Lucan Eugenio

To be honest, at first I didn’t appreciate the course kasi I thought it was all about reading and being a ‘book lover’, which I wasn’t. Sabi ko sa sarili ko, I’ll just finish one year then shift to Sports Science kasi back in high school, varsity ako sa volleyball, then basketball naman nung grade school, oh lagot HAHA. Laro lang ako nang laro, so feeling ko yun yung calling ko. Pero pagdating ng second year, biglang nag-sink in na parang interesting pala yung course. May mga major subjects na practical, hindi puro theories—like cataloging and indexing mga ganyan. Then I joined FLIPP (Future Library and Information Professionals of the Philippines), student org sya sa home college, tapos ayun mas naging engaged ako sa field. Aside from the tasks and work in the org, mas naging enjoyable yung student life ko sa SLIS kasi I gained friends inside and outside the org. Plus, the faculty were super kind to students, kaya sabi ko, ‘Go, sige, stay tayo!’ Relevant ka sis? Emz Pagdating ng third year, tumakbo ako as treasurer ng org, and doon mas lumawak yung experience ko sa field. Mas may commitment na, nag-organize ng events like LibSpeak and the New Professionals Series, which were super relevant sa field natin. And during my term, thanks to our president, first time namin nag-conduct ng LibSpeak outside Manila, sa Pampanga! Di nyo kaya, emz. Super fulfilling na successful yung event. By fourth year, doon na talaga nag-sink in na gusto ko i-pursue yung librarianship as a career. After graduation from UP SLIS, I took a two-month break, then started job hunting. I was fortunate na natanggap agad as a Library Assistant sa UERM Medical Library. But during that time, hindi pa ako licensed librarian. And natakot mag take ng exam noon agad kasi grabe yung kaba ko kasi what if ako yung unang bumagsak from SLIS? Kahiya yon diba. So nagpahinga muna ako, nag aral. Mga seven months before the board exam, nag-decide ako na mag-take. Pero wala akong sinabihan, except siguro yung workmates ko kasi nakikita nila ako nagre-review. Nag-ipon ako ng reviewers from friends (na di ko pa ata nababalik until now, haha), tapos humingi rin ako ng PDF reviewers sa ibang kakilala. Hindi rin ako nag-enroll sa review center—not because I was feeling matapang or matalino, pero kasi wala rin akong budget. Medyo maliit lang sahod ko as Library Assistant noon. Kaya work hard, study hard talaga ako. Then a week before the exam, lumabas na yung list ng mga magbo-board, and nagulat yung iba na andun pala ako. For a whole year, di ata nila alam na nagpa-practice na ako as a librarian, tapos di rin ako nag-review center. Gulatan lang talaga, HAHAHA. Kaya sobrang pressured ako nun! But I really prayed hard, and syempre, aral din ng todo. Fortunately, nakapasa. So laban! As a professional, sa UERM, I really enjoyed my work kasi super close namin ng workmates ko kahit na ang laki ng age gap namin. We had really fun and memorable moments together. Then I applied to UP, and thankfully, natanggap ako. And I must say, working in UP really honed my skills and pushed my capabilities to the limit, hosting, making promotional materials, editing videos, doing research—lahat! It was a huge learning experience, and looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Path to Librarianship