d to inspire the students. I don't know where to start in composing my speech..I don't know what to wear.. I'm totally confused... should I back out or should I face my fears.... I choose the later one.
Graduation came.. I went to school bringing my confidence (weeee??) and a piece of paper. I saw many familiar faces..my high school teachers, my neighbors and some acquaintances.. a lot of talking happened.. and it's my turn to have my very unprepared speech..
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| Simple outfit for the graduation. |
Here's my speech..
You may take your seats. Thank you mam for that wonderful introduction maam.
I want to extend my warmest greetings to the officials, school administrators, to our hardworking and dear teachers and parents, as well as my congratulations to the students who will be honored today for their academic excellence.
First of all, I won’t miss this moment to express my heartfelt thanks to my Alma Mater- the Bato National High School for giving me this opportunity. As an alumna of this institution who is now a fledging member of the family of educators, I found this chance as an honor and privilege. It is my honor to be back to my Alma Mater to inspire our dear parents and students who will soon bring pride and glory to this institution.
My dear parents and students let me share to you this short and simple story which has been my source of inspiration and guidance for years now.
“There was once a fisherman fishing with his grandson on a very fine day. There was a high possibility of catching good fish that day because the weather was so pleasant.Without any thought, the fisherman immediately threw the hook unto the water and after a few minutes he got a big fish of good quality. But the fisherman removed it from the hook and threw the fish back into the water. His grandson just looked at him with bewilderment. And then, the fisherman threw the hook again unto the water and the same thing happened – he got a big fish of good quality. He did the same thing again and again and finally he got a small fish in which he kept in his boat. His grandson was not able to stand what was happening anymore. Puzzled, he asked his grandfather, “Lolo, I really don’t understand what’s happening! We’ve got big fish earlier but you threw all of them back to the sea. Now that we have a small one, you would like to keep it.” And then the fisherman answered back his confused grandson, “Don’t you know? Our pan is so small. How can we cook those big fish?”
My friends, that story might sound funny but it tells us very important lessons in life.How many times have we thrown our big fish away? How many times have we neglected the blessings which life has offered us because we have been so unthankful and preferred to focus on our resentments? We might have or have not noticed them; we wake up each day with abundant blessings in life. The fact that we have another day to keep our life going and to keep building on our dreams in more than enough reason to be thankful.
Rejoice! Celebrate every little achievement that you have in life even if those achievements are not worth of a celebration for other people. Maintain a thankful heart. Say “salamat” to your parents, teachers, friends, classmates and everyone. Do you know what “Salamat” means? It is Sa= sa, La=Langit, Mat=matagamtaman ang kalipay nga walay katapusan. You are saying that because you cannot pay everything that your parents, teachers and friends have given to you. And you asked God that He will give what is just for those people who helped you.
That way, we are maintaining a healthy image of a healthy person ready to face all the challenges in life. There’s so much more reasons to smile than to frown and smiling are much easier than frowning.We won’t be happy if we always feel sorry for ourselves for not being to do something we have expected. Life is life and what is past is past. No matter what, life goes on.
Another inspiration which we could get from the story is the inspiration to dream. Our power to dream is limitless, thus, we should enlarge our vision. Let’s not be limited by the size of our pan. Whether our pan is small or big, we can cut the fish into small pieces. It’s the same thing in life. Let’s not let our meager resources be a hindrance in dreaming big things. We can attain those dreams little by little until our pan would feel sorry for us. Anyways, we can buy bigger pan afterwards.I believe it is in this principle that my parents stand through in raising us. I am very proud to say that I have been raised by two people whose income is so fickle to support the education of their children. My father is a carver and my mother is a plain housewife. But even though, they did not mind their meager resources in pursuing their dream to send us to college. How? I think they dreamt of it.I also dreamt to study in a prestigious university and when an opportunity came, I did not hesitate to grab it. Studying away from your family and friends is not easy. You have to adapt to the new environment as well as you have to be able to master the courage of how to say “No”, saying no to vices and saying no to peer pressure, among others. I would like also to commend University of Cebu-Lapu-lapu and Mandaue for their academic scholarship that helped me make my dreams into reality.
Students, there are so many ways, if we only explore, in order to attain our ambitions in life. All we have to do is to believe that we will be able to do it and one day we will be standing triumphantly. Parents, I am very sure that these students here have their own aspirations in life. You don’t really need all those money to realize their dreams. All you have to do is to guide them, support them and inspire them to achieve what they are able to achieve. After all, each one of us is capable of achieving something.
If you have a dream, go get it! Period. Again congratulations everyone, thank you and enjoy the rest of the evening.
That ended my speech. I was given a plaque of recognition for being their speaker and a token of appreciation. After the graduation ceremony, there was a small gathering by the faculty, staff and the administrators.
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| Plaque and Token of Appreciation |
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| The Graduates of Bato National High School Academic Year 2014-2015 |
I am so happy that I did it...I conquered my fear..and I gained another experience. This experience made me say that "Dreams really do come true ." I'm not really good in speaking but that night I realized that you can be the best if you allow yourself to be. I hope those students learned something from me.
'Till next adventure loves.
Xoxo Der
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