mckhoii

While browsing over my folders I bumped into the file that contained my speech. OMG…Nostalgia!!! I might as well share this to you guys… and oh! Congratulations to the new graduates of 2008 and break a leg in whatever endeavor you are about to partake! w00t!

Mckhoii’s Valedictory Speech

In the real world, dreams do not come equipped with the magic wands of Cinderella stories

To our most reverend bishop of Tagum City –Wilfredo D. Manlapas, D.D.,S.T.D., members of the SMC board of trustees, school president – S. Ma. Fe D. Gerodias, RVM, Dean of college – S. Ma. Preciosa M. Rusiana, RVM, Associate Deans of the different programs, members of the faculty and non-teaching personnel, honorable guests, beloved parents, co-graduates, and friends, an exhilarating and magnificent day to you!

Four years ago, we gathered here in St. Mary’s College for education. Today marks a milestone in that pursuit, a culmination of four years of learning, growth, and shared memories. At such, times, it is appropriate to reflect on years past, to examine what we have done and what we have learned. Today, I am charged with that difficult task, and I would like to thank the school for this precious privilege and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stand before my peers and reflect in our time together.

w00t!

Thinking of graduation day always gives me the creeps! Paradoxical emotions always stir my mind, soul, and spirit – happiness and sadness, excitement and anxiety. We are happy because we can now put an end to all those infuriating and frustrating quizzes, and other school-related stressors. We finally reap what we’ve sown for four years and seize the awards we know we deserve. That’s got to be lots of sowing! On the other hand, we are disheartened because we know that we will be leaving some people behind and be separated from very special people whose hearts are close to ours. We will miss those fun activities, peer-gimmicks, neologisms and weird talks that we may never ever do again as we move on with our lives.

If my memory serves me right, it was during my kindergarten graduation day when on this very stage I declared this very famous clichéd line to the whole world, “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor”. It was the beginning of my bumpy, sometimes smooth, trip to education and life. The word “commencement”, being a synonym of “beginning” or “start”, marks the opening of a new chapter of our lives. From kindergarten, we commenced grade school to high school, and to college.

I am not a doctor of medicine, although I know I look like one (haha), but now I stand here before you all as a nurse graduate and as soon as I win my license, I know that my dream of being an angel for the sick and an adept member of the health team is fulfilled. As we confidently hold our shining shimmering and elegantly framed diplomas, let us think of what awaits us as we cross the portals to the other side of reality – the competitive, iniquity-packed and fierce outside world.

No man is indeed an island. There are so many people whom we owe what we have and what we are now. As long as I am still able to inhale and exhale, I will forever acclaim the part of which these people have played in my life wherever I am and whatever I will become in the future.

To my Classmates and RLE group mates from preclinical exposure to head nursing concepts who were together with me in my struggles, ordeals, and obstacles in both the community and in the hospital during my search for knowledge and skills, and during the course of helping clients and their families.

To my best friends: Alexis – my idol, brother and source of energy, Lani – my sentry, adviser, and advocate, Caesar – my clown, dictionary, and partner in crime, and the rest of my closest friends who have been with me through thick and thin, and will continue to be with me until the end of time no matter what.

To my mentors, both general subject teachers and clinical instructors, who taught us, not only theories and concepts, but also significant things about life which can’t be found in any book. To Ma’am Aida for being a sweet mother to us Marian student nurses. To Ma’am Jo, Ma’am Thelma, Ma’am Joan, Ma’am Rochelle, Sir Totz, and the rest of the nursing education team for the love and service shown in their efforts to extract a world-class nurse in us in terms of attitude, knowledge, and skill.

To St. Mary’s College – our home and refuge where we inhabit to be molded into a totally different brand new person. To the leaders and management team who did all their best to provide students the best education they could get with stupendous facilities and fine teachers especially to S. Fe who is charismatically inspiring and whose excellence and leadership inspires us most, and also to S. Precy – my personal soul-searching partner, my momita with the big heart, and my fairy godmother - whose short stay in SMC made a great difference to each and everyone’s lives.

To My mama, who has always been caring, loving, and understanding in all ways no matter how bad a son and imperfect a person I am; for accepting me for who I am and always believing that I am destined for great things; for clinging on to constant vigilance so that she can fulfill the role of being a mother and a father to us; for suffering and accepting all the hurts to make us happy and to provide us with the basic needs including the most demanded wants. What I have now is all for you! Mama, I love you so much! I may have failed to show or say this frequently but deep in my heart lingers my intense love for you. To my ate Karen and all members of the Loy-Biala clan who has always been at my back, cheering that I will win the fight. To my father whose absence challenged me to strive for greater things, thus making me now, magna cum laude.

To Mother Ignatia del Espiritu Santo whose simple and humble life and values made a great impact in teaching, touching, and transforming us to be good and great as we enter into the society as God-fearing citizens. To Mary, our model and mother, who inspire us to work harder to reach our goals of becoming an integrated person. To God almighty who carried me in times of failure and being the core and reason for everything.

I give you all my insurmountable gratitude! Thanks a million for everything!

My co-graduates, let us not fail these people who believe in us. Let us soar high and work harder to unleash our potentials to reach, if not closer, our goal of being an integrated person. Remember that our minds and hearts, like an umbrella, functions best when it is open. Soon we will see each other and I challenge you all to be great people in the society.

Before anything else, I would like to share this honor to my best friend who, I know, also deserves to be on this spot. Alex, will you join me here pls? (Alex joined me in the stage and together we delivered the last line)

Nothing is impossible! All you got to do is believe. Good luck to all of us! Godbless and see you soon!

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