my commencement speech as keynote speaker in my alma mater..

Distinguished guest of the presidential table spearheaded by EMERLINDA M. ORIDA, principal 1 of Fishing Village Elementary School. To Mr. Francisco P. Diaz, Jr., head teacher 1, my superb mentors in this institution, inspired graduates in their academic dress, proud parents…Mga silingan sa Buhangin! A pleasant afternoon to you all…
My appearance for today has never been easy to me. When my aunt Welgie who happened to be a teacher here and one of my best mentors before, opened the possibility that I can be one on the list to speak up in front of these young minds took me so long weighing the two sides of the coin. Am I capable to verbalize things this momentous date, to maybe, just maybe motivate the graduates in acquiring a greater height in education because of the mere fact that I am one of the lucky 37,527 nursing graduates in the recently concluded NURSES LICENSURE EXAM out of the 94,462 trying hard to outsmart each other? Would that be enough to be picked as guest speaker? What are the things, experiences, and adversity that I will serve to these youngsters as my main course besides from the side dishes and appetizer as food for their thoughts? Or shall I include my latest heartbreak with my girlfriend and our more 2 years old relationship and the idea of you-are-all-mine-and-mine-alone-until-our-hairs-turn-to-gray-idea of love. Because I considered her as my immediate family due to the fact that my mother is miles away from me working as OFW and our family is considered as “DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY”? Then, look stupid in front of you all! But I tell you nobody is stupid because of his experience-every stupid story has its moral lesson to highlight. And mine is one of them! So I came here humble yet armored with my exceptional experienced that I had before and the days to come, to emphasize the magic of being tagged as professional and the good things about education.
“Dalawang dekada ka lang mag aral. Kung di mo pagtitiyagaan limang dekada ng kahipan ang kapalit. Sobrang lugi.Kung alam lang yan ng mga kabataan, sa pananaw ko eh walang gugustuhing umiwas sa skwela”. Yan ang sabi ng kaibigan kong si Bob Ong. Di talaga kami magkaibigan siya ang isa sa pinakapaboritong manunulat ko.Di na kailangang manaliksik upang maikumpirma ang mga numero kung ilang milyong Pilipino ngayon ang walang trabaho; propesyonal man o hind nakapagtapos ng pag-aaral. Subalit, kung ikaw ay nakatapos ng kurso sa kolehiyo, ikaw ay may mas karapatang tumanggap ng malaki-laking karampatang sahod at mamuhay na angat sa iba. Isang napakalungkot na katotohanan na buhay na eksina ng ating lipunan sa modernong panahon. Kaya ang ating simpleng solusyon lamang mag-aral…mag-aral…at mag- aral ng maigi…Ang pag- aaral ay isang sakripisyo hindi lamang sa nag-aaral na estudyanteng kinakitaan ng pag-asa ng magulang datapwa’t sa magulang rin na kung minsan buwis buhay ang ginagawa sa totoong entablado ng buhay maibigay lamang ang pangangailangan ng mahal na anak. Ito man ay nagsunog ng kilay upang maitawid ang buhay tungo sa napakagandang pangarap o naging pasaway na estudyante: bulakbol, nagpakalasing sa pag- ibig ng syota at naglakwatsa. Kaya it’s a two way process-a collaboration between parents and child and their determination to acquire the greater heights of education. Kung walang pagpupursigi rin ang magulang ang anak ay wala ring maaabot sa buhay. Tingnan natin ang isa sa pinakakonkretong halimbawa sa determinasyon sa gitna ng hirap. Si Judy Lardizabal ay isang baristang nangarap maging isang abogado nag aral at nagtrabaho ng sabay. Iginapang ng mga magulang sa pagtitinda lamang ng gulay sa palengke at pagtatricycle ang trabaho ng tatay nya. Sa kalaunan hinirang na abogado at naging numero uno sa 2008 bar exam. So, sa punto karon, akoa giimbitahan ang mga ginikanan niining mga nigradwar nga mutindog ug mupataas sa ilahang mga kamot ug mupasalig sa pagpaeskwela sa ilahang anak. ”AKO NAGAPANUMPA NGA ISIP USA KA GINIKANAN AKO MUHATAG UG MAAYONG KAUGMAON SA AKOANG ANAK SA PAGPAEDUKAR NILA DILI LAMANG SA HIGH SCHOOL KUNG DILI HANTOD SILA MAHUMAN UG SKWELA SA KOLIHIYO O UNSA MANG BOKASYON ILAHANG GUSTO”…Daghang salamat sa atoang mga ginikanan…IMPOSSIBLE!!!Maybe that would be the exact word in your mind right now as mental note! Yet, I tell you now that “I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS MAGIC, YOU HAVE TO BE A MAGICIAN; YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN! Failures are disturbing your journey towards the sweet taste of success yet that would only be the spices- seasonings of life towards achieving dreams. Remember, Thomas Edison had thousands of failures before he got the light bulb right. Benjamin Franklin- the fool on the roof flying the kite in a rainstorm, retired as one of the first millionaires. And the person in front of you is a living testimony. I tumbled down in my greatest quest in education for countless times then, but I stood up so tall and faced the world with confidence. I have rested for a while because of the seatbacks that had transpired yet the journey continues…Since I was a naïve child I loved going to school maybe because I want to learn things that will not be acquired at home. Even if I considered my “MAMA INGKAY” as my first teacher because she was the first person who taught me how to read the ABAKADA thing prior to my formal entrance to a grade school, there are concepts that shared by our teachers that our mothers can’t feed us at home. Every time I wrongly read or just even mispronounced every syllables, I got hit a diminutive stick. All I had to do back then was to cry silently in front of her. Suffice to say, she was my change agent about my fear in going to school. She allowed me no more in over spending my extra time with play. Instead, I was forced to read books and make my home works. I got irritated by her presence every day during those days. She resembled as my greatest sore eye of the panoramic view of my childhood years. Yet, not until one time left us for a living abroad. It was though we were walking towards our journey blind folded. If I was given a chance to turn back time, I would rather choose to become a child again with my caring mother that would scold me whenever I run barefooted under the scorching heat of the sun. Or perhaps, put some antiseptic solution to cleanse my wounds every stumble. I learned to perceive also that those children who have been spank or scolded by their mothers are the happiest and luckiest children in the world not because they were beaten so hard but they were treated with love and compassion by their disciplinary measures. It was really hard to be abandoned by a mother. Plus, the day to day adversity that you have to face added up to hard to your life. So, I learned to dance whatever music had been presented to me until now. I had chosen to be strong and firm. “NALAMAN KONG HABANG LUMALAKI KA, MARAMING BESES KANG NADADAPA.BUMANGON KA MAN O HINDI, MAGPAPTULOY ANG BUHAY, IIKOT ANG MUNDO, AT MAUUBOS ANG ORAS.” I studied hard! I engaged so many activities in school to fill in the hole in my heart and the reality that we are considered to be a dysfunctional family in our modern time because we are not completely together. I chose to take up nursing and the follow the advocacy of Florence Nightingale “LADY WITH A LAMP” as the mother of the caring and nursing behavior. LISOD! Mao na ang exact word na akoa masulti to summarize my life in college. FOR SURE KAILA KA NI NURSE JANE? Ana kalisod mabutang sa field sa heath care. We are not allowed to make mistakes because we can kill life if magpatanga-tanga me. It was even harder to experience our patients died in our hands while trying our best to revive them. Or after the duty I don’t have some to open my the feeling of exhaustion out of emotional fatigue and physical tiredness because my mother was away from me and just simply say: A CARER ALSO NEEDS A CARE! Besides sa gasto kayo mapressure me sa mga tawo kadto estudyante pami ka yang tan aw nila s amoa mga nursing students dato which is the exact ooposite of our true status qou. IPAMALIGYA NG MGA BABOY, BAKA, CARABAO PATI KATUNGA SA BALAY PARA MAKABAYAD UG TUITION NI ONDO UG INDAY. “ MANGARAP KA AT ABUTIN MO.WAG MONG SISIHIN ANG SIRA MONG PAMILYA, PALPAK MONG SYOTA, PILAY MONG TUTA, O MGA LUMILIPAD NA IPIS.KUNG MAY PAGKUKULANG MAN SAYO MGA MAGULANG MO, PWEDE KANG MANISI AT MAGING REBELDE…TUMIGIL KA SA PAG- AARAL, MA-ASAWA KA, MAG-DRUGS KA, MAGPAKULAY NG BUHOK SA KILIKILI. SA BANDANG HULI, IKAW DIN ANG BIKTIMA. REBELDENG WALANG NAPATUNAYAN AT BAIT SA SARILI.” Isang katagang kinopya ko kay BOB ONG na sumasalamin sa aking pagsusumikap. First time pa lang naku ug panimpalad sa Davao sa kagustuhan naku nga makaeskwela ug maayong skwelahan Mao kini ang nahitabo…”AKO ANG UNANG NISAKAY SA JEEP, UG AKO PUD ASNG PINAKAULAHING NINAOG NGA PASAHERO KAY NAWALA KO”.”GANAHAN KA KULANG NA LANG MUINGON ANG DRIVER NGA: DONG UNSAY PAGTOO NIMU FIELDTRIP NI KAY ITOUR TAKAG DAVAO? GANAHAN KA!!!If I learned to eat “BULAD” KAY AKOANG PAPA NAGABALIGYA RA UG TANGKONG SA UNA UG AKO MAMA KAY PLAIN HOUSEWIFE LANG. If I learned to love that food as my routine “SUD AN”, during my college days in Davao I had loved to feed myself with “NILAGANG ITLOG OR TOYO”! UYAB-UYAB!!!Maybe this would be the best part of the story for me. Here is the part that we can hear lines like these: the echo of his pain twisted inside, his pain my pain. Or perhaps, I lay quiet in his arms, re-memorizing his face, pretending he would lean down suddenly and kiss me-his glass- smooth lips brushing against mu hair, my forehead, the tip of my nose, each time it was like an electric shock to my long dormant beating. From the novel TWILIGHT: NEW MOON…To make the story short, My recent girlfriend was the best friend of my ex girlfriend and my recent girlfriend was the girlfriend of my best friend. Suffice to say, I fell in love with the wrong girl at a wrong time. Moral lessons of the story: 1.STUDY IS YOUR FIRST DUTY, MAKE THE MOST OF IT FOR OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS YOUR DOOR ONCE. 2. DON’T FALL INLOVE WITH THE WRONG GIRL. Fall in love 3 times or more to your reliable and right girlfriend/boyfriend that would be your father and mother. They are the most dependable and worth waiting for your love because their love are unconditional. If you will love them more, there are no lines like these. Break nata! Cool off sata!If they will break your heart, it’s for good. And significantly, they are not only in your side during happy moments to say sweet nothings but they will be staying at you depressing chapter of your life.3. UG ANG PINAKA LAST NA MORAL LESSON, DILI TALUHUN ANG BARKADA! KAY GABAAN KA!!! HEHEHE…I had her for more than two years not that long with her best friend for more than 5 years then. I cried ocean of tears because she left me wounded and empty. But I know there is more to life than being miserable because of a girl. I learn accept the final curtain call: the closing of our chapters with my girlfriend so I stand here in front of you that I chose to be strong and education with my wide inferences in weighing the situation. So I am here standing so tall yet the spirit of humility still fires inside. And thanking my mentors in this institution that shape me who I am right this juncture. Neophyte but willing to have a good fight! To ma’am LILIA AND MAM LUZ, THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME THE BAH…BAH...BLACK SHEEP! AND THE DANCESTEPS TAUGHT TO ME. I can consider myself as good sheep because you are good shepherds to me. To MAM TERIA, A MILLION THANKS FOR TEACHING ME HOW TO READ AND WRITE WELL…Now, I learned how to speak up when I have to defend myself from others castigation and one-sided opinions. To MAM DAILITA EVEN IF SHE’S NOT HEARING IT, THANKS FOR THE BOROL ANG KABUNDUKAN LESSON IN HISTORY, NOW I KNOW HOW TO CLIMB HILLS AND HIGH MOUNTAINS WITH ZEST AND ALTRUISM…TO MAM DUYAG…Thanks for introducing the MATH LESSONS AND ALLOWING ME PARTICIPATED A MATH CONTEST DURING MY GRADE FOUR WHERE I BAGGED THE 2ND PLACE FOR YOUR THOUROUGH REVIEW EVEN I HATE NUMBERS SO MUCH. You opened me to the idea that in life sometimes you have to solve your worst mathematical problems and face your greatest nightmare by your own to be a victor. TO MAM AUNTIE WELGIE thanks for teaching me how to pronounce the lasagna not as lasagna and letting spelled out very hard words during your English class before. Now, I know that you made so good not only correcting my weakness and challenging me exert more than what I have but you also taught me to soar high. TO MAM PARBA THANKS FOR LETTING ME FEEL THAT I AM THE BEST BY YOUR HEKASI CLASS NOT AS SECOND BEST AND MY OUTLET OF DEPRESSIONS AND BEING AN ADVISER. You thought me how to feel that I have worth and I can be somebody important someday. To all new mentors in this institution, I knew you got all what a teacher should have to continue in your pursuit towards educating young minds. To my aforementioned mentors, I am sincere saying thank you very much for I can’t possibly attach the initials RN, REGISTERED NURSE WITHOUT YOU ALL.
This speech of mine took me so long to make because the topic is a broad concept to discuss yet in my own experienced because of my will to be who I am now maybe would suffice that if you are willing to risk everything for your dreams you can have it all…Two thirds of Jesus life was spent because of education because of his advocacy to “TEACH” and “PREACH”. Teaching is educating the minds and preaching is educating the heart. So he did it all to educate us. So someday, if you will be professionals you should also remember the value of preaching which is educating the heart. “And good education shape people’s mind. A good education makes a good mind, but not necessarily a good person. So, we will never be prone to gossip, engaging unproductive pursuit, spreading unverified rumors, finding others misery as an equalizer to us.” As I quote from a write up of a friend.Eduaction would not only make you FAMOUS…REPUTABLE…DECENT…HIGHLY REGARDED…AND RICH…BUT IT WOULD DEFINITELY MOLD YOU US A BETTER PERSON DEPENDING ON HOW YOU WOULD RESPOND AND CARRY YOUR VICTORY…Before at the same event, same seat that you are supposed seated right this juncture, I was dreaming when our speaker broadcasted her victory in life because of education. And now the naïve me before, now speak like a victorious king from fight for sure you will do it the same way. Just study, believe ,and PRAY/FAITH TO HIM!!!
Before I signed off, let me leave a quote from my favorite fiction author; SYDNEY SHELDON,” IN LIFE THERE ARE ONLY TWO CHOICES EITHER TO KEEP ON HIDING, RUNNING, AND BLAMING THE WORLD FOR YOUR PROBLEM OR TO STAND UP FOR YOURSELF AND BE SOMEBODY IMPORTANT!!!Maayong hapon…