One of the topnotchers in the November 2022 Nurse Licensure Examination traces her roots to Catanduanes where an uncle once served as congressman and governor.
Jona Jane Sanchez Yutan, who tied for 9th place with a rating of 88.40 percent in the board examination held Nov. 12-13, 2022, confirmed that her grandparents are natives of Toytoy, Caramoran town where she and her siblings and cousins spend their summer vacation every year.
The 23-year-old nursing graduate of the University of Santo Tomas is the daughter of civil engineer Mary Jane Sanchez-Yutan, whose late father Jorge is the brother of former Congressman Hector Sanchez.
Jona Jane’s father, Jonathan Yutan, is a 1995 civil engineering graduate of the Catanduanes State University and is a son of Jesse Yutan also of Caramoran.
With the family based in Bacoor, Cavite, the other Yutan children are John Hilarion, who is a fourth-year student at the PATTS College of Aeronautics, and Joanne Jane Yutan, a Grade 12 student of UST Senior High School.
The good news of her being among the NLE topnotchers came just two weeks after she celebrated her birthday on Nov. 20.
In her primary years at the Jesus Good Shepherd School, Jona Jane was 2nd honorable mention and won the Best in Computer and Outstanding Girls Scout award.
She was also the valedictorian of her high school class at the same school, which also gave her recognition for being best in English.
After graduating from UST senior high with honors, she finished BS Nursing at UST last 2022 as magna cum laude.
During her college years, she was executive coordinator to the vice president and president of the Nursing Central Board of Students, class marshal of the Crisis Committee and external volunteer of the Office of the Vice President’s Bayanihan E-Konsulta in the run-up to the 2022 presidential elections.
She holds a license in Basic Life Support (BLS) for healthcare providers from the American Heart Association.
In the wake of super typhoon Rolly and typhoon Ulysses in 2020, she organized a donation drive for the calamity victims in coordination with the Caramoran Metro Manila Reformists Association (CAMMRA) Inc.
for victims of Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses last 2020.
She also started a second donation drive for the same recipients but this time with the help of some of her classmates from UST.
Jona Jane prepared and gave out pamphlets regarding storm surges last Dec. 16, 2020, for residents of barangays Toytoy and Baybay in Caramoran to further increase awareness on disaster preparedness.
She is currently arranging her papers for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nurses who want to work in the Unites States of America and Canada and at the same time seeking job opportunities in Metro Manila.
“It is my dream to pursue further nursing studies abroad and to become an advanced practice nurse,” she told the Tribune.
Here’s her musings on life that she hopes would serve fellow Catandunganons: “Life is not a competition with other people. It is a competition between one’s procrastination, ego, the negative behaviors we nurture, the knowledge we neglect, and the choice to settle for something nice, pleasant and comfortable.
It may mean breaking our routines, causing delays and detours or leaving us disappointed. But regardless of how costly, it is never as high as the price paid by those who resist change and stick to what is familiar to them.
Life’s path isn’t a straight line. Some days we won’t be doing our maximum. Sometimes we won’t have the energy for the usual things. Those days are the ones that teach us to pause. Know your rhythm, learn when to slow down – it is okay to rest. It all serves a purpose.
We should not forget that we can start late, start over, be unsure, try and fail and still succeed. And when that happens, let’s all cheer so loudly for ourselves that it drowns out other people’s opinions. Let’s celebrate ourselves so much that it becomes a habit.”