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keytiegalore · 2 years ago

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Key note speech in 5th Commencement Exercise of my alma mater

(Not the actual piece but an outline of the whole speech. Took some golden notes from different speakers to be able to conceptualize content.)

Courtesies.

Wow, it feels surreal!

Before anything else, let me honor all the incredible parents, family members, mentors, teachers, allies, friends, and loved ones here today who have supported these students in their pursuit of educational enrichment; let me say to you now: Congratulations for a job well done!

As for you, my dear graduates, my fellow alumni, It is an honor to be here with you to help celebrate this fantastic milestone in your lives. Graduating from college or high school culminates in years of hard work. So please enjoy this moment. You deserve this celebration. Congratulations.

Two years ago, I dreamed of having to talk to a crowd of achievers and dreamers in my alma mater. And this, this is just a dream come true, an opportunity to share with you a piece of my story that I hope you can draw a lesson from or be inspired by.

I bet many of you expect this to be a long and drawn-out address, as many of them tend to be. Let me reassure you that this won’t be one of them.

One of my most profound memories of my stay here is having found my very few and most treasured friends, my all-time supporters in the persona of my most valuable teachers who have always believed in the future that awaits me; to special mention, my first-year adviser and Biology teacher, Mam Aga Christy Dologmandin, and my fourth-year adviser and English mentor, Mam Johanna Montes, with whom I still have close contact even after high school.

My batch was the second to last batch of the old curriculum before K12 and the first of graduates whose rites were held here.

Ten years ago, just like the rest of you here, I sat there listening to another speech of success from an alumna. I graduated from this institution as the salutatorian, the second-best of my batch that quilts my “failure” story in the eyes of many as the good-for-nothing, much shocking news from a top student in elementary ending a second spot in the same community school.

That was my first of many failures as a student, but I got the highest SASE Score in my batch. I got admitted to the most prestigious tertiary school in Iligan, graduated there, and passed my board examinations months after.

I’ve found that this journey has been incredibly freeing. Because no matter what happened, I had the peace of mind knowing that all of the chatter, the name-calling, the doubting, all of it was just noise. It did not define me, it didn’t change who I was, and most importantly, it couldn’t hold me back.

Someone even told my parents, “If di ko kapasar SASE, di jud ko makaskwela kay di jud makapaskwela nko akong parents." This is true in my reality because our family belongs to low-income earners. Even if IIT is the cheapest school in Iligan in tuition fees, it was a burden because one: I was not a scholar in the school, and two: plete palang bug-at na kay dba double ride paingon IIT. At that time, Papa was the family’s only breadwinner, working as maintenance personnel, and Mama was a plain housewife. My parents were furious about it. They worked so hard to send me to college. My mom became a street sweeper for DPWH.

That being said, mahirap, but my parents had made me through college.

I grew up in a family of five, the eldest of three siblings; my sisters were also alumni of this school, which means Ditucalan National High School molded us.

By that, today is not just a day of you having to step another milestone but also a success championed by your parents, family, and loved ones.

Through my parents’ persistence and hard work, I could go to college. I was admitted to IIT, a top-notch educational institution in the world. I took a Bachelor in Elementary Education Major in English from 2013-2019. I went there solely to graduate on time, which I did not. Yes, I had a one-year and a half-semester extension in college. So, that took me five years and six months for a four-year course before I got that diploma.

My college life had been a roller coaster ride; I commuted daily—Di mi ka-afford ug boarding house sauna. I traveled every day to class, considering that Ditucalan is 16.8 km. I woke up early for my 7 AM class, pag-about sa school haggard na.

Back when I was in college, ginabalunan jd ko sakong mama. Sauna akong mga blockmates kay sa Jollibee, Mcdo na naga-lunch unya ginakuyog man ko ana nila kay study-out lagi didto after sa pangaon, dili ko magpalit kay igo ragud pamiliti akong kwarta. Sa madaling sabi, dili ko ka-afford. Kaunon nko unsay gibalon nko sulod sa Jollibee ug Mcdo tapos ginatagaan rapud ko nila sa ilang foods.

Life is tough, but we are more rigid. Diskarte Rana.

Sometimes, akong mga kadungan sa lunch kay silang April ug Client who were both in SET. Samung batch kay 4 rami ga-IIT ato kay 5 raman mi nakapasar sa SASE. Graduates napud sila sa IIT ron, we both shared the same stories of extension in college but nigraduate mi despite the hurdles of promdi na estudyante.

Sometimes, I went out for lunch with their classmates Ate Berna and Kuya Roy. I can still remember, ginapa-seat in ko ni Ate Berna sa iyang mga klase sa CBAA labaw na ug taas akong vacant for the next class. Kay pwede Raman to a seat-in sauna. So, most of my closest friends in college are my classmates and schoolmates from high school and a few from Ate Bern’s and Kuya Roy.

These people, I must say, played a significant role in my survival during college.

So, pick your friends wisely. You don’t want to start hanging around with a group of people with different values than you. You do not want to compromise who you are to fit in. Choosing friends who can serve as a robust support system is crucial. Not only will you want to spend time with your friends during good times, but when you need some support, it’s essential and beneficial to have reliable and supportive friends to turn to.

In my third year, I failed a handful of subjects and got into depression and a series of anxiety attacks before I left college.

The last remaining semesters made it a lot tougher because of thesis. Yes, naka-survive rapud ko sa college na walay kaugalingong laptop and nagahulog-piso ra sauna. Sauna, ginatype ra nako akong research assignments sakong phone, akong cellphone pa ato kay My Phone Neo series tapos gina-copy paste nko sakong messenger para pag maka-computer nko kay icopy paste ra nko siya sa Word ayha ko mag-paprint.

And then, I graduated in January 2019. I landed my job after two months. Back then, I was juggling work and my review for LET. I’ve been an admin officer at Toyota Iligan City for almost two years. Alas- 5 akong klase sa SLRC ato unya layu bia ang Toyota sa centro so late jud ko permi musulod ug klase, alas 10 na dayun na mahuman among klase tapos muuli pajud kog Ditucalan ana, magcommute. I usually arrived home at 11:30 or before 12, depending on the availability of jeepneys. Ingon kag nakakabit nakog Buruun line na naka-2-inch heels na naka-skirt. Rain or shine ga-review class, even on weekends for almost 5 months.

I can still remember there were times of audits in the company when I was tasked to assist my supervisor. It was a one-month preparation for the audit, so there were days I couldn’t attend my classes. Kay nakatoka man ko sa documents, ako’y tig-edit; tig-proofread.

But, there were days my recess and lunch in our department were dedicated to my self-review pero natagak na peer-review. Because I was just so lucky, my workmates were hands-on reviewing me. I had a teacher, an engineer, a nurse, a technician, and a chemist as my lecturers.

Niana jd ko sakong kaugalingon na: mabagsak jd ko sa board exam kay wala koy tuon na tarung. I was never ready to take the board examination in September. I was expecting to fail, but I also told myself, if mabagsak ko, mu-take jud kog balik hantud sa makapasar ko. Never say die!

Most importantly, I passed the licensure examination for teachers.

But despite all this, my parents were able to get me through college. I graduated from college having to do my passion in writing and Journalism, which landed me my job now, and I am currently in my 2nd year in Law School.

I learned three things from this series of ups and downs, two of which are self-evident:

You can’t succeed if you don’t show up and do the job. (According to Woody Allen, turning up is 90% of success.)

Getting into an argument with your teacher (or your boss) is rarely a good substitute for hard work.

The third lesson isn’t as clear, but it’s far more essential than it was for me: If you can learn from your mistakes, you’ll be more likely to succeed. Failure, when faced right, is the best mentor.

And I’m still pretty much convinced that failing can help you succeed. Your education has equipped you with the ability to reason, ponder, and pick among the possibilities available to you. But, no matter how well-intentioned you are, you will occasionally make the poor choice and fail.

I am speaking from personal experience. If you try everything you want to do, you will occasionally fail.

However, you must never forget that your education taught you how to deal with failure, learn from it, and move on. Even if it’s difficult to admit, if you never fail, it just means you’ve never pushed to surpass what you already know you can achieve. That doesn’t make much sense.

Bill Gates says, “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” He’s right. Put, if you never fail, you’ve never tried to do something hard.

“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp,” the Scots poet Robert Browning tells us.

We should always strive for something bigger than we are now capable of achieving. And if we do it, we will frequently fail. There is no shame in that. The humiliation would be in failing to learn from the setback. The most significant way to deal with failure is to learn from it and move on.

Robert Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve greatly.”

Success is never easy. But it’s worth the struggle, and it’s worth the failures that will come before it.

You are proof of that today. I doubt anyone sitting here today, among the graduates, the crowd, or on this stage, has never had to overcome some failure. The trick is never to give up.

Let’s be honest. Failures are inevitable. As long as you are ready to take the risk or try something new, you will face losses. How you interpret these failures and come out of them is totally up to you as an individual.

Do not worry about what others have to say. Today they will tell you of your failures, and tomorrow, they will be the ones applauding you on your success. It is just a matter of time.

Remember, it’s your failure. Own it and accept it. Wear it on your chest like a badge of honor and keep your head high like a soldier. It’s a battlefield out there.

We all make mistakes. Nobody is perfect in this world. It’s no sin to make mistakes, but not learning from them is a cardinal sin of life.

Life is all about failures, my friends.

Take some time off, look back at all your losses in your personal lives and see how far they have gotten you today.

The bottom line is that you have survived, and it is all about survival at the end of the day.

But enough of all that.

Today is a time to celebrate, bask in your success, and look forward to the future and the new challenges ahead.

Thanks to your families, teachers, and yourself, you’re prepared for those challenges. Face them head-on. Enjoy them.

But above all, don’t be afraid to take a chance to make your life and the lives of those you love even better.

You’re prepared to take those chances.

You can do it. You know you can.

Challenge yourself, accept failure as a lesson, not a punishment, and press on regardless. Remember that failing and being a failure are not the same thing.

You can fail without being a failure.

If you are good at failing, you’re well on the road to success.

DI KAYO NAG-IISA.

WALA MO GAINUSARA ANI NA BYAHE.

Daghang Salamat.

Mabuhay po tayong lahat!

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keytiegalore · 2 years ago

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hi to all two of you!

I’ve been very inactive on this account but I’m going to be starting my freshman year in college in the fall, so I plan on making more use of this blog then. I’m graduating highschool soon and I wanted to share a graduation speech my wonderful AP Lit teacher had me write.

Before I began high school, perhaps around seventh grade, I decided I wanted to be valedictorian of my graduating class. I set this goal somewhat arbitrarily. To be entirely honest with you all, it was largely because Justin Russo from Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place was valedictorian of his graduating class. To me, being valedictorian seemed like an important job for intelligent people who did well in school - an embodiment of everything I could have wanted to be at the time. I was anxious to show the world that I was the best and the brightest. I thought becoming valedictorian was the only way to prove to myself that I was valuable. Today, I want to tell you why I was wrong.

I have spent a lot of time agonizing over my grades. For much of my life, I genuinely felt that my GPA was the most important thing about me. I was taught to believe that my future was dependent on doing well in school - in fact, not just doing well, but doing perfectly. My parents and teachers never said anything of this effect to me directly, rather, it was an idea I internalized from the competitive attitudes of my peers and the rewards provided to students who did well. Our educational system has built a toxic environment for children, especially those who are naturally high achievers. Many teachers like to say that their students should be working to learn, and not for a grade alone - but who is it that taught these students that their grades matter above all else in the first place? It’s not the teachers fault - but the structure of the learning environment in America tells children that if they do not do well, they are worthless. How is it a wonder that students argue for minute changes in their scores when, in their eyes, those letters and numbers reflect an essential truth about themselves? For many students, their grades are what make them who they are.

You might have guessed this, but I am not valedictorian of our class. I have great respect for my valedictorian, and I am quite proud to say that I made it into the top twenty of the class of 2019. I genuinely love learning and working hard in school just feels right to me. But school does not encompass all of who I am. It never has and it never will. I stand here today a different woman than I was as a freshman - of course. It would be deeply concerning if I hadn’t changed at all. I have become many things I never thought I would be. An athlete with a varsity letter. An advocate with experience knocking doors and making phone calls, two actions that once would have caused me to have a panic attack. A leader, in a variety of ways, for clubs I never thought I’d join and among students I never thought I’d talk to. I grew so much in high school. Some of that was academic, of course. My newfound understanding of varying viewpoints on history and their connection to the kind of analysis we do in this classroom is going to stick with me for the rest of my life - and I even vaguely remember how polarity works, so I’m set with science too. However, a lot of what was important to my growth in high school was far more personal than academic. I gained a lot of perspective on my own relationships and identity. I figured out what I want to do with my life (for now, it’s really subject to change at any given moment, and if anyone asks me about it, I will spiral). I learned to speak up for myself, and to let people go. None of this was taught in a classroom, or in any book I read, or in a crash course video narrated too quickly by John Green. I value my education greatly, and I believe in working hard to do well. But the most important thing I learned in high school is that high school isn’t everything. Being valedictorian would not have made me any more valuable than I already am. I am prepared to do wonderful things in the world for the rest of my life. Knowing that I am enough is all I can ask for.

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