Graduation Message to the SU School of Basic Education, Class of 2017
I am happy and honored to be with you in one of your life’s greatest milestones. Beginning today, you will again set sail for another important voyage, and when you finally arrive at your next destination, none of you will look at life the same way again.
I look at all of you today, and I am whisked back 16 years ago when I sat where you are sitting right now. Graduation was a mix of emotions for me: I felt a pang of sadness because I was bidding farewell to many familiar faces–my friends and teachers alike. I felt accomplished because I finally finished what, at that time, was the most challenging six years of my life. Finally, I felt nervous because I didn’t know what lay in store for me in high school.
Elementary and high school were critical junctures in my life, and without the challenges I confronted during that 10-year stretch, I would not be who I am today.
I find it fascinating when people think that I have never failed because I have failed more times than I have succeeded.
I’d like to think that I’m just very good at getting up, moving on, moving forward, and then opening up myself to many new things to see if I’ll succeed or fail in them.
This is a skill I did not learn inside the classroom but through my experiences outside of the classroom–in the Student Government, in the school paper, and in representing the school in competitions.
I’d like to share with you how my experience outside the classroom helped prepare me for bigger challenges ahead, and why it is important to never say no to any opportunity that comes your way.
I never imagined I would be good at either writing or speaking because while I loved telling stories, when I was in elementary school, I preferred drawing my stories or creating dialogues; and being the naturally-introverted person that I am, I get nervous when I am asked to speak infront of many people, and I really don’t really like to argue or debate.
I was in 4th grade when one of my teachers asked me to try out for the school paper. I had no idea what journalism or news writing was all about so I gave it a shot, and I got in. It was also the first time I experienced being rejected straight to my face when, after submitting several revisions of my fledgling news story, my adviser held my paper tensely, her brows furrowed, as she said, “My dear, you do not know how to write.”
I naturally felt hurt and disappointed but I decided not to quit the school paper. Instead, I poured over our newspaper subscriptions at home, and I would try to practice and teach myself how to write news by following the style of the stories that made it to the headlines.
And it didn’t stop with news; I did the same drill for different kinds of writing from editorial to feature and even until I published my own novel, The Secret of the Amulet.
That novel is special to me because it is a story that emerged when my close friend told me that my writing style was boring and mediocre. So I challenged myself to write in a way that my readers will be able to feel exactly how I experienced my stories.
When I first tried to get my work published, I was rejected so many times until the Davao-based MidTown Printing Press finally took a chance on me and my work.
When I first joined writing contests since grade school, I lost in all of them, until I finally started winning in high school.
I placed last in all the speaking and debating contests I joined during my first few years in the debate society, but that did not stop me from trying.
After graduating from college, it took me close to a year and more than a hundred job applications before a company finally decided to take a chance on me. I was told I was not good enough, I was not qualified, or they did not need me. But again, that did not stop me from trying.
Class of 2017, you cannot expect to be great at something on your first try. It will take several tries before you master your craft. You will go through waves of rejection, hurt, and disappointments but I want you to remember that what is important is that you do not stop trying and believing that you will be able to make it. Open up yourself to experiences that will test your mettle because this will teach you grit and humility–two things that will help you get ahead in life more than grades can.
The second thing that I want you to remember is to never say no to any opportunity that comes your way.
I had never joined a beauty pageant before Miss Silliman 2004 but when SU High School asked me to represent the School of Basic Education, I immediately said yes because it has always been my personal belief to never say no to people who believe that you can accomplish something great.
In fact, I immediately said yes to every opportunity that the school gave me when I was a student, whether it was leading the Student Government, and even joining our section’s basketball team.
These opportunities will help you get to know yourself better, teach you how to deal with rejection and difficult people, and prepare you for bigger things.
A news correspondent once asked me, “You’re so young and yet you have accomplished so many things. What is the secret?”
The secret is, in fact, simply this: whatever it is that life offers you, give it a go.
You will never be prepared enough for all the challenges that will come your way. There will be many times when you will be learning as you go along. I have accomplished many things because I’ve been courageous and bold enough to try many things.
Do not let the fear of failing or the fear of what others will say or think stop you from embarking on something great.
Open yourself up to different experiences and opportunities so you can figure out what excites you, what brings you joy, and what gives your life meaning.
Say YES to the opportunities that will come your way. Discover what you are passionate about and pursue it relentlessly, foolishly if I might add, because when you commit yourself to something you deeply care about, you will not just excel in it but through it, you will be able to make the world a better place for every one.
I want all of you to always remember that success is not simply measured by your grades or how high up you are in the academic achievement ladder or by the popular votes you get from the people around you.
It is measured by how much joy you feel in our heart, and in your ability to bring out the best in other people.
To end, I would like to share with you a poem I have treasured since I joined the Philippine Foreign Service. It’s called Ithaka by CP Cavafy. When I was in Grade 4, I encountered the story of the Greek hero Odysseus who embarked on a series of adventures for 20 years before finally finding his way back home in Ithaca. If you know his story, this poem may strike a chord:
As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon–don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon–you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind–as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years, so you are old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
Class of 2017, you have yet to set sail from the harbor. High School will be exciting and complex. It will be a tapestry of trials and triumphs. It will be a journey of self-discovery.
Savor this remarkable odyssey for all its worth. Welcome the struggles and the setbacks for they will strengthen your spirit. Welcome your moments of victory for they will teach you to be humble.
Class of 2017, congratulations and may your voyage be a long and meaningful one.
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Author’s email: fso.stacy@gmail.com
