At 81, Flaviano Jr. Verad Abragan returned to an examination room to take the Civil Engineers Licensure Examination in Cagayan de Oro. He had graduated in 1989, decades before this attempt.
An October 4 report by the Philippine Canadian Inquirer says Abragan sat for the September 26–27, 2026 examination. Citing engineering publication Inhinyerong Sibil, it also reports that he completed it without a calculator.
Returning to a board exam after so much time is what gives the story its weight. Abragan brought a goal from an earlier chapter of his life into an examination room again.
The no-calculator detail makes the attempt unusual, but the larger point is the decision to show up. Decades after graduation, he was still willing to take on the work of pursuing the qualification.
For readers with a goal they have kept postponing, his example offers a simple starting point: returning to it is itself a decision worth taking seriously.
