105th Commencement Exercises
March 30, 2007 was a day of extremes. It was the saddest yet happiest moment of the year, and probably of half the decade, or of my main teenage years. It was the day of firsts, and the day of conclusions. Indeed, this day will be remembered, not only because it officially concluded the day of my daily stay at my 2nd home for the last nine years, but also because our batch made history.
Batch 2007 is the first co-ed batch, the batch with the highest number of academic honors in terms of percentage and headcount, the batch which took part of the NCAA Season 82 championships, and the batch with the most number of graduates, with three new courses including my program, BS Financial Management and Systems Development.
It was also one of the proudest if not the proudest day of my life. It felt good wearing the red academic gown, which happened to be the only red academic gown in Asia, and wearing it was the best when I received my diploma and silver medal for being an academic distinction. Allow me to boast this time, I am an Academic Distinction awardee, and the highest academic distinction awardee for the BS Financial Management program. I won't be shy in saying that I really felt good and proud marching at Plaza Bedista and the school quadrangle with salutations from the cadet and the faculty. Accepting the silver medal and diploma, while shaking hands with the faculty and the administrators will probably be my most memorable seconds.
Well,
the day had its worsts too, because we staged the commencement rites in
the middle of the afternoon sunlight. I had sweat all over. I really
thank Joyce, Tophie, and the rest of the academic distinction awardees for allowing me to have fun with them, and for laughing at my jokes, as if I was a stand-up comedian. Haha. Thanks also to Benj,
my cum laude friend (he's the guy whom I'm so proud of next to myself),
as well as Ronald our magna cum laude. for taking pictures of mine.
I was also glued to my seats when I listened to the speech of our commencement speaker. She's Victoria P. Garchitorena, President of Ayala Foundation USA, Ayala Foundation Inc. and the Managing Director of the Stakeholder Relations of the Ayala Corporation. Her speech was truly inspiring and almost flawless. Her words, including her delivery, were spellbinding. I will surely ponder on her words for us graduates.
My sincerest thanks to the graduates of San Beda CAS 2007. To my fellow finmans, thanks for everything. Batchmates, continue to be the best in your chosen fields. I pray that you will all find happiness and success in your future endeavors. Never embrace mediocrity. As Gandhi once said, "BE THE CHANGE THAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD". Always "ANSWER THE CLARION'S CALL, FOR SAN BEDA, OUR COUNTRY, AND GOD".
I also want to thank my educators and formators, for molding me and contributing to my character. Special thanks to my favorite mentors: Prof. Delilah Bernardo, Prof. Adelo Brabante, Prof. Marco Montes, Prof. Cadz Malbarosa, and Prof. Araceli Fernando.
Lastly, I wanna thank my family, especially my mom and dad, for everything. Thank you for unconditionally loving me, and for investing in a San Beda education. Thank you for your endless support as well.
Congratulations batch 2007.
To my friends, I'm just one text away, please remember that.
Up to this moment, the only tune that sinks in my mind and heart is the "Pomp and Circumstance" melody, which is the universal graduation or commencement theme. I even downloaded an mp3 of it just to relive the moments that I just had a few hours ago.
To commence means to start anew, and this day, I just had a new start.
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