Good Morning!
To the Faculty and Staff of Kalilangan Baptist Christian
Academy, Students, Parents, Graduates and Visitors.
Thank You for having me here.
What we are today is just the result of the decision we made
yesterday. Years ago, you went on a mission to finish high school and here you
are as highschool graduates. Years ago, you graduated in kindergarten and here
you are about to enter highschool. For
you kids at pre-school, years from now, you will be just like them graduating
in elementary or highschool.
Congratulations to the parents and guardians. Here are the
first fruits of your hardwork, support, care and love.
Congratulations to the teachers for another job well done.
And congratulations to you graduates.
There you are wearing your togas and here I am wearing a
smile on my face. Be proud of yourself for this day marks another defining
event in your life. We are all proud of you for finishing a phase full of
assignments, quizzes, projects and exams. Now that you are graduating, it is
high time for you to step into a new horizon. You have reached the frontier of
global transformation and unity. A world that is serving you a plate full of
options and opportunities. I can still
remember myself sitting there, wearing my toga. I was half happy and the other
half was feeling a mix of fear, confusion and excitement.
I was happy that I finally graduated in high school. On the
other side though, I had mixed feelings. I felt fear for I will be moving on to
a new place, a new school. I was confused and excited, because there are so
many things I wanted to become. I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be a
scientist. I wanted to be a model. I wanted to wear a crown. I wanted to wear
business attire and join corporate meetings like what I see in Soap Operas and
I even wanted to become a crew at Jollibee, Sell ChickenJOys and clean the
tables. There are so many things I wanted to become and everything is possible.
I just want to grab all of them.
You might already have concrete plans after highschool and
that’s good for you. But I bet, some of you have the same confusion that I had.
It is normal to want many things but there are times when you really have to
choose. If you do not know what you really want, then at least know what you do
not want. What are the things that you do not want? Knowing the things you
don’t want will also guide you in deciding your next step after highschool.
Way back in highschool, I just wanted to be successful.
All of us wants to be successful. Who doesn’t? But what does
success means to you? Does it mean having a job someday? Making your parents
proud? becoming an inspiration? getting rich? becoming a rich farmer? being a
doctor? being a charity doctor? Whatever success means to you, Surely it would
require you to work and study hard to achieve it.
And the world has become so demanding, requiring a long list
of qualifications that you need to meet if you want to succeed. You need to be excellent in your chosen field
of study and you are also required to know other skills. The world is in need of
people with multiple skills so do not limit yourselves when it comes to
learning. Kelangan natin makipagsabayan
sa takbo ng panahon or else mapag iiwanan tayo.
Globalization has made things easier for us. You can have 20
books or more in one thin gadget, you can watch concerts for free without
getting out of the house, and you can do shopping, deposit and transfer money
with just one tap of your finger. You can pay bills without falling in line. We
get to communicate with different people around the world and we get to
establish ties with them, Learn new things that are good and apply it.
But globalization had also brought us unfiltered mass of both
information and garbage. It is good to have an open mind but do not open it
fully, or else people will throw a lot of rubbish into it. The new world will
offer you things that are sometimes hard to resist or deny. The new age has
given us easy access to things that are restricted years ago. That is why, I would also like to tell you
that if you are face to face with something that makes you confused or something
na napapakanta ka ng “ I feel something so right doing the wrong thing” …. When
you are torn between two or more things, you get a grip on your values and
start establishing your principles in life.
Global transformation has indeed inspired us to change and
become better and if we want to survive longer, we need to adapt to the
change. But that change does not mean
that we have to leave our values behind us. As you journey into a new phase in
a changing place, I would like to remind you that aside from packing your
favorite t-shirt you should also bring your values with you. Do not forget what
KBCA and your parents or guardians taught you. Do not forget that the basics
for survival are still the all-time principles of faith, hard work,
perseverance and discipline. In my experience, trends come and go, but GMRC
(Good manners and Right Conduct) are always in. Good manners never run out of
style so do not forget to say your Please and Thank You’s, say excuse me and
I’m sorrie’s.
Our Class valedictorian told us on our graduation day AJAH
graduates, AJAH!
Today I am using AJAH again, but I am not addressing it to
you. Because I know you could make it through whatever challenges. You have the
potential and KBCA had equipped you already with the necessary knowledge,
skills and discipline that you need to kick start your new journey to continuing education.
Therefore my AJAH! Will go to your parents and guardians. AJAH! Parents and
guardians! For I know the tuition and price of books has gone high compared to
the ones we were paying years ago. Aside from extra rice, you need to have
extra work, extra effort, extra savings for education.
Despite such costly investment, I hope you send them further
to higher education. As seniors in this life, it is our duty to create and
leave a good lineage of generation. A generation of people that are competent
and knowledgeable, a generation with a heart who chooses to do good and right
things and a generation that is hard working. Please continue to support or
push them in pursuing their talents and exploring their potentials. Please do
not give up on them, when they tend to become headstrong or heartstrong.
To the school and the teachers, I hope you keep up the good
work of bringing and giving quality education. Thank you for producing equipped
batches year after year. The success of KBCAians is also your success.
To you students and graduates whatever you do, give it your
best shot. Be the best that you can be. Do not settle for “Okay Na .” go
beyond. Learn more. Do more. Be more. Make your parents proud by doing things
with a sense of purpose. Step out from your comfort zones and do not be afraid
to face new things.
Do not be afraid to face challenges for by being challenged,
we realize our potential. We find out how much talent and strength God has bestowed upon us. Before, we used to say in school “ Monster
jud ni nga teacher”, he would give us exams that are hard but still answerable,
he would give us projects with tomorrow as the deadline and he would tell us “
Someday, you will realize why you have to undergo this kind of training” …Now
we say “ PAWER jud keo si sir/ma’am” because indeed they had prepared us in
facing a challenging reality. Train hard and trust the process. Even Manny
Pacquaio is not excused in Training hard.
Do not condemn failure. Failure is an opportunity for us to
know our weakness, strengthen it and rise up even stronger. I myself had been
sort of kicked out from the Accountancy program, lost my scholarship and even
got an F mark. What is important is you
get back up and start again. Failure is not a destination. Failure is just an
evaluation stage.
Do not compare yourself to other people. Do not underestimate
your capability to be the best of what you are and of what you can do. Hindi
pwedeng mag eengineer tayong lahat. Or mag lalawyer or mag ti teacher lahat.
Someone has to be the dentist, the electrician, the accountant. We would also
need pilots, police and nurses. Someone has to be the priest, the technician or
the IT. Each of us has given equal right
to contribute in the community and make this world a better place to live in so
do not waste the space that is allotted for you to occupy. Unity is different
from uniformity.
Do not ever stop dreaming .The future will always be bright
for those who have dreams, for those who are hopeful and determined in
achieving those dreams. Study hard, if that’s not enough then you study harder.
Please please (nanghangyo) please pursue continuing education. When you get to
finish college, You get closer to your other dreams ( I know you have many
dreams). You get closer to people who can help you. You get closer to many
opportunities. You get to do more things easier and you get to make your
parents and guardians and your country proud.
Most importantly, Do not stop praying. In whatever era we
were and are in, the Lord has never and will never abandon us. He’s always present, guiding and coaching us
in the right path. It just happens that the frontiers of global transformation
and unity has prepared a more challenging place to test our skills, faith and
values.
Facing Global
transformation and Unity still requires the same basic things:
A working mind, a working heart and a hardworking pair of
hands.
As you go up here and claim your certificates, be proud of
what you have become. Be excited of what you are becoming . After all ,the word
commencement does not mean an end, it means a new beginning . This is a virtual
ticket to your dreams. As you journey in life, make good memories and gain new
friends and most importantly, may you find your purpose and continue living a good
life.
Congratulations graduates. This is your day. Take it all in
for you have earned it. I pray for your success in every good thing you do and
Godbless you all .
From Galatians chapter 6 verse 9
Let us not be weary in doing good things, for in the future,
we shall reap the fruits of our labor if we faint not.
Thank You.
One very fine Sunday!
