The saying “ang buhay ay hindi karera” (life is not a race) may be easy to recite — and even sing, just ask BINI — but it’s another story to live by, especially when the fear of missing out looms large.
This proved true for Nathan Orencia, whose Thomasian journey included not just highs and lows but also a two-year pause, yet culminated in him topping the August 2025 food technology licensure examination.
Orencia started as a food technology freshman in the College of Education in 2019. A year later, the pandemic forced classes to shift online, and he found it difficult to keep pace, grappling with mental health struggles and questioning whether virtual classes could match the learning experience of in-person labs.
“I decided that it’s not worth it if I’m just going to push through just to get a degree, because the degree is incomplete if I don’t have the skills and the knowledge to dignify it,” Orencia told the Varsitarian.
He then chose to pause his studies and serve as a service missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two years later, he returned to UST, anxious about his retention of knowledge.
“I had my own anxieties about whether or not I still remember kung ano yung mga natutunan ko in my first year,” he said. “There were some things that had already left my brain.”
“Thankfully, our professors were very insistent on drilling the fundamentals of food technology into us. So it didn’t take long before everything came back. It was just the initial discomfort of adjusting back again into life as a student.”
When he returned in 2022, he described himself as a “freshman for the second time,” but now with greater maturity.
While initially worried that his learnings had “slipped through the gaps,” Orencia quickly adapted to departmental changes and actively engaged in student life, even leading the College of Education team in the 44th and 45th editions of Pautakan, the longest-running intercollegiate quiz competition organized by the Varsitarian.
After graduating in June 2025, he had only two months to prepare for the board exams. Unlike many examinees, he skipped review centers to focus on church duties, relying on his own notes, friends’ reviewers, and study materials shared by a Thomasian board exam passer from 2023.
When the results were announced, his name was at the top.
“Kung ano ‘yong tuwa ko noong pumasok ako as a Thomasian sa UST, ‘yon din ‘yong tuwa ko noong nakita ko yung pangalan ko sa list,” he said.
Though food technology is often seen as a fallback program, Orencia emphasized its vital role in education and nation-building.
“Everything starts with food. How does a student learn if their stomach is empty and they can’t focus on the lesson because they have a rumbling stomach?” he said. “When you realize that, you’ll realize that there is a good future that can be carved out from food technology.”
For Orencia, the decision to pause was not a setback but a redirection that added depth and meaning to his journey.
“Coming back to UST after my leave of absence, I did have a healthy amount of fear. I had something to prove to myself. It’s do or die. There are no do-overs,” he said.
He also acknowledged that while life is not a race, taking a break from something as important as studies requires a supportive community.
“Madalas nating sabihin, ‘Buhay ay ‘di karera,’ but very rarely do people actually stop to think what those words mean and actually slow down,” he said. “For as many times as we say these, it takes a lot of guts to slow down and accept the reality.”
“In the end, what allowed me to take my time away in UST, which allowed me to grow in the headspace that I needed for the following three years of my education, was my family and my friends, who assured me that what I was doing, or what I decided upon, was the best course of action.”
Now a licensed food technologist, he hopes to build a family-run business offering safe, nutritious, and enjoyable meals, carrying forward the lesson of patience he learned during his college journey.
“Be patient,” he said. “There is no such thing as a wrong destination. The Lord will direct you to where He needs you to be. Just give your best efforts and you’re sure to touch the lives of the people who need touching.” Elihoenai Hazael B. Cortez with reports from Billy Andrei P. Ramos and Ashley Valkyrie E. Bueno
