The Road towards My American Dream: My NCLEX Experience Part 1 🩺🇺🇸

Dear Diary,

It has been two months since I started blogging again, and I can’t believe that I have found the writer’s voice which I thought I had lost for the past 10 years.

Anyway, I started this blog 16 years ago as a newbie nurse from the Philippines 🇵🇭—when I was only dreaming of the life that I have right now.

As I look back on my journey, I can say that it was not easy, but it was definitely worth it.

Hence, speaking of looking back, I also want to recall the story that led me to my second international nursing license—my NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) experience.

Deciding to Take the NCLEX

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I received my eligibility to take the NCLEX in December 2023. However, since I felt that I was not ready yet to take the exam, I eventually stopped reviewing and focused on preparing for my wedding.

Months after our wedding, I finally felt that I was ready to take the exam.

I started reviewing again in December 2025.

At that time, I was working as a nurse in one of the busiest hospitals here in Auckland, New Zealand, and it was hard.

Since I was working as a nurse while also wanting to fulfil my duties as a loving wife to my husband, I had to learn how to manage my time wisely.

I reviewed at home before or after my shifts, depending on my schedule. I studied on the bus and train going to work, during my break times at work, and even while doing household chores at home.

I would study for the whole day during my days off to catch up on some of the topics I had not finished while I was working. I would answer questions from my question banks while I was on the train going to work and watch NCLEX topic videos during my break times at work.

It was exhausting.

I was working in a busy general medicine ward while preparing for one of the hardest nursing examinations of my life.

But I kept fighting.

By January 2026, I received my ATT (Authorization to Test), and my application for leave was approved. I continued working and studying and eventually started my leave about a month before my exam.

My NCLEX Journey to the Philippines

Prior to my exam, NEAC (Nursing Education and Assessment Centre) helped me secure a slot for my NCLEX examination.

Since my hubby also wanted to go back home to see his family, we decided to take the opportunity to sit for my NCLEX in the Philippines.

NEAC helped me secure my examination slot at Trident Tower in Makati.

So, we went to the Philippines last March.

I had only three weeks left before my examination, and honestly, I still felt like I wasn’t ready.

So I completely locked in.

I studied everywhere—the airplane going to the Philippines, in between flights, and once we arrived in the Philippines.

We landed in the Philippines, met Walter’s family and some of my friends, and then travelled to Mindoro.

While in Mindoro, I studied diligently and tried to make the most out of every day I had left.

I was also grateful to the NEAC staff who checked in on me before my examination and gave me important instructions and reminders for the big day.

Three Days Before the Exam

Three days before my exam, we travelled back to Manila and headed to Makati.

We booked a hotel near my testing centre at Trident Tower so that I wouldn’t have to worry about travelling too far on exam day.

A day before the examination, I decided to stop reviewing.

I wanted to calm my nerves and give my brain a break.

So instead, I went swimming with my hubby, which helped me relax.

We also went to Greenbelt Chapel to attend Holy Mass and pray.

At that point, I lifted everything to God.

I knew that I had already done everything I could.

Whatever happened next was already in His hands.

Until the Next Chapter…

And that was it.

After years of waiting, preparing, studying, and praying, the day I had been waiting for finally arrived.

NCLEX Day.

But what happened inside that testing centre—and the 48 hours that followed—is a story of its own.

I’ll be sharing it in Part 2 of My NCLEX Experience. 💜

See you in the next chapter.

Love,
Maica

How I Passed the NLE After Failing My First Attempt: My NLE Story 📚

Dear Diary,

Last week, the clocks moved forward by one hour in this part of the world, marking the start of daylight-saving time in New Zealand. That means we are officially five hours ahead again of my home country, the Philippines.

As I look across at the certificates of my four nursing registrations here in my Auckland Central apartment, I am reminded of a time 17 years ago when I thought I would never be able to get to where I am today.

“I’m sorry, but your name is not on the list.”

I FAILED.

The one word I had been dreading to hear since childhood had finally come.

And the worst part? How could someone who came from the top science class in her high school and was a Dean’s Lister accept failure?

At that time, I didn’t know how to react. It felt like my whole world had suddenly turned black and white, and my entire body had gone numb.

It took me a few days to process what had happened. But through the encouragement of my family, I decided to try again and fight for that license.

So, my twin and I went to Manila. Before we left, we went to see the nuns and asked for their prayers. We decided to get away from the unnecessary noise surrounding my failure and enrolled in one of the top nursing review centers in Manila.

For the next five months, we studied day in and day out for that license.

It was really hard to accept failure, especially in the Philippines, where people scrutinize board exam results. But through the support of our family and our review center—and especially one of our tutors, who constantly reminded us, “Retakers, laban!”—we were able to bounce back, one step at a time.

The review season was tough. We were in Manila during the height of the nursing boom, and the pressure was real.

But we were lucky. We enrolled in a very supportive review center that pushed us to study harder and work harder.

Since we had more time to study, there were days when we didn’t have review classes. But instead of treating those days as breaks, we studied hard at home.

Our reviewers would always remind us:

“Ang boards, hindi ’yan patalinuhan kundi pasipagan.”

The nursing boards were highly competitive at the time. The June 2009 NLE (Nurse Licensure Exam) had a passing rate of only 41.87% so we knew we had to give everything we had.

I remember that it was one of the most challenging seasons of my life—and my twin’s, too.

Some days, we would cry because of the people judging us because of our results. But we never stopped believing that we would eventually pass.

We weren’t only studying. We were also going to church and praying hard.

On Thursdays, we would go to St. Jude Church to study. We would see the banners celebrating topnotchers from universities around the area, and we would imagine our own names being displayed on something like that someday.

After five months of intense preparation, the time finally came.

My twin even had a mishap on exam day. She couldn’t find her name on the list of examinees, but through the help of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), she was eventually able to take the exam at the PRC office.

During the exam, I prayed during and after every subtest. I lifted everything to God.

I prayed that if I was meant to be a nurse, then I would pass that NLE season.

The first day of the boards was so tough.

I went home feeling defeated because I thought I might fail again.

So I went home, watched movies, tried to clear my head, and came back for Day 2.

Day 2 of the NLE felt easier for me.

After the exam, we went back to St. Jude.

We gave all our pencils and pens to a little boy who was with his mother selling food near the church.

The kid was so happy.

And then came the waiting game.

We took the exam in November 2009, and then we celebrated Christmas and New Year with our family back in Mindoro.

Celebrated Christmas in Mindoro while waiting for the NLE results

By January, my twin and I went back to Manila to study for another exam called IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam.

And then, sometime during that month, the NLE results were released.

Since we didn’t have access to the internet at our dorm, we had no way of checking the results ourselves.

Then my aunt sent us a text.

She was congratulating my twin, my cousin, and me for passing the boards.

I still remember how it felt.

We cried so hard.

We just passed one of the most brutal Nurse Licensure Exams ever with a passing rate of 39.73%. It was so hard to believe that we were among the 37,527 out of 94,462 examinees who passed.

Not just because we passed, but because we remembered everything we had gone through to get there.

And then the board ratings were released.

It turned out that we had both aced the exam—and surprisingly, my results were even higher on the first day, the day I walked out convinced I had found the exam impossibly hard, than on the second day.

We had dreamed of becoming topnotchers, but passing—and acing the exam after failing once—was more than enough.

I received a board rating of 80.40, while my twin sister received 83.20.

It was unbelievable.

But more than anything, it was a testament to the hard work we had put in during those five months.

A month later, our school hosted a testimonial dinner for our batch because we had helped bring the school back to the number one spot in Batangas in terms of passing percentage.

And my father was invited to give a speech.

Photo from the archives courtesy of
Celine Bernadette Francisco

Looking back, that moment feels almost surreal.

The girl who had once heard, “Your name is not on the list,” was now sitting at a testimonial dinner celebrating her success.

Seventeen years later, I’m sitting here in Auckland, looking at the certificates of my four nursing registrations.

And sometimes, I still have to remind myself that they all belong to the same girl who once thought she had failed at becoming a nurse.

Maybe that is the lesson I needed all along.

Failure doesn’t always mean the end of the story.

Sometimes, it is simply the chapter that makes the rest of the story possible.

We realized that no matter how many times we fail or experience setbacks in life and in our careers, we can always come back stronger.

And sometimes, the girl who cried because her name wasn’t on the list…

just needs a little more time before

she sees where that failure was going to take her.

Love,

Maica 🩺💜