Thank you, Jonas for your kind introduction. O ur honorable mayor, Priscilla R. Justimbaste, our energetic supervisor, Bienvenido P. Canete, our barangay captain, Hon. Alfredo Garcela, Sr., principal of Jabong Elementary School , Mr. Santiago Remandaban, principal of Guingauan Elementary School and Sphere, Mr. Lucas Bibar, head teacher of San Pablo Elementray School and Sphere, Mrs. Myrna Canete, teacher-incharge of Aslum Elementray School, Mrs. Eleonor Balasanos, teacher-in-charge of Mercaduhay Elementray School, Mrs. Gloria Diaz, parents, visitors, and most importantly, graduates of Class 2007, warm greetings to each and everyone of you. It is my honor to speak before you today with a message of hope and encouragement for every one of us here. When I was informed that I will be the one to share the graduation message this year, I did not hesitate to accept the invitation for two reasons: First, as a graduate of this school, it is both my desire and honor to impart what I have learned in this life. I am so proud of this institution. My acceptance is one way of showing my gratitude. Secondly, I want to encourage our young graduate today to pursue their dreams and ambitions in life. The theme for this year’s graduation exercises “Student Empowerment towards Greater Productivity” (Lakas ng Kabataan Tungo sa Maunlad na Kinabukasan) is very timely because there is an increasing number of students enrolling today in schools yet most of them were not productive as we should expect. Why? It is because our knowledge about student empowerment is limited and is not effectively applied. Student empowerment means enabling the students to pursue social and achievement goals. Poverty has been the major reason why many students today could not finish their schooling. You have always heard the saying “Poverty is not a hindrance to success” from different people. However, it is my opinion that the opposite is what the reality is: poverty is indeed a hindrance to success. In my 21 years of existence in this world, I have realized that poverty will cripple you until you have nothing to left in yourself. This is not discourage you, our dear graduates and parents, but I just want to emphasize here the reality of life. When we truly begin to und erstand that poverty, like other things and circumstances, such as physical disabilities, hinder our progress, we will overcome these obstacles. Remember that an empty stomach will not empower students. I can tell you this because I have experienced it. Let me give you a personal experience so that you will see a clearer of what w hat I’m trying to say. When I was in college, there were several times that I missed my classes simply because of these two reasons: I didn’t have money for tricycle fare from my boarding house to UP and I was too hungry to bother attending my classes. Where is empowerment in this setting? None! I’ve gone through a lot of difficulties in college, but I never give up. I borrowed money from my friends and classmates. So parents, wag niyong gugutumin ang mga anak niyo if you want them to graduate. To our graduates of Class 2007, do not loose hope. Never give up! Do not be intimidated by the poverty of life. Develop positive characteristics within yourself for these will be your swords to combat any obstacles that will come on your way. Be empowered.
With regard to the future, this is what I say to you: dream big. Dreams help you to do great things in life. Dreams will help you make the impossible things possible, to set direction in your lives, and to make changes for the better; even better, change the world and make it better. To dream big allows great inventions and discoveries to be made. To dream big puts energy and spark into each day. To dream big makes you continue to seek for excellence in everything you do. You have seen and experienced excellence time and time again these past six years so I hope that the desire be embedded deeply within your hearts. Continue to learn. A school is not the only place where learning occurs nor is academic learning the only kind. Always be curious, be open to the ideas of others whose interests differ from what you believe. Learn something new each day. By doing so, you will develop new passions and you will be an interesting person. I don’t wan t you to be dull. Take responsibility for your successes and your failures. Enjoy the former, and learn more from the latter. If other people helped you to be successful, acknowledge and thank them; if others were involved in disappointment, encourage them to work with you to be successful next time. Foster good relationships. They will help you with those big dreams. They will help you to keep real. They will help you to maintain perspective in good and difficult times. Stay connected with people as you go through to high school, college, work, and beyond. Your lives will be richer and more enjoyable as a result. Test me in this. Be involved in your community in some way. To the parents and teachers, help your children and students develop their potentials. They need you. They are in the stage of growing up. Help them realize their goals just as you helped me when I was still your student. I am indebted to all of you for inculcating in my mind the importance of education. And lastly, don’t forget to pray and seek God. Make Him the center of your life. Thank you so much!
To the Graduates Its is an honor and joy with your happiness on this very special occasion - your graduation day. Today is not the end of your education for you, but the beginning of another stage, different from your experiences during the four years of secondary schooling. However, I am confident that you have been equipped by your mentors, parents and guardians with proper and appropriate knowledge and skills to meet the challenges and obstacles of whatever you decide to pursue.
Congratulations! You deserved this accolade as you survived the trials which might have altered your studies. I urge you therefore to continue your studies to become productive and useful citizens of our country. Good luck and God bless!
Posts tagged “valedictory address”
My Contribution To The Future My eldest sister, Maritez, called me the previous day asking me to write a valedictory address for her second child, Gigi, who will be graduating Valedictorian from grade school. It was such a great moment for me. Suddenly I was a proud uncle, I believe she feels double the joy and pride I felt. Hearing my nephews’ and nieces’ accomplishments and achievements are always inspiring. It feels like I’m showered with so much positive energies, and I feel a certain feeling of high every time. And then, I begun the composition of the speech in my mind that brought me back to the sweet memories of my early education from elementary days. It all became fresh again. All the elements came back, and I was there when it happened and the speech I wrote should have been the message I told my classmates back then, only I was not the valedictorian.
My Education: My Contribution To The Future
A Valedictory Address : Angelie Jamora Escrupulo
I arrive today to this moment, standing facing a new frontier. Before this moment pass me by, let me take each detail, each piece of memories, each body of thoughts, the knowledge, the wisdom, the important life’s lessons, all the gifts and blessings that this moment is giving me so I could take them with me to my travel to the future. My dear classmates, are you taking the memories like me? Do you still remember the first time we stepped to the grounds of this school, the Elementary School we will forever carry wherever the future takes us from here. Did you keep our shared laughters? The laughter forever sweet in our memories. Engrave them in your hearts, they are the laughter so pure we could always go back whenever we face the bitter taste of life that we are sure to stumble upon as we face the consequences of growing. Value the friendship we built here, they hold the purest elements of camaraderie and partnership that we need as we befriend the world. Feel the comfort of the chairs where you are seated now, the floor where your feet are rested, breath the air, the scent of our dear school ~ If you could hold the hands of our classmates beside you, feel that gentle yet strong grip . . . . (Note : Invite everybody at this point to hold hands and please allow some time for seatmates to enjoy the moment) The memory of their grips will remind us that we will be forever safe wherever our futures would take us when we leave this grounds and get out of the gates of this campus that will forever hold the moments when we took our baby steps taking in the knowledge that helped form the young muscles of our minds so we would be ready. Listen to the sounds of triumph that we all hear at this moment. Capture all the elements that we could possibly get from here The scents of our notepads and erasers, of our bags, of the pencils and scented pens, when we were just learning to form the first letters, write our first words and draw our first flowers. The many rains that showered us in our way to school and back home, and its sound as the rainfalls hit the roof of our classroom when we were just learning to count and pronounce our ABC’s The sunlights that lit our faces, the sunshine that’s forever bright in our memories, and will forever remind us of the first exercise and da nce steps we learn from our PE. The feel of our desk, the colors of our classroom, the taste of the hundred snacks we shared. Memorize the faces that helped pave the way for us to arrive to this victory, that made our first triumphs possible :
Our parents ~ God’s angels that built our homes and sent us to school. Our families that supported us so we learn the basic lessons of how it is to stand and to take steps in our first walk in our journeys with life. Our classmates and friends, who made us feel for the first time that we belong outside our homes in the safety of their company. Our dear Teachers, our second parents in school, who fed us with all the knowledge every step of the way, from kindergarten, to grade one, to grade six, and now that this journey is about to end, as we are about to take a leap to next stage. We fear not because we are ready, they prepared us for this, to face the many battles we will face as we step to the roads to our future. Remember their voices that equipped us with the weapons and armour, these are the voices that will remind us of the power of knowledge they ingrained our young minds. Remember our dear Principal, who helped us build our backbones in education, wherever the paths of the academe will take us, we would always trace back our beginnings from here. We should always be grateful to our principal for designing and sending us the most basic and complete, yet non-complicated map so we would not get lost no matter how blurry the visibilities of the terrains in the forest, and deserts, and jungles, and ocean, and prairies, and mountains, and skyscrapers of the cities of whatever profession that we will fly in our pursuits for knowledge to make the difference and make our corners of the world a better place to live. We hold in our minds that map and if we uphold what we have learned, we will be sure to reach our destinations safe. Remember that our parents, our teachers, our principal are once like you and I, too. They have arrived to where they are right now, and we their children, their pupils and the knowledge that they nourished us are their contribution to the the future they only thought about when they were our age dreaming about this very moment where we are now. Our triumphs and our achievements are their victories, too. Let us thank them with our prayers, may our little voices would reach God’s ears to bless them. Let us pay them tribute and pass on their kindness by becoming the best versions of ourselves that they wanted all of us to become, nothing less. Wherever our journeys will take us, we will always trace our roots in this grounds, we are always anchored in their arms, in their hearts. Like kites we are safe in our flights because our strings are in the safety of their caring hands. Let me read to you a poem written by my uncle, let this poem be my message to everybody who once were children, too. Child Once, Too
Let the child run free, uphills or down plains Like a gazelle that gallops in prairies.
Let him swim in lakes, bathe in rains And coquette like the mystical fairies. Censor him not for he is free from stains Trust not the filthy mind of the gentries. Free the child from the restraining chains And from the customs’ narrow boundaries. Let him be for his generations’ gains ~ Allow the children to weave their stories.
And now, as we celebrate this milestones in our young life, let us celebrate this moment with grateful hearts. Our graduation today is our contribution to the future – from the seeds that we are now, will spring bright citizens of our country that will help sustain and make the difference. We will be taking different highways from this little road, we will explore the wide skies from this runway as we take off, we will reach distant shores as we leave this harbour of our elementary school as proud graduates ready to help build the future for the generations to come. For our friends, until we meet again. For our guest of honor, thank you for the inspiration, may our little victory will serve as an inspiration for you, too, that you could take and share the next time you are invited to speak for a graduation ceremony. For our Teachers and Principal, this is not goodbye, this is just asking your permission, and for your blessings as we take off – please wish us well. For our parents and family, we offer to you our first accomplishment of the many triumphs and honors we will bring home from now. For my dear classmates, let us open our minds and our hearts for growth. The future promises unlimited possibilities that are in our hands and are for us to seize and to hold. Always take the bright routes to the future, when the roads are seem dark in some days, take refuge and find the guidance of the little lamp post of the memories from this moment and we will never get lost. Let us thank God for this moment. Let us thank Him for all the people, the extension of His love, His angels that He sent to make sure all that we have now and our future will happen. It is written.
And when we reach our destinations please let us not forget to look back and send signals to our dear school, that we have reached our destinations and that we have arrived. Theme: The Graduate: A Partner Towards Transformationla Society, An Answer to Societal Change The Transformational Society sees a civilization on the verge of an incredible transition to an alternative future. The first wave was the agricultural revolution, the second the industrial revolution and the third is the computer/information revolution (Toffler, 1980), and the new wave/fourth wave is the possibility for a new transformational future (Schlifni, 2000). Toffler believed that we would be in a transformational phase of history. In his view, this "new civilization", this "third wave" will require governments that are more effective, yet more democratic than any we know today. The patterns of social change included the move from hierarchical arrangements to networks, from institutional help to self-help, from industrial society to information society, and from top-down society to a bottom-up society. Similarly, Marilyn Ferguson has written in "The Aquarian Conspiracy" (1980) about decentralizing of social structures into communitarian units.
And now, as we celebrate this milestones in our young life, let us celebrate this moment with grateful hearts. Our graduation today is our contribution to the future – from the seeds that we are now, will spring bright citizens of our country that will help sustain and make the difference. We will be taking different highways from this little road, we will explore the wide skies from this runway as we take off, we will reach distant shores as we leave this harbour of our elementary school as proud graduates ready to help build the future for the generations to come. For our friends, until we meet again. For our guest of honor, thank you for the inspiration, may our little victory will serve as an inspiration for you, too, that you could take and share the next time you are invited to speak for a graduation ceremony. For our Teachers and Principal, this is not goodbye, this is just asking your permission, and for your blessings as we take off – please wish us well. For our parents and family, we offer to you our first accomplishment of the many triumphs and honors we will bring home from now. For my dear classmates, let us open our minds and our hearts for growth. The future promises unlimited possibilities that are in our hands and are for us to seize and to hold. Always take the bright routes to the future, when the roads are seem dark in some days, take refuge and find the guidance of the little lamp post of the memories from this moment and we will never get lost.
Let us thank God for this moment. Let us thank Him for all the people, the extension of His love, His angels that He sent to make sure all that we have now and our future will happen. It is written. And when we reach our destinations please let us not forget to look back and send signals to our dear school, that we have reached our destination
Once, I had a professor who commented about how a certain young writer should think through what she was writing in her weekly column. The youth in question is a columnist in a national newspaper and my professor was just surprised at the young writer’s ideas. My professor said that this writer has no right to speak as if the writer has authority, as if she already knows what is happening in the world and that she needed to stop acting beyond her years. I myself was astonished with the figure of my professor criticizing a youth because of her age. And let me tell you, those words came from somebody who has authority, those words came from an older generation who had the background and education to treat everybody as her equal and to listen to the voice of dissent. That is, the voice of the youth. My professor berated that youth, mocking her even for doing her part in nation-building, and I couldn’t understand why that young writer’s age be such an issue to my professor, an academic, an adult. Would my professor’s stand change should it happen that that young writer was not in her 20s? I think so. But couldn’t we youth speak with authority? Couldn’t we youth be heard without the older generation condemning us for our vision? Could they let us be heard without our age being taken against us? For generations, your youth has always been a concern to the older generation and it has always been like that. They say that you are immature; you are too idealistic; that you need to be i
n touch with reality and accept that life is cruel and that you need to be bored with that. However, I disagree. I do not believe that your ability to see things with a sense of heightened perception is immaturity and I vehemently oppose to the thinking that we should let the negativity of reality corrupt our mind and soul. An ideal world will never exist in this imperfect place, but that doesn’t mean that we should stop dreaming and working for a more bearable society where everyone is respected and people give rather than take. But after this commencement exercises, you will go back to your homes, and this event will be a mere fading memory and it will be very easy to forget your responsibility as the youth of this nation. But how do you, graduates, work for that bearable society? How do you cure the ills of our society? The answer is simple. It is your education. Being a young, educated person does not only give you prestige. It also gives you a responsibility. Now, some of you might say that this responsibility of changing the society should only be put on the shoulders of those of you here who have medals and awards. I disagree. Each of you here has a responsibility of advocating and enacting transformation. You cannot run away from it, by the virtue that this country, this society has birthed you, coddled you, educated you and molded you for what you are right now. You are responsible for whatever happens to this country, whether you are an ace student or not. But you might ask, “How can I change the society if I cannot even help myself and my family?” Well, your education already helped you. As for your family, I agree that helping your family is good, but your help must not stop there. Your parents sent you to school not to make you workers who would earn profit for yourselves alone. Your teachers taught you to offer yourself to other people as they have done every day of their lives. And you, you are studying not just for yourself. You are studying not just for your parents, not just for your family. You are studying because you want to change your
community, one person at a time; you want to change the society, and you are studying because you must make a difference and be the difference. What is being asked here is not a very big sacrifice. Because in this time wherein you do not need to be shot at Luneta or to fall from a tarmac to transform our society, the challenge is for you to think of your own way to be a catalyst of change. It can be that your help be in the form of choosing your degree or course wisely, studying well in college, or to live with simplicity and integrity. The only problem is that, today, even living with principles is already difficult to do. But, let me remind you that you are educated. Nakapagtapos ka, nakapag-aral ka. Your education helped you, now; the challenge is to use your education to help transform our way of life. At the end of this day, it is easy to forget what your valedictorian and I said here. It is easy to forget your high school life. It is easy to forget the memories and their faces. But that burden, that honor of transforming your life through transforming your society will never be erased, no matter how much you run away from it. Graduates, much is expected from you. Use the education that you have right now to shake the status quo for the betterment of our way of life. For at the end, people will not count the medals around your neck, they will not count how many subjects you failed, but they will measure you on how well you contributed to nation – building. Ang edukasyon ay hindi inimbento para makahadlang ka sa ibang tao. Hindi ito inimbento para gamitin ka ng ibang tao, o para manggamit ka ng tao, hindi ito inimbento para tuyuin ang utak mo sa mga walang saysay na bagay at lalong hindi rin ito inimbento para isumbat sa’yo ng kung sino man kung gaano kalaki na ang nagastos sa’yo. Inimbento ang edukasyon dahil kailangan mong linangin ang sarili mo, dahil kailangan mong pangalagaan ang sarili mo, ang ibang tao at higit sa lahat, ang lipunan mo. Dahil sa bandang huli, hindi bibilangin ng tao kung ilan ang medalyang nakasabit sa leeg mo at hindi bibilangin ng tao kung ilan ang subject na binagsak at i-sinummer mo.
Sa bandang huli, susukatin ka nila sa tanong na ito: Ano ang ginawa mo sa edukasyong ibinigay sa’yo? Ano ang gagawin mo sa edukasyong natanggap mo?
Valedictory Speech
“The Graduates: A Partner Towards Transformational Society, An Answer to Societal Change. For six years that we have striven in our elementary days, those six years can be considered as one of the most fruitful and challenging events that happened in our lives. These elementary years are the starting point for us because we are considered as neophytes in the arena of learning. To our guest speaker, to our district supervisor, Dr. Edita P. Gonzales, to our principal, Mrs. Macaria Clarito, teachers, parents and fellow graduates – good day to all of us. This day, we will harvest the fruits of our labor. We will receive our certificates that show we have completed the requirements given by the Dept of Education. The theme for today’s graduation is very timely to us, my fellow graduates. The theme “The Graduates: A Partner Towards Transformational Society, An Answer to Societal Change. The theme conveys to us that we should work together for one mission and one vision. The big questions that faces us fellow graduates, is how can we become a partner towards transformational society, how can we be an answer to societal change
in our young age. Fellow graduates, the answer is very clear and the challenge is very near. It is our education. Being a young, educated person does not only give us prestige. It also gives us a responsibility. Now, some of us might say that this responsibility of changing the society should only be put on the shoulders of those of who have medals and awards. I disagree. Each of us here has a responsibility of advocating and enacting transformation. You cannot run away from it, by the virtue that this country, this society has birthed , coddled, educated and molded us for what we are right now. We are responsible for whatever happens to this country, whether we are an ace student or not. But you might ask, “How can I change the society if I cannot even help myself and my family?” Well, our education already helped us. As for our family, I agree that helping our family is good, but our help must not stop there. Our parents sent us to school not to make us workers who would earn profit for ourselves alone. Our teachers taught us to offer ourselves to other people as they have done every day of their lives. And we, we are studying not just for ourselves. We are studying not just for our parents, not just for our family. We are studying because we want to change our community, one person at a time; we want to change the society, and we are studying because we must make a difference and be the difference. What is being asked here is not a very big sacrifice. Because in this time wherein we do not need to be shot at Luneta or to fall from a tarmac to transform our society, the challenge is for us to think of our own way to be a catalyst of change. It can be that our help be in the form of choosing our degree or course wisely, studying well in college, or to live with simplicity and integrity. The only problem is that, today, even living with principles is already difficult to do. Always bear in mind we are educated. Nakapagtapos tayo, nakapag-aral tayo. Our education helped us, now; the challenge is to use our education to help transform our way of life. At the end of this day, it is easy to forget what I said here. It is easy to forget our elementary life. It is easy to forget the memories and the faces of our teachers and friends. But that burden, that honor of transforming our life through transforming our society will never be erased, no matter how much we run away from it. Fellow graduates, much is expected from us. Let us use the education that we have
right now to shake the status quo for the betterment of our way of life. For at the end, people will not count the medals around our neck, they will not count how many subjects you failed, but they will measure us on how well we contributed to nation – building.
Ang edukasyon ay hindi inimbento para makahadlang ka sa ibang tao. Hindi ito inimbento para gamitin ka ng ibang tao, o para manggamit ka ng tao, hindi ito inimbento para tuyuin ang utak mo sa mga walang saysay na bagay at lalong hindi rin ito inimbento para isumbat sa’yo ng kung sino man kung gaano kalaki na ang nagastos sa’yo. Inimbento ang edukasyon dahil kailangan mong linangin ang sarili mo, dahil kailangan mong pangalagaan ang sarili mo, ang ibang tao at higit sa lahat, ang lipunan mo. Dahil sa bandang huli, hindi bibilangin ng tao kung ilan ang medalyang nakasabit sa leeg mo at hindi bibilangin ng tao kung ilan ang subject na binagsak at i-sinummer mo. Sa bandang huli, susukatin ka nila sa tanong na ito: Ano ang ginawa mo sa edukasyong ibinigay sa’yo? Ano ang gagawin mo sa edukasyong natanggap mo?
To our guests, Teachers and parents, remember us – Batch 2011, committing ourselves to continue our journey as we promise we will be the partner towards transformational society and we are the answer to societal change. Thank you very much and may God bless us always!
