Rejection as Redirection: How Moving Abroad and Embracing Failure Led Engr. Ashyra Cabuco to a New Perspective on Success
Most engineering students build a mental blueprint for their lives: graduate with honors, pass the board exam on the first try, step seamlessly into a linear career, and watch their carefully laid plans unfold like textbook mechanics. When that blueprint shatters, it can feel like the end of the line. But as Engr. Ashyra Anjella Lasacar Cabuco of Mapúa University proved through her journey, when your original plan falls apart, the real story is often just beginning.
You may not understand the redirection today, but one day, you might look back and realize that the life you were grieving was never the life you were meant to live.
Most engineering students build a mental blueprint for their lives: graduate with honors, pass the board exam on the first try, step seamlessly into a linear career, and watch their carefully laid plans unfold like textbook mechanics.
When that blueprint shatters, it can feel like the end of the line. But as Engr. Ashyra Anjella Lasacar Cabuco of Mapúa University proved through her journey, when your original plan falls apart, the real story is often just beginning.
1. Disappointment Does Not Erase Your Worth
For Ashyra, the first major plot twist arrived during her college years at Mapúa when a failed Foundation Engineering class closed the door on graduating with Latin honors. Shortly after graduating, her first attempt at the April 2025 Civil Engineering Licensure Examination (CELE) resulted in another setback.
Yet, alongside those heavy disappointments were quiet victories—her thesis team went on to earn the Best Thesis award, and she secured her first civil engineering job just two months after graduation.
Lesson for Examinees: A single failing grade or an unsuccessful exam attempt cannot erase the years of effort, late nights, and competence you have already built. You can feel disappointed about one outcome while remaining deeply grateful for how far you’ve come.
2. When Life Completely Changes the Board
Determined to try again, Ashyra began reviewing for the September 2025 board exam while working full-time. Then came an unexpected curveball: a work relocation abroad. At just 21 years old, October 2025 marked her move to a foreign country—no family nearby, a six-day workweek, and an exam postponed to late November that no longer fit her timeline.
Nothing was going according to plan.
Instead of abandoning her dream, a new avenue opened when a college professor encouraged her to pursue the Special Professional Licensure Examination (SPLE).
3. The Discipline of Showing Up (Even When Burnt Out)
Preparing for the SPLE while adjusting to life in a new country was an absolute test of endurance:
4:00 AM: Waking up early to squeeze in 1–2 hours of solving problems before reporting to work at 8:00 AM.
6:00 PM: Rushing from work directly to the library to solve more problem sets, balancing gym routines, and navigating a new culture.
There were days of complete exhaustion, burnout, and questioning whether her efforts were enough. But progress wasn't driven by fleeting motivation; it was sustained by a quiet resolve to keep showing up.
Lesson for Examinees: Motivation is temporary, but consistency carries you through. You don't need to feel perfectly inspired every day—you just need to show up and do what you can with the time you have.
4. Trusting the Larger Blueprint
Grounded in her faith and anchored by Jeremiah 29:11, Ashyra’s journey shifted from fighting the redirection to trusting it. Finding a supportive community abroad transformed an unfamiliar place into home, proving that life's best chapters are often written in the detours we never planned.
A Message for Anyone Feeling Behind or Off Track
If you are currently grieving a failed subject, an unsuccessful board attempt, or a life path that looks completely different from what you envisioned, remember the journey of Engr. Ashyra Cabuco:
Failure is not final: It doesn't define who you are; it simply teaches you how to grow stronger and wiser.
Redirection isn't rejection: Sometimes, the answer isn't "no"—it’s "not this way."
You don't need to have it all figured out: It is enough to keep moving forward, stay grateful, and trust that an unplanned journey can still lead somewhere deeply meaningful.
Your timeline doesn't have to look like anyone else's to be successful. Keep putting in the work, trust the process, and embrace where your story is taking you!