Phase: A Valedictory Address

 FS Blog dated March 29, 2008

What is my purpose in life? What sort of things are ahead of me? Shall I become what I ever dreamed of? Or, how will I figure out my future?
Perhaps, these are just some of the few questions which are roaming inside our heads being graduates. Not all of us are certain about what lies next after this graduation. But I am glad that you are all here to witness this once in a lifetime achievement that we are all into at this very moment. And with that joy in my heart, let me greet you a very pleasant evening.
Let me begin my words with Robert Frost eminent line from the poem, The Road Not Taken. He said, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Young as we are, we tend to go along the common day to day chores of being pupils. We wake up every morning sometimes with an alarm naturally produced by our mother saying, “gumising ka na tanghali na!”. We eat breakfast, take a bath and wear uniforms and head towards school. For the whole day, we typically set our minds to studying and learning new things. Not once we experienced the horror of going to school without assignments and teachers seem unforgiving. We rush our research projects and albums to compensate with our grades or at least to give a bit of push for our intended report cards. In the afternoon we battle the sleepy moments of “Oras de peligro” as we yawn our lessons about Kopong-kopong, Lapu-lapu and Kudarat during HEKASI; the comparable sugnay na makag-iisa at di makap-iisa during FILIPINO; and the do,re,mi during MSEP. Who would dare to forget the heart thumping, mind blowing announcements of passers after each periodical test?
All of these were the usual scene we experienced for the past six years. It was not an easy road of life. In fact there are some which we could even brand as the worst or hardest part. Apparently, with these common struggles, we also establish acquaintances and companions taking our daily cadence into a halt of laughter and unforgettable friendship. Each step we took during school days are what manufactured ourselves to become what we are today. Without such, we could never have the chance to grow and become matured. I would certainly miss all of these. The tough trail that we use to take and lessons we learned thereafter are the hard road Robert Frost was talking about. In between our trials are the challenges that took us to a pedestal we only used to dream of. When we were born, life fazes us with two distinct paths – the easy and the hard road. The easy road is the life at which we do not experience hardship. There we easily pass as if nothing. It is a wide road of simplicity and no toil is needed to traverse the passage. But the other road is the hard one. There, we trod on to a narrow path. It is a horse trail of danger and uncertainty, a dark and treacherous path with fearsome obstacles to hamper our dreams.
But after all I am glad to recall how my parents, teachers and friends guided me, even joined me in this journey. They wished for my success and prayed for my pleasant voyage in these uncertain times. Now, I am honored to receive this award being a valedictorian. To them I give my heartfelt thanks. No one could ever capture my highest intentions to pay respect to you as I receive my honor tonight. I could never forget all the people who took part of my life, one way or another, here at Rizal Central School. I can never reach my dream…not without you. I know that all your works, love and concerns for me are what made me to follow an example enough for my feet to go after. What I promise is that all your labors for me will never vanish into the thin air…that your efforts will never be in vain.
To all my fellow graduates, this is a very wonderful opportunity to give our parents reason to be proud of. Our graduation in the elementary is a proof that we toil and work hard for an achievement. This is a concrete example of what we can do to become successful. Though, this graduation is not the end. In fact this is just a beginning of a greater life and greater experiences to come ahead of us. Our lessons here will become our guiding light for the realization of all our plans. Those six years of elementary schooling are the basics that we cross over in threshold from learning to glorious living.
Here, again, I took the road less traveled by. I walked into the hard, narrow path and that has made all the difference. Thank you very much.