Although initially disappointed for not receiving any honors at her graduation, fate seemed to make it up to Kathleen Jane Latimban of Polomolok, South Cotabato, as she secured the 8th spot in the February 2025 Criminology Licensure Examination (CLE).
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| Photo courtesy: Facebook/Kathleen Jane Latimban |
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology from Holy Trinity College of General Santos City in June 2024.
In her Facebook post on March 8, she shared that she had prayed to God multiple times, hoping to be granted Latin honors, but it was not meant for her. Then, she came across a Bible verse.
“Last June 2024, I was disappointed when I confirmed that I wasn’t qualified to apply for the Latin Award. I prayed countless times—only God knows how many, asking for a chance. But He didn’t answer,” she said.
“I cried a lot, thinking that I had failed, until I came across this verse: ‘𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌, 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒔.’ (𝑬𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 3:20). Kag ari gid gali, labaw pa sa ginpangayo ko. Thank you kaayu, Lord. All the glory belongs to You.”
Receiving an award was a big deal for Kathleen, but since she didn’t get one, she made up for it by passing the board exam—and not just passing, but securing the 8th spot!
In an interview, Kathleen admitted that her biggest struggle during her studies was the financial aspect, as her parents were only minimum wage earners. To support her education, she worked as a student employee at a fast-food chain and sought scholarship programs to cover her needs.
So when they saw the board exam results, her parents were overjoyed and couldn’t help but embrace her tightly.
Congratulations, Kathleen! Way to go!
— Noel Ed Richards, The Summit Express
