular activities. He was president of Pax Romana in 2001 and the Nursing Central Board of Students the following year.
“I had to set priorities, but still, I had to make a lot of sacrifices. I felt that it was okay because I made sacrifices for the greater good,” said Earl.
He really wanted to earn a degree. There was pressure on his part. He had to set aside his personal pleasures because he vowed to alleviate the financial condition of his family.
More things to accomplish
The responsibilities brought by the TOSP citation posed a lot of challenges for Earl, but he is more than willing to live up to the challenge, aiming to accomplish a lot of things.
“Hopefully, I will be taking my masters next school year. I will be going back to college to teach here in UST.”
He knows that God’s plan for him is just unfolding. He constantly goes back to the words of Mother Teresa as his inspiration: “God does not demand that I be successful. God demands that I be faithful. When facing God, results are not important. Faithfulness is what is important”.
He will be forever thankful to his family for making sacrifices and for being his inspiration. He says that part of his plans is to first help strengthen the status of his family.
“I actually have no plans of settling down. I want to help my family first. And eventually, if the calling is still there, I would like to enter the religious life,” he says.
