Graduations. This has been synonymous with long hours of waiting in usually a humid room with your formals on waiting for a few minutes to witness one person go up the stage. Yes, despite all its negative tradeoffs, everyone with a special someone going up on that stage will attend it. And I was no exception. I was recently on leave a few days to attend my sister's graduation. As I sat there, with my long-sleeved shirt sweating in a warm auditorium with the rest of the parents and extended families of her whole batch, I couldn't help but remember how it used to feel being up there on stage. Besides, I was in a similar situation for five times already in my life.Based on a life cycle analysis in the Filipino context, education is a major event and expense in a life in our society. This is why graduations are a special thing for us in our society. That very few minutes of exposure on stage is a summation of all the hard work (and the fun) put in for several years. Plus, the experience culminates the addition of all the people one meets along the way. That's why graduations are teary eyed with the notion that many will not see these people for some time.
In the tradition of graduations, let me give my graduation speech as if I was the one invited to talk to the graduates. As my sister and her friends move up from being a kid to an adolescent and enter the dangerous yet exciting time of their lives (a.k.a. high school), let me partake my penny worth of wisdom to them and to all those that are moving on to one stage or another in their lives:
Never forget the past. A person is who he is because of the past he has been through. Don't forget the lessons learned about life and love and everything in between. Never forget the people who helped you get to where you are now. When you get older, you will look for these people again, because the need to be remembered becomes stronger as you age.
Treasure the present. They don't call it the "present" for nothing. Live for the moment. Be thankful that you are where you are right now and that you are still here. Enjoy the time with the people you love, because they won't be there forever. Take the challenges as they come, and leave tomorrow's worries for tomorrow. Life cannot be exempt from the problems you will encounter, but do not let that stop you from enjoying it.
Look forward to the future. Do not be afraid of it. Let everything you do today be a step to whatever you want to be later. Gain the needed experience and learn the lessons that will make you a better person for tomorrow. Let every action you do today be decided firmly upon based on the vision of yourself when you grow older.
Remember, as quoted from the movie "Wallstreet" (the new one): Money is not the most important asset in life. It's time.
Congratulations to all the graduates of 2011!
