RESPONSE IN BEHALF OF THE GRADUATES
Princess May A. Villesenda
3rd Term SY 2008-2009 Commencement Exercises
De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde
4 July 2009
Brother Provincial, Br. Edmundo Fernandez FSC; Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Dr. Merlinda Bucad; Assistant Vice Chancellors and School Deans of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde; dear faculty members; parents; fellow graduates; ladies and gentlemen… a blessed day to you all!
Diamonds have been of a great interest to a lot of people but only some know how they are produced. Let me tell you the recipe of how diamonds are made.
You begin by placing pure carbon under exact pressure at the exact temperature and this is best achieved at approximately a hundred miles below the Earth’s surface. You must be sure that the pressure and temperature are just right or your recipe will fail and you may end up with plain old graphite.
Next, you will have to leave the carbon in this state for approximately one million years. The stone must also be within volcanic area. After heating it up for such a long time, you have to cool it down.
Afterwards, the diamond is made.
But it doesn’t end there. A final touch to your recipe for making a diamond can be achieved by using what is commonly referred to as the “four Cs”. These are cut, clarity, carat and color. Most diamonds do not reach commercial vendors because they fail one or more of the “four Cs” and instead are used for various industrial purposes. The cut should bring out its natural sparkle and should be nicely proportioned. The clarity, on the other hand, should be at the highest level possible. Finally, the carat and color should perfectly fit the consumers’ taste. These are the main reasons why a lot of people have been perpetually attracted to diamonds.
We are diamonds, submerged in difficulties and pressures. Research papers, Oral exams, Reminders and Reprimands from our teachers. It was a very challenging road for all of us. At times, it may have tripped us and somehow it may have crossed our minds that the challenges do not cease at all.
But despite the challenges of being students, we still have a lot of things to be thankful for. We had first-time excursions like the exposure trip to Paris and Brussels for our world tourism class and the New York study tour of the students of the Consular and Diplomatic Affairs program. We had activities that honed our leadership and events management skills like the Young Hoteliers Exposition programs and Student Tour Guide program. And we had socially-relevant opportunities like the Summer of Service of the Center for Social Action.
We are all gathered here, dressed up in our gowns and caps with tassels swinging in front of us, soon to face the world that was once not so familiar to all of us. We learned a lot in the years we had within the four walls of our college.
And yet, the ‘learning’ will still continue. We’re still not through with the challenging road. We still have a long road ahead of us and maybe, at this point, it may even be more challenging than it was before. All we have to do is to never let go, never give up. The point is to just keep on going. No matter what life may hurl at us, we all should stand up straight and face it head on. My fellow graduates, don’t be afraid of the low points of our lives for they are the ones that shape us. We have been through what we’ve been through and nothing will ever change that or take it away. We’ve come a long way and we thank all those who have been with us--the College, our mentors, family, friends, and most especially our parents and the almighty God.
We are fortunate to have been students of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and we should not forget about the others who may be in different situations. Remember that generosity is the pathway for more and we can do this by using our knowledge and skills to help others. It’s a rewarding feeling when we are doing good and sharing with others. As the saying from Spiderman goes: “with great power comes great responsibility”. And since we have graduated from one of the premiere colleges in the Philippines, we have all acquired the great power of education. Now, the responsibility is given to us to help not only ourselves, our families, and friends, but, most importantly, our less fortunate countrymen who will need it more.
Whatever we may do in the upcoming years would not only affects us as individuals but also affects the future generations to come. Our children and children’s children will harvest the fruits of our labor. So it is in us to make this foundation tough to prevent our own heirs from any hardships and failures.
We are the future; what would be next for us lies in our hands. All our decisions play a general role in our lives and in the country. We, the students of DLS-CSB, were taught to strive for what is best. We are given the task of social responsibility in which we should take part in helping others live a normal and decent life.
We all know about the rampant scare of recession, but I believe that it wouldn’t be a major problem if we have the passion for what we are doing. If we love what we are doing and we know what we want to become, there wouldn’t be any barrier to achieve our goals. Always remember that we should be the ones chasing our dreams because our dreams wouldn’t run after us. If we’re determined to attain our goals, we will always find a way to reach it; so let’s just keep on striving!
This day marks the beginning of reality. This time, there wouldn’t be any more mentors to guide us, no more papers to be rechecked, no more walking along the halls of our College. Once the caps and gowns are taken off, we go into the world that is not well known to most of us. This time, it would only be us.
But it is also the best time to show the world what students of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde are made of—fine cut, pure clarity, stunning color and of the highest carat …
Good day and good luck to all of us.
Animo Benilde!
RESPONSE IN BEHALF OF THE GRADUATES
Nicole Marie R. Villarojo
155th Commencement Exercises
De La Salle University
18 July 2009
Former President Fidel V. Ramos, Br. Armin Luistro FSC, Mr. Joaquin Quintos IV, University Fellows, Vice-chancellors, administrators, faculty, parents, and fellow graduates: a pleasant morning to everyone.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of spending time with 31 of the most brilliant Filipino minds—the future movers and shakers of this country. I came in there thinking I was well above everyone else—a city girl who came from a well-to-do family and studied in one of the most expensive private universities in the country. However, that experience had proven to be nothing but humbling for me. Their stories burned my heart and if you’d allow me, I’d like to share some of their stories with you in the hope that it will inspire you and challenge you.
One of my roommates is an aspiring accountant from Tuguegarao who is a humble daughter of a tricycle driver. My other roommate is an education major from Bohol who is a proud daughter of a carpenter. We had a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy who, despite having only 30 days in a year to spend with his family decided to use this time to recruit volunteers from PMA to build houses for Gawad Kalinga. A particularly touching story was from a Physics graduate of Dumaguete who came from an extremely poor family. His home had no electricity and in the evenings, his home was lit by two crude lamps. When these would malfunction, he would be forced to leave his bed (which he shared with his 3 other siblings) and studied under the nearest street lamp. He used his first winnings from a science competition not to buy his prized cellphone, but to buy his family their first toilet. He finished Summa Cum Laude from his University and devotes himself to do research for our country.
I felt so insignificant after hearing their stories, after knowing how they battled with their personal demons and how, despite all these, they’ve remained steadfast in their faith in their god and their love for this country. But I came to realize that we don’t choose to be born poor or to be born rich. What is most important is what we make of what is given to us. In fact, the challenge given to us, as Lasallians, is even greater. I think Dr. Jose Rizal’s words speak to us even more clearly today:
“Where are the youth who will dedicate their innocence, their enthusiasm for the good of the country?
Where are they who will give generously of their blood to wash so much shame, crime, and abomination?
Where are you young men, young women, who are to embody in yourselves the life-force that has been drained from our veins, the pure ideals that have grown stained in our fiery enthusiasm that has been quenched in our hearts? We await you, come for we await you.”
Fellow Lasallians, these are great words to remember because today, more than ever, our country needs us. Too often we are confronted with news of massive corruption; of unexplained deaths and disappearances of farmers, of students, of journalists, of leaders who have placed their personal agenda above the needs and aspirations of our country and our people. We hear of laws that are conveniently resurrected and made menacingly real and of lawmakers who continue to make a mockery of our government. We are fast losing our moral moorings. We therefore have a responsibility to reverse the tide of injustice and mediocrity.
When Go Negosyo interviewed me and asked what my dream was for our country, my answer was simple: I said all I wanted, was for our country to DREAM AS ONE; for all of us to work tirelessly to BUILD THIS NATION.
I hope our future educators can significantly help shape the young Filipino minds of the next generation; our future engineers to help house our countrymen who continue to squat in their own country; our future businessmen and women to create products and provide services to make Filipino lives better; our future artists to continue preserving and enriching our Filipino culture; for those in the field of IT to become the bridge between us and the rest of the world; and for our future scientists to provide groundbreaking research for our country.
Fellow graduates, we are here today not only to end another chapter in our story, but to make the people closest to our hearts proud. To our Creator for the strength to endure life’s beatings. To our families for dreaming with us and for supporting our every endeavour. To our friends, for seeing the person who we truly are, for accepting and loving us despite all our shortcomings. Finally, to our alma mater, for believing in us and for inspiring us to dream bigger, to aim higher, but to still keep our feet on the ground.
Let me end with some words from Jose Diokno: “We Filipinos are a variegated people. We live in seven thousand islands. We profess no less than five major religions. We pray in no fewer than seven native tongues. But all of us—Muslims or Christian, Tagalog or Visayan or Ilocano or Kapampangan, all of us are Filipinos not only because we are brothers in blood—many of us are not, but because we are all brothers in tears; not because we all share the same land—many of us are landless, but because we share the same dream. Whether we like it or not we are one nation with one future, a future that will be as bright or as dark as we remain united or divided.”
On a personal note, I hope to see all of you in 2010 casting a vote for our country, casting a vote for our children; so that the next generation can inherit an even better Philippines.
Thank you and good morning. Animo La Salle!
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