I Dreamed, I Pursued, I Survived!

Here it is!...after four long years of dedication to work and study, comes, … Graduation Day.

(Greetings)……

To our parents,- looking  for money to pay the endless contributions and school fees – that includes the “hidden” fees intended for lakwatsas with barkadas … this is the day to  end  the struggle.

 Graduation is the time when we have   exhausted the benefactors’ patience for an additional loan, where all the neighbors of the community may have already contributed, and sooner would hound us for payment.

 Graduation is when other siblings can continue their studies because Ate or Kuya has at long last, finished. That somehow Tatay can spend lesser hours in the field to augment his meager earnings, because he has to do overtime for the increasing demands of the family.

Still, Graduation is tough for the adults- because they go to the ceremony as parents, upon going home, they become contemporaries, and worse, the same parents, have an additional unemployed to feed!

To us graduates; this is the day when we can finally heave a sigh of relief and say.. ‘at last a great task has come to an end’….for a much greater task which is yet to begin!

Years of hard work and enduring attitude towards homework, projects, reports and exams have finally ended with this ceremony. Little did we know that these are just little preparations for the bigger classroom and the harsh realities of life.

 I can recall the sleepless nights, delayed meals, symptoms of hyperacidity, coffee addiction or even cigarette smoking to counter hunger and sleep, making “palibre” because the little money left went to projects with hours to go before deadline, the countless tears from sermons both from parents, elders, and teachers, yet the most memorable, are the heartaches from breakups which started as petty quarrels that both parties disown. Whoever cannot relate to this is “manhid”!

Graduation embodies the whole WMSU experience, which happened- to become a milestone in our lives. Looking back, I’m sure my fellow graduates agree, made us better persons, mature, dignified, and worthy to become outstanding professionals in our respective fields; far from the greenhorn days when we stepped into the portals of WMSU Ipil-ESU, now, is the time to leave and face the unknown.

Standing before you today is a tremendous honor, and is just overwhelming! Never in my wildest dreams have I envisioned to be top of my class, … I am humbled by such gift. I am not the more intelligent as some of you here can attest. Yet God’s ways can sometimes be surprising.

To God Almighty I offer all the glory and honor, for the blessings showered upon me. The answered prayers in guiding me to the right path, the struggles that are sometimes so overwhelming; when  body and mind have reached beyond exhaustion and despair with nobody to lean on, - YOU were there Lord, keeping me safe and overcome all the challenges.

Ever since my childhood, I always have that feeling of not being accepted by my very own family and the people around me, because I was different. This did not deter me from going forward, much more the resistance has been my driving force,..starting from being a working student who cook meals, wash clothes, clean the house and do errands with a note book tucked in my arm to study and memorize. I was so envious with the rest who studied with both feet up on a chair with nothing to worry about except what they were reading. I would cry in silence in the privacy of a nook to relieve the feeling.

To my mother: Mang, thank you for being there even with the great distance between us. I believe that you have given the temerity to go on when everybody says otherwise, for all your sacrifices and understanding. Pang, salamat sa imong pagbati ug pagtagad nga wala nako kaayo mailhi pero siguro that was your way to express the affection that I found wanting. This is your little girl who had just vague dreams to go to college because we hardly can afford it. That dream is as of this moment; A REALITY. Again Thank you to both of you for giving me the love which supported me to live that dream.

      Lola Liling, I cannot express the right words to thank you, because these might not be enough. There were times when I have misunderstood you, when I question your credibility of ideas, the errands which made me question the acceptance you gave me to work with you as part of your family. But I was wrong, you were always my constant shoulder to lean on, the guide post-when I felt groping in the dark. Lolo Rady, Ate Debs, Ate Von, - my studies since high school, cannot be made possible if you had not provided me a home of acceptance and comfort. Thank you very much for letting me stay into your hearts and for providing me the place I can call home. I am very proud that you are my surrogate parents because the duties I did were more than commensurate to the affection I learned to know. I learned to strive harder up to the zenith of my capabilities because of everything you did.

 To our mentors who have been our parents in the classrooms, we salute you for the time, knowledge and expertise that you shared with us. You are the blessing which transformed us into what we are today. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude.

 My friends, colleagues, and schoolmates in WMSU-Ipil ESU, I take this privilege to thank you all for everything; your advice, support, comments, and even admonitions (which I may not receive very well then), have been realized with much value.

 To my dear classmates, thank you for the friendship that you shared with me. With you, I have felt the real essence of affirmation- real acceptance as a person, a friend, classmate, and a member of our one big happy family. The fond memories,  good and bad times, the crazy trips, adventures, deafening noises in the classroom, shared tears, senseless  misunderstandings, but reconciled in unity…they are moments surely kept for a lifetime.

To CHED, thanks for the scholarship, and Ma’am Joe-an, I will never forget your advices and words of wisdom.

 To my WMSU IPIL ESU family, I say, in behalf of our batch, thank you very much for your companionship in pushing us with challenges, to realize our capabilities through all the years that we are with you.

Fellow graduates, we now, give back to our country what we learned.

It was in our not so distant past that the Philippines has wallowed in the realms of mediocrity because of mismanagement, by the privileged few… Everyone in this room knows that. Do we allow this to flourish?...... Never again will we be made to suffer, because of the wrong doing of others. We must become leaders to uphold the high moral standards of WMSU and because we are trained,… to harness diligence and hard work, it is but fitting to be front liners to raise our country back to the much higher echelon, than what we had in the past leaving those who ridiculed us; in awe. “WMSU Graduates of 2013: Sharing the Hallmarks of Integrity and Industry as Leaders of Today” as our theme, is undeniably a fitting guidepost to propel us to reach the stars.

As the new generation expected to be leaders in our society; we are tasked to uphold the vision and mission of our university. We have the responsibility to expand the tradition of WMSU’s excellence not only in this country but in the global arena as well. Our contribution may seem small, but through the fulfillment of WMSU’s mission and proof of the quality education that this institution offers - we become the shining examples for the world to see.

The world needs us. The world needs graduates whose leadership cannot be bought; whose words are their bond with character, above wealth and possessions; whose ambitions are not for selfish desires. The world needs people larger than their chosen vocations,..people who do not hesitate to take chances, or make compromises with the wrong. We must be leaders that do not believe in shrewdness and cunning- as the qualities of winning; who are not ashamed to face the truth and stand by it.

With our red gowns and caps, with tussles to the right of our heads…  and, with one more look towards the school that made us, let us challenge ourselves with utmost dedication in service to others.  We have an enormous potential to follow and get that dream. Remember that………. 

Congratulations survivors!

 Thank you very much.

 May the glory of GOD be with us always…