by: Ariem Venezuela Cinco
Commencement Speech
This is dedicated to my family, my friends, my classmates, and my mentors.
March 29.2010
Distinguished guests, proud parents, friends, members of the faculty, academicians, honor students, the members of the graduating class.
Good morning. How is everyone? That’s good to hear. Do you know how I feel now? How I feel now is a bit ironic in my world. I always tell my students back in Manila not to be nervous when they deliver their presentation, but here I come…geez, nervous. Are you nervous too? I don’t think so. You’re bored. I know how it feels listening to boring speeches, so I promise not to make this speech long, just at least half of the 150-page book I am writing. Or maybe just as long as the repeaters have stayed in high school. Aside from boredom, I know you feel so excited to get your awards, medals, your lunch and party. But hey,listen up, you won’t graduate until I finish my speech.
When I was invited to speak in this occasion, I immediately said yes. Why me of all people? I did not finish school with honors. I am not rich. I am not famous. I am a failure. My life is no way exceptional and extraordinary except that my life brought me lessons which come with brilliance of pride and dignity. But why am I here? I am here because of YOU.
I believe that my presence today is more than just to deliver a speech. I am here with the fervent hope that I would somehow move you and influence you in the best way possibly I can. However, I am not here to insist on a definite course of action that which you shall take in the future. I am here to tell you NOT to be like me but to tell YOU to strive to be your own person and become better than anyone else without the reservation to grandstand others. I am glad to be here with you to share meaningful lessons in life I have learned and the driving forces that have shaped me who I am today and have brought me to where I am this very moment.
When I was in grade school, everything was nothing but a dream. As a child, I was a dreamer and hoped that one day my dreams would be translated into meaningful realities. My dreams were to get a college degree, to become a public speaker, and to fly on an airplane, and most importantly, to fulfill the real essence of a longer existence for me to touch other people’s lives. These dreams seemed too simple and ordinary to some but it didn’t matter to me at all. After all, it’s not how big or small your dreams are but it’s how you see your dreams come true in the future. Actually, my father wanted me to become a lawyer, my mother wanted me to become a broadcast journalist, my sisters wanted me to become a nurse, and ironically my brothers wanted me to become a beautician ( I am kidding). Yet, I had my own dream for myself – I wanted to become a doctor. The truth is not everything we want in life happen the way we want them to happen. In short, I did not finish medicine but still I obtained a degree somewhat related to the field of science and medicine. Since I wanted to become a doctor, I have now an MDPhd degree (Mukhang doctor, pero hindi doctor). On a serious note, I finished Bachelor in Secondary Education Major in Biology and Minor in Mathematics. It is your faith in your dreams that will bring you to your rightful place in time. All these dreams have come true. What I am trying to point out to you young graduates and parents is that it is important that you have the desire to achieve something, the aspirations that would motivate you to take life-changing plans and actions to make things happen for the better. Remember that life without a plan is like a withered leaf, it flies just anywhere the wind blows it, and it lacks direction. However, life with a plan is like a river, it goes through its course and flows out to sea. To you graduates, do not be afraid to dream for dreaming is the only thing we could do for free. Do not be afraid to dream big dreams. The famous cliché goes: Dream, Believe, and Survive. Because when you dream, you would achieve something. This is the first power – the power of the dream.
However, it doesn’t end in dreaming alone. The best way to accomplish your dreams is to keep yourselves awake. It is very important that you choose to take the necessary actions towards the realization of your dreams. Let’s look at some practical circumstances for you to understand my point. All that you are today is a product of your choices and what you will be in the future is determined by the choices you make today. Now make a choice! Who among you here choose to be rich like Manny Pacquaio? Then aspire to be a boxer! On a serious note, he chooses to fight because it is his way for him to give his family a very good life. If only he had the courage to take the chances to finish school, he wouldn't have resorted to engage in a deadly sport. However, it doesn’t matter who he was before. What matter are his choices and the kind of life he has today. I know how hard it is to make choices especially when it seems there is nothing to pick at all. To further simplify my point, none of our teachers would have become teachers without them attending school. You won’t be here today to receive your diploma, if you did not study to pass all your subjects. None of you would be repeaters if only you took your studies seriously. But there is one thing I know that happened in my life without me doing something. Do you want to know what it is? When I was born cute. Kidding again.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. There is no short-cut to the pinnacle of success. The best of luck and opportunities come to those who work for these opportunities to come knocking their doors. Opportunities are all around us, ready to be made. I want to tell you that I have had the share of great and wonderful opportunities, in fact, I have been invited (I did not apply) to go to Seoul, Korea, Beijing and Shanghai, China to teach English and the latest is in Amsterdam, Netherlands to be a Youth Program Coordinator. These opportunities have come along not because I am lucky but because I worked hard to be recognized by the international community. However, I did not choose to leave to enrich myself, instead I chose to stay to serve my fellowmen, to help them realize their ambitions. Had I chosen to leave, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to help many Filipinos who also dream of getting bigger opportunities for greener pasture abroad. If you think I have lost opportunities, yes, I have…the opportunity to make myself rich, but thinking how many lives have I helped transform, makes me feel richer even in the absence of financial reward. I am not rich because of my action. I am not rich because of my choice. And you can be rich if you choose to be. This is the power of choice and action.
Do I consider myself successful? Yes, I do. Success is not measured by how much wealth you have amassed. Success is measured by how much of you, you have shared with others. Success is very much relative and it depends on who defines it. But what I am sure of, the more successful you are, the more relatives you have. Anyway, success is actually 99% failure. Look at Manny Pacquaio, Lito Lapid, Erap Estrada, to name a few. They are all famous and successful (maybe). I am not saying that you would waste your time in school trying to finish your studies but look at them, they are huge celebrities. But that’s not the point. I want to tell you that they are successful because they failed. Having not finished school is a failure to them. Yet, they learned lessons from failure....
Life is not a checklist of achievements and acquaintances but a long line of failure and tribulation. Life is difficult and complicated where failure is certainly inevitable. If you want to live a life without failure, you need to be extra cautious, and in the end you will realize you have not lived at all. In all actions we take always expect that mistakes would happen and failure would come along. If you think you failed your math, just think your math teacher forgot to use a calculator in computing your grade. If you failed your English, remember that English teachers are not made to compute grades and they asked for the help of the math teacher who forgot to use a calculator. Remember it is important that we experience failure for us to remain humble and grounded. Failure is nothing but a temporary setback that if taken positively would actually help us see bigger opportunities to change ourselves for the better. It is not the failure that matters, but the courage and strength to stand up after the fall. I would want to see all of you finish your studies but the fact is not all of you would actually finish school. I am not saying that you lose hope. Some of you are your parents and teachers greatest achievement and some of you are the greatest failure and disappointment. I myself is a disappointment to my parents – I have failed them as a son, and now I am here again disappointing them because I am not staying longer than they wish me to be around. But life goes on for me. Failure is one of the reasons why I keep moving on. Mistakes are my guiding light to make my life and other lives better. Remember to learn from mistakes. Learn from the lessons of experience. This is the power of failure.
Failure is a staggering challenge. Also, poverty would be viewed as an impediment to the realization of your dreams. I would agree with you that it is hard to finish school if you do not have the resources to do so. I am not stranger to this situation. I was poor when I was still a student. (I am still poor though) I also thought of quitting school. I finished my college as a recipient of the University Scholarship for Student Leaders. I struggled hard everyday of my life. I was born poor and perhaps will always be. I finished my studies despite hunger, lack of financial resources, poor health, and the like. I could remember the days when I had to pretend studying my lessons in the library at lunch because I couldn’t go with my friends and have lunch together. I could still remember the dark nights I survived every night I would walk back home from school. I could still remember attempts of my professors to drop me from their classes. I could still recall when classmates mock at me with my old uniforms. I could still remember when my parents had to wake up very early in the morning to start the day toiling in the farm so I could have money for fare. I know how humiliating it was to be knocking at someone’s door at the wee hour in the morning just to borrow money for my allowance that I felt sorry for my parents. I could feel the tired breath of my parents every time they go to bed after a long hard day after work. All these I could remember were due to poverty. But I only thought that time that no amount poverty could make me give up my dreams. I wanted to be the change my family and I wanted to be. I am here because I believed that one day; it is today, that I am going to make it here. What makes successful and unsuccessful people different? What makes the rich and the poor different? It’s a difference in mind-set and attitude. We poor people cry when the sun does not come out just to realize that at the end of the day we miss the chance to see the beautiful stars at night. Be positive and you will go far in life. Think positive and never give up. This is the Power of Optimism and Positive Attitude.
Everything about me isn’t mine at all. I am greatly indebted to my family, teachers, friends, and relatives, and even to those who I barely know. I finished my studies with the immense support of my parents who actually have toiled to their blood and sweat just for them to make both ends meet. To my parents, thank you so much for bringing me to this world and for tirelessly supporting me in all my undertakings. And to my teachers who have always inspired me to strive harder. Special mention goes my best friend Eric Yulo, for inspiring me to strive harder for my family and for being there in both flips of time. To my friends, Jason, Marilou, and Macky, thank you for not changing a bit and for making me feel you are always there.To my neighbors and relatives who unselfishly shared their resources in times of need. I am your contribution to the world. I am not here for myself; I am here for all of you. I am now who I am today because you have stood with me along the way.
To the graduates, thank you for giving me a chance to share this time with you. I encourage everyone to go to school, get a degree, and make your parents and teachers proud of you in the future. Do this not because you are told but because you aspire to achieve something and everything will fall into place. Young graduates, be the best that you can be. My dear parents don’t give up. Continue to inspire your children to be better individuals that they should be. They are your contribution to this world. Remember that if I made it here, you can even go farther than where I have been.
Before I end, let me share to you my most favorite quotation: Life’s destiny is not a matter of chance but a matter of choice. And the great height of success could only be reached if you make the right choices and if you believe in the power of your dreams, your actions, your failures, and your positive attitude.
Thank you and Congratulations.
