Possibilities and Responsibilities

   Education entails sacrifices. But each drop of those temporary sacrifices will always be worth it. It will reward us with so many learning, so many experiences, so many friendships and so many possibilities. But it will also reveal to us greater responsibilities. Education is not just finishing a course but it is a process--- processes that liberate us, and make us reflect and be motivated to see and work out things in a different lens. We could go out into the world as someone with a master’s degree but what is the use of that if we are not doing things to be of impact to the larger classroom, to our family and to our relationships, to our advocacies, and to our society. May the added initials we earned now inspire us to commit to total human development the ASI way. May our goal not just be limited to us and to our circle, but may we leave this world even better...

with fellow ASI Graduates

With Dhitz, my aunt, my mother and Juvelyn

    To all who prayed for me, supported me, inspired me, and journeyed with me, thank you so much!!! ♥ This is our shared success...

Summer 2013 Reflections

A Reflection Paper on Sociology of Communication 

   Back to my earlier education and formations, I had been, just like most of us, bombarded with so many answers to so many questions. Upon knowing these and that, we would feel so smart. But when we go to the community and when we are being faced with complicated true-to-life circumstances, we would hear others asking us questions we’ve never heard before, and even arrive at the crossroads of our lives that we began asking ourselves confusing questions and we don’t know how to respond. From there we found ourselves searching for meaning. 

  Sociology is also being viewed as a study of relationship among systems and entities in our society. Communication is relationship too. The best graphics are created not by the mind alone but with the heart. The graphics have emotions on them. 

  Sociology of Communication is made up of images created by the mind as influenced by the heart’s emotions. According to Fr. Francis Lucas, old books would traditionally define it to be process of using signs and symbols. Sign indicates something else. It points to a particular concept or idea but it is not the thing itself. Meanwhile, symbol has meaning of its self. Sound is a sign. The notes and g-clef are symbols. However, what would be the most appropriate word is “image.” Image implies something bigger and deeper. It goes beyond signs and symbols. It involves even feelings and imagination. 

  Social Communication is anything we say. Mass media refers to instruments, means, technologies and programs as diffusion channels of communication. It is the amplification of bits and pieces of reality. 

   Academics are just part and parcel of what we are doing in action. We study communication and when we really start immersing ourselves into it, we found ourselves realizing that everything is communication. Sociology of Communication is conveying the reality of life. We had been given by the academe so many technical ways of defining communication but basically communication is sharing. We are senders and receivers at the same time. This is not about information alone. The power is actually experienced from having the right information in the right time for the right purpose. 

    One of the things that struck me was the discussion about self-talk. It is the inner speech that includes the questions and comments we made to ourselves. It is a powerful influence that we can use in thinking things through, in interpreting events and messages of others, and in responding to experience. 

    In studying about communication, it is important and life-changing to include the concept of self-talk. Positive self-talk increases focus, concentration and performance. When you stay encouraged and positive, your body will feel good. But if you believe you cannot do something, your brain will tell your body and it will shut down. 

     In communicating, knowing the factor of double image is also important. It depends on where our focus is. It is part of our perception. The angle that we see depends on where we are coming from. In media, it is known as the spin. Perception process is the process we use to assign meaning to data about ourselves and the world around us. Our perception is actually influenced by intensity, repetition, uniqueness, and relevance which are affected by interest, needs and motivations. 

    Mass media controls the mind and the heart. It can be very effective teacher and preacher. It has massive reach, deep impact and can attack the psyche. It can easily change the social behavior. In the negative side of it, it can be a very effective ‘rapist.’ It can corrupt the mind. It can promote negative values. Our mirror neurons can lead us to imitate and to be engaged in the feelings and actions of what we are watching. The web and the internet expert can use our mirror neurons to lead us to the way where they would want us to go. 

    But what is the key to any communication media is its soul. Man’s disposition should be expressed. For the soul to be committed to something, for it not to be empty and be rattled easily, it should have its purpose. What do we communicate? What do we give to the society? The global trends now are modern slavery, destruction of the natural resources and biodiversity, cancerous growth of urban centers of power and prestige and disintegration of families and community. It is a generation without parents, the third wave generation of digital age but a world with losing of much spiritual values. Inequity and disunity enhance moral crisis. It is the bankruptcy of morality that creates so much violence, pain and death. It happens when people start to misunderstand, and resort to war and conflict and turned lives into nothing but just collateral damage. It’s about time that we communicate for the purpose of building faith communities, authentic relationship, sustainable development and collective successes. 

    The world today has become richer than any other time. But we have so many poor compared to any other period of our history too. It seemed that we live in a world of contradiction. What do we say about poverty? We call it a state, and we try to compute it, but our problem is that we just define poverty and not really feel it. Have we asked how the poor feel, and really see them and understand them? Social communication is going beyond defining what’s going on with our society. It is not just making reports, statistics, and action plan. Social Participation is empowering the people how to decide and not just giving choices. On a personal level, I should get more into the habit of analyzing not only what to decide but how to decide. We should look at the reality and listen and feel the situation of others so that it will penetrate in our hearts too and make our communication a part of the solution to the problems of the world.

Communication for Development Summer Class 2013
Asian Social Institute

Education of the Heart

(A book review submitted to our Social Work Education class)

    
    The Education of the Heart is a book of readings and sources for care of the soul, soul mates and the re-enchantment of everyday life. It is edited by Thomas Moore. 

    The book has a very catchy introduction and reading such made me decide without any apprehension that this is the book I would spend time reading and then willingly review. 

     Education for me has been a challenge because for me to finish until college, I had made so many sacrifices. I had to live away from my family. I had to learn how to work. I had to discipline myself and balance time. Coming from that, I know that I knew ever since that education is something of value. But although education has a personal effect and has really been a part of my life, I had to admit that the pages of the book had made me realized that education should be more than that. It’s about time to see and feel education not just a requirement for a job, not just for earning for a living, not just for personal credentials or prestige. It is about time to feel education not as a need, not as something to be forced at the ‘self,’ not something to be scared about or to be tired and sick of. It’s about time--- and should have been a long time--- to place education in a very sacred space of our being--- in our heart, in our soul. It is about time--- and should have been a long time that we love education and let it love us. Having such reflections is making me happy now because it is making me feel that as my perception and relationship with education is changed, my life is also about to change. 

     The book made mention of education as an eduction. Education is the art of educing or bringing out what is latent in a person. Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills or abilities- that’s training or instructing- but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed. I find such lines really beautiful and true especially in my profession. The essence of social work education for me is bringing out the best in the self, in the others, and in the world. Education is about enlightenment and empowerment. It is about inspiration. It is about making dreams reality. 

    Starting with the ceremonial cosmic walk, I was able to experience together with my classmates that sense of awesomeness of the space I have here in the universe. While I was involving myself in the unfolding process of the Earth, I was able to appreciate the life that I am having now; knowing that it had came from a very sacred history, or should I say herstory. I am amazed of my uniqueness and the same time of my commonality with other creatures in terms of origin. To be educated of that story with the entire community of the earth in this single sacred universe is a transformative experience and I think that is the essence of education too. 

     We had visited in the first part of our class how education has been as time passed by. During primitive times, education among people was directed to ensuring survival of the group, clan, or tribe through training of the young in skills and arts necessary to maintain life. After that we discussed about Renaissance which was a revival or rebirth of learning, a belief of dignity of human beings, a renewed spirit of nationalism, an increase of trade among countries, and a period of exploration. 

     In the Philippine Education System, we can trace that during the Pre-Spanish Period, the early Filipinos considered education as a way to preserve their culture and transmit this knowledge to future generations. During the Spanish Regime, schools were established with the objective of rearing children to learn skills acquired by the youth in Spain. The educational system was under the control of the Roman Catholic Church. 

     During the American era, education was a means by which people can be oriented toward a democratic way of life. They made education accessible to all. During the occupation of the Japanese, education was an instrument for Filipinos to embrace Japanese ideologies. It promoted vocational education and inspired people with the spirit of labor. 

     In the post war, all educational institutions shall be under the supervision of and subject to the regulation of the State. The government shall establish and maintain a complete and adequate system of public education, and shall provide at least free primary instruction and citizenship training to adult citizens. 

     As part of the Legal Basis, the country has the Educational Act of 1982 (Batas Pambansa Blg. 232) which applies to both private and public schools in the entire educational system. It aims to provide that the basic policy of the State is to establish and maintain a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the goals of national development. 

    Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution stated that “The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all”. Yes, education should not be a privilege for those who can afford it and to those who have the opportunity. Education is a right. It should be within the reach of the people. But the book speaks not only education to be something around, but also something that is inside. Deep education entails an emergence of character and personality, and often takes the form of initiation. The Introduction of the book sights that a person can be educated by the death of a relative or friend. Experiences teach people. It gives them insights. It leads them to change. Education should be something that we experience on a personal level too, and not just in the classroom and in the school. To be educated, a person doesn’t have to know much or be informed, but he or she does have to have been exposed vulnerably to the transformative events of an engaged human life. Let this world be a school too. As a social worker, I am being taught more about this profession by the lives and realities of the clients that we serve and the community where we are needed. 

     I agree that one of the great problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated. True to our modern values and vision, we tend to the instruction of the mind and the training of the body, while we generally neglect the soul. It’s not surprising that as our culture advances in information and technology, we seem to become more inarticulate about matters of the heart. We quantify ‘human behavior’ and I believe if social workers will not be conscious of this, we too can fall into trap of quantifying human behavior. We develop programs of therapy and treatment, but do they really have much effect? That question really caught my attention. Do I understand the matter of the soul? I think I am one of those who could still encounter the soul chiefly as a set of intractable problems rather than as a creative and constructive source of life. Now is the time to be more reflective. Now is the time for me to meditate on the specific events of my life, and think about what they are telling to me as a whole. 

      I really like how the soul is being described in the book. The soul is more enticed by the past, especially by the beauty and wisdom that is our world heritage. We have to learn from our ancestors. I think on the personal level, an important part of being truly educated is to be able to learn how to reflect on the struggles and victories of people before us. In my opinion as well, that is the beauty of being able to write our auto bibliographies. In the process of recalling what we had been through, we are able to re-visit decisions, actions, perspectives and events that had taken place in our lives. We then maintain our connection with our entire being and we establish recognition and relationship with our soul. 

     The book has contents which require feelings before one can actually understand what has been expressed. I had to re-read them and then recall particular experience before I was able to get into what the writer has been saying. True, I agree in the book that we should not be taking a purely mental approach to the selections. We should read them with and by heart. It is shifting from a mechanical to a soul-centered world by giving up the intrusive quest for information, clarity, definition and answers. Instead, enter into the beauty of language and thought. And so I just find myself meditating on the book, reading passages aloud, writing them down for future reference, posting some quotes in face book and telling them to friends. For me, one of the main messages of Charles Cooley then is that this is not just about us. We cannot totally be far from others. These are just some of the ways of committing them to memory and then sharing them to others which for me is the goal of education. These are all ways of educating the heart. 

      One of my favorite parts of the book is this line: there is much to lose when we focus only on meaning. I agree with this, as I too, had several conversations with a friend about trying to understand events in our lives. Most of the time, we end up getting tired over-analyzing things, and when I had read that line, it seems like the heaven has given me an answer. We had been so meaning-focused, that we had sometimes failed to enjoy things as they are. As it is mentioned in the book, from the soul perspective, meaning is less important than meaningfulness. Ideas that move us with the grace of their presentation penetrate the heart and serve purposes that go beyond understanding, as they foster passion, interest and decision. In my life, I am glad to witness how I am growing each day through participation and then, contemplation in the experiences which has molded me. 

        I also agree that writers of the past still speak and have a presence in us, and this is also one of the reasons why I had always believe in the power of writing, and that’s one of the reasons why I had never stopped writing my experiences through poems, short stories and narratives. We can hear their voices in the words, phrases and sentences of their books. We are present to them as they present themselves to us. It was really an opportunity for me to enter in many conversations in the book. In the process, it expanded my own community. I was able to engage in the voices of the past with my heart and soul. For me, this is also a validation of how important reading is in our life-long education process. If we want to widen our horizons, we must never stop reading. 

       Without an education, the heart presents itself as a cauldron of raw emotions, suspicious desires and disconnected images. Dreams appear stupefying, longings inappropriate, and relationships confounding. Without an animating, educated heart, the intellect appears superior, and we give too much attention and value to it. Our institutions and ideas then lack the humanizing breath of the soul. Education of the proper kind brings into view the order and sense in matters of the heart that otherwise seem elusive, and position the heart to play a significant role in affairs of the mind. For me, this means that we should put heart to knowledge. Why are we studying? What is it making to our relationships to others and to the environment and in our commitment to the society? For me, education should be purposeful. It should lead to service, to peace and to love. 

       Soul is a strange word. For me, it will always be mysterious, and not just because I was able to review the book, then I could already go out and claim to everyone that I had understood the depth of the human soul. But something beautiful and life-changing happened to me in the process of reading the book. I was able to listen to my soul. It is really there, and it is telling me a lot: from pain to happiness, from sorrow to hope, from confusion to peace, from hatred to love…Wondering about the soul, seeking adequate language for it, wanting definition and insight, all mark the beginning of the process of bringing soul to life. Care of the soul begins in a felt acknowledgment of its reality and importance. The soul becomes more present as we consider it in our conversation, writing, meditating and the thoughtful living of our everyday lives. But because the soul has such deep roots in personal and social life and its values run so contrary to modern concerns, caring for the soul may well turn out to be a radical act, a challenge to accepted norms. Now, I am accepting that challenge courageously and excitedly! 

       James Hillman in Re-Visioning Psychology defined soul to be a perspective rather than a substance, a viewpoint toward things rather than a thing itself. This perspective is reflective; it meditates events and makes differences between ourselves and everything that happens. Between us and events, between the doer and the deed, there is a reflective moment-and soul-making means differentiating this middle ground. Yes, I agree. How can we say that we were really educated if we were not able to experience and practice the process of reflection, leading towards transformation? 

     As the book pointed out, love, desire and pleasure are the chief signals of the presence of soul. The soul will be called out from hiding and then we will be educated in the deepest sense. Indeed, it is a lifetime of contemplation on certain phrases and ideas. Yes, I should that the selections in the book are so deep, yet on a very positive way, for it is inviting me to think by heart. I could never fully grasp their meaning but in the process, I would be more intimate with their mysteries. This is how I put heart and soul to my learning and that is something I should be doing in process forever. Every time I learn something, it should change me positively. And I should inspire others to be renewed positively too, and then there would be a true change in the world, and only then, we can truly say that we had put justice, heart and soul to what education really is.

Bantayan Island, Cebu
Gawad Kalinga Build Challenge 2011

  

Sagada's Sumaguing Cave

Social Work Board Passer's 2011 Oath Taking
Manila Hotel 

Few Mondays Changing My Succeeding Days

 Asian Festival 2013

    From the first Monday of 2013 that I was able to sit in his class, my Mondays with him and with my classmates had then became so different from the previous Mondays of my life. The timing was indeed perfect because the class came in at the time when there were a lot of reflection papers to be done in other subjects and reflecting has then become challenging. That class came in at the perfect timing because it has re-defined to me what reflection really is. The way that the discussion flowed has something to do with how we are able to think over how things were usually done, how we had been submissive to the system, how evasive changes has been for us and how we had been perceiving and acting upon on the call of the times. Ever since that first Monday, the act of reflecting has been an exciting and fruitful journey. Since then, reflection has become so vital and much beautiful. 

    We started with a very mind-enriching introduction about culture. I thought that I had understood what culture means until Sir Gois posed to us several points to think about and that has revealed to me that something to be attentive about is how culture is for us, and how it is really a part of our life or not a part of us anymore. I had then found myself so guilty for seeing culture as something being put into exhibit. I had witnessed and in a way, supported culture becoming more of a commodity and a showcase activity. And that class really challenged me to go beyond that. Though culture is something not clearly defined and not easy to define, it is certain that our culture is part of who we are. However, we negotiate our identities every day. We are constantly changing and it is part of dynamics of culture. If culture does not evolve, it becomes static. It dies. In a way, I was able to see human beings to be like that. We are constantly changing, not just biologically but in all aspects. In a deeper sense as well, if we remain so stock in just one way of thinking, one way of doing, and then confined in a box forever, we are also losing much in our lives. 

    The concepts introduced in Asian Studies are what seemed to be like a paradox to me. One of the first statements that struck me is this: the first thing to know about Asia is that we don’t know Asia. Sounds weird, but upon reflecting on it, it is really making sense. I had lived 22 years in Asia but I don’t it yet fully, not even Philippines or even just the Visayas island. Our discussion about Asia’s history of discovery and colonization is also a realization to me that arrived like a paradox. We were so diverse and when we realize our differences, part of our psyche is a struggle of preserving identities and independence. But once we become independent, we should think as well of how we will deal another struggle, as the struggle becomes inside. In my personal life, I think I had several instances of fighting for freedom as well, and then moving the struggle within, addressing doubts and conquering fears, and then, learning lessons. I can also say now that Asian Studies class is a class that has enlarged the classroom. It has enlarged the classroom into Asia and into the world! 

    The journey towards understanding Sufism as one of the worldviews and that of my classmates was a journey of entering the socio-political and cultural milieu of the previous time in which they emerged and how that had triggered transformational processes. As Professor Gois said in class, if we stay stock in the realm of religion, we will have problems in interpreting our life today. Whatever it is that we believe, we should have deeper understanding on it and appreciation of how it could make us better persons yet still critical, sensitive and responsive to what we are called to do in the present times. And so, therefore, true to what has been said in the beginning, the views that we had been holding, defending and using as guides in our living, will then have an impact not just to ourselves but to the society as we promote peace and fight any form of violence and injustice. 

    Asian Studies will also be a very memorable subject for me because of the Asian Festival. It felt like we had placed the entire Asia in a single room. It felt like we were trying to put the different periods of history in a single event. What has made that night different from all the other nights was our convergence itself. As I’ve said before, coming together was not easy! We were really so diverse and our differences had even made the meetings and the practices, all the preparations and everything that goes along with it, much exciting and challenging. There were some misunderstanding and little tensions, communication barriers, and different point of views on how things are to be done--- and that was understandable as we come from different backgrounds and has varied cultures and beliefs. Looking back, I was able to say that the event was successful not just because of the positive feedback from our guests but more so of our harmonious convergence. Our success comes from being able to work as one despite our differences. We can all work together for a common goal, and then triumphed. From that moment, therefore, I was able to capture the energy, the courage and the inspiration that I can always hold on most especially in facing adversities caused by our differences. 

    The attempt to have a much analytical look of the situation of street children in the Philippines has also challenged me to be critical. When this world is really an awesome place to live in, I had to recognize that there are so many things that have to be changed in this world. And our Asian Studies class is actually a persistent call for me to be part of the struggle for change. We could be happy to be called as social workers, priests, nuns, development workers and so on, for it gives us something to do. But in one of our sessions, Sir Gois has asked us to think, and really think. He challenged us to reflect on what we are actually been doing. Have we questioned when will the problem end, or are we just embracing the idea of just keeping the issues years and years? We were challenged to come out of our comfort zones and go beyond. 

    This is a world where there is so much to fight for. But before anything else, we should start by really believing that there is something out there worth fighting for. We could not just continue thinking only for ourselves. We could not just accept how things are because we felt we are really not affected that much. We should find what we can do to make this world better and fair. Asian Studied has helped me re-discover the world with more understanding eyes and responsive soul. There is not just one way of looking at the problem. We should value and encourage collective thinking and find the richness therein on the sharing of views and acting together. 

     Asian Studies is not just a subject but a process. This is a process that has helped me feel free to think and reflect and then motivated me to see in a different, and a brand new lens what can I be part of. We could go out into the world as someone with a master’s degree but what is the use of that if we had not been of impact to the larger classroom? Change could come not so fast but our willingness to be part of the process and instead of maintaining the systems, challenging them, could actually be doing some impact. As Sir Gois said and I had found myself accepting the challenge, something we have to work out in our generation is how we develop the great capacity to reflect and then to lead change. We should bring in much thinking into the process especially that the struggle we are faced with could have last for hundred years. This is a struggle that we should not surrender easily, and at the times that we are already on the fight, we should grip in at those moments. 

      Asian Studies has helped me a lot in my process of becoming critical and appreciative at the same time. It has helped me towards becoming someone who is reflective and hopeful. My greatest glory then, is to be someone who can bring out change everyday, someone who has never given up the fire that has burnt, and the hope that can be passed on to others and to this planet. And as my life goes on, my struggle towards peace, justice and integrity of creation goes on too. And that was how few Mondays of 2013 spent with him had then changed all the days of my weeks for a lifetime. 

Landing in the Real World

Valedictory Address

By: Richelle H. Verdeprado

(delivered last March 26, 2011 during the Commencement Exercises of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos)

University religious and lay administrators headed by our president, Rev. Fr. Dionisio C. Cachero, OAR, faculty, parents, guests, and fellow graduates, a pleasant evening to all of you!

Before coming up with this speech, I needed to spend some moments of silence. I prayed that I will be able to put my thoughts and feelings in a way that the rest of you can also reflect on your personal journey. I know, what I needed was something they call - inspiration. And then, I remembered you all, my fellow graduates. And I got, more than enough of the inspiration I needed.

I am inspired knowing that we did not give up despite experiencing frustrations, poverty, and failures. I am inspired seeing how we survived the storms and quakes of our lives.  I will always be proud of our batch, because we have proven that if we really want to, we can, we will, no matter how hard the road seems to be; even if we do not have everything we need.

Now I realized why it was not easy for me to write this. It’s because what’s been mentioned here did not come after a moment of silence, but after several years of taking a journey. Our college life was a flight we had to take because we wanted to arrive in certain destinations and although we had individual itineraries, we had met somewhere because we chose the same airline to give us wings, to make us fly- the University of Negros Occidental- Recoletos.

This has been a journey and in a journey, we cannot carry all of the material things we have no matter how important they are for us. But it’s more than just possessions. Most of us had to leave our homes, our families and many persons we love. Or in some cases, we were the ones being left behind. But that did not mean we forgot them. We always had held them in our hearts and it has been their love that fueled us again and again.

There was this girl who could have died the day before she delivered her speech for her graduation in elementary. She was almost hit by a bus when she was crossing the high way in Himamaylan City but a miracle happened as the bus stopped just inches before her. After that, whenever her life was threatened, she became more aware of it. She then remembered how unstable life has been for her in the past, how she would have to sleep in the streets as her mother was selling bananas in the sidewalk, how she had experienced shaking while taking exams because she had eaten nothing, how she had to quarrel with her sister over a piece of food, how she would come to school wearing a borrowed pair of shoes and a handed down uniform that was not her size.

At 16, when her high school graduation came and after working hard, she would be giving a speech again. She was looking for someone whom she would love to honor on that special day of her life because for the past years he had never attended even one of her Recognition Day. She kept on looking for him- her dearest father, but failed to find him because he already died months before her graduation.    It was not easy for her but she had to move on. She consoled herself knowing that standing beside the podium, watching her closely, and finally attending a very special day in her life was the soul of the man who had faced all the pains and worked so hard for their family. She then felt relieved. And her story did not end there.

Ladies and gentlemen, that girl did not die before because God planned that she will stand with you here today and speak about her life. Yes, when our lives are being threatened, we become more aware of it and I mean not only physical accidents but circumstances which could have broken us and turned our paths to destruction. But, I had realized through these years that we have the power within to turn those dark histories and herstories into a burning bonfire of inspiration that would be our passport into becoming more determined persons.  God does not want us to suffer forever. He would use people as His instruments to tell us ‘yes, you are on the right path, keep going my child.’

As this journey will soon be landing, another one is waiting to take off. But we will never reach this stage of our life, if not for our teachers, friends, family and all the people who are always there for us. If not because of them, we won’t be here today.

I want to say thank you to my family especially to my mother who sacrificed a lot for me, to my father whose memories never failed to strengthen me, to my relatives who made my life more meaningful especially to Tito Serio’s family, to the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family Home who welcomed me with love and understanding especially to Sister Alma Alovera, Sister Dora Hernandez, Sister Jenemer Torio, ate Amie Magalona, mother Gina and everyone in our big family, to the staff of Misyon Magazine especially to Father Sean Coyle for being more than an editor to my articles but for being a father to me. Thank you for your love, guidance and appreciation. I also want to give a million thanks to the people making up the Tolentine Star publication for being a family to me, for staying with me through ups and downs and for making my college life more than memorable. Thank you also to Calvary Chapel for without your help, I will not be able to know about the beauty and nobility of  social work, to the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific and Youth and Students Advancing Gender Equality for intensifying my love for peace and justice, to my fellow Gawad Kalinga nation builders for stirring me with that culture of caring and sharing and that spirit of volunteerism, to my fellow Ayala Young leaders for opening doors of adventurous servant leadership journey, to our dear Alma Mater , to my fellow social work students for being my ever-loving company all these years, to all of my friends who are like brothers and sisters, to the College of Arts and Sciences especially to our dean Mrs. Nieves Pepito, to my mentors Ms. Maribel Gonzales, Atty. Nalumen, Ms. Locsin, Dr. Anita Rabago, Ms. Jocilyn Gallos, Mrs. Olive Jamandre, Ms. Magbanua, Ms. Dela Rosa, Ms. Ivy Aboy, Sir Flores, Mrs. Susana Caler, to Sir Carlos Eduardo Legaspi for trusting my capacity and to the rest of the faculty who I can’t mention anymore, thank you so much for believing in me and for imparting the knowledge and skills you have to all of us. We dedicate to you our success and we will thank you forever.

It has been considered a cliché to say that poverty should not be used as an excuse not to achieve something, but let my life be another testimony to this statement. In my college life, I had experienced staying in several houses, asking the help of so many people for a shelter, before finding a true home with the sisters. If I stopped along the way, just because somebody discouraged or misjudged me or just because all I had was three pesos in my pocket or just because I did not had school shoes to wear, then I had not given justice to the life that has been extended. Don’t give up and be easily shaken because there are so many more in life that are not yet revealed to you- things, events, people and feelings you will only attain, experience, meet and feel if and only if, you will survive what you are handling now.

College life was not boring. We survived those years because they were not all difficult. We survived happily because we know when to chill out, when to spend some funny moments with friends perhaps at UNO-R park, piazza, or computer shops. We might leave UNO-R but we can no longer get rid of all its memories-be they good or not so good. Years from now, I’m sure we will be recalling how we would sometimes fall asleep  in the library and wake up with an aching back, or announce a no class day on our own just because a teacher was fifteen minutes late and afterwards regretted what we’ve done, and then, learned a lesson. We may laugh every time we will bring to mind how some of our classmates would excitedly relay to us how they successfully entered UNO-R without the guards noticing that they were not wearing ID’s or they were just in slippers.

 This is a journey and in a journey, turbulence would really come. Hence we should continue nourishing our minds with knowledge and skills, our hearts with authentic relationships and our soul with constant interaction with God. As our dean Mrs. Pepito told me, we cannot truly get away from our past, but we can use them as our stepping stone because without our past, we will not be who we are today. I will never get tired of looking back at how I would have to study under the shades of the street lights because our electric connection has been cut again. That experience had made me value more the opportunity to have a good education after several shortcomings and sacrifices and had made me value every person I met along that journey. Because of poverty, I had known what the words responsibility and appreciation truly mean. Seeing children helping their parents in the sidewalks would forever remind me of my own childhood and how I learn the other side of life. Seeing graduates like you offering your diplomas to your parents and to all the people who had been with you through thick and thin, would continually give me the inspiration more than what I need. Fellow graduates, I hope that you will later give these significant people in your lives the tightest hug you could ever give and thank them again and again for all their love and sacrifices.

As we fly and hold on to our dreams, let us remember to stay in God’s path and to remain humble. Let’s continue learning and let us be agents of change for the transformation of our society.  There are so many good things waiting to be done for the nation and as we do these, let us be brave and inspired knowing that God has wonderful plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and future. Fasten your seat belt with character because there would be several connecting flights for us to take before finally discovering where we truly belong. And remember that the airline we have chosen, the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, would always love to see us again in our future flights, for us to look back with a fulfilled self and a heart very willing to serve.

Congratulations Batch 2011! We have just arrived in the real world in real time.