Gusto ko lang i-share tong na-receive kong forwarded na e-mail, yung speech ng valedictorian ng UP this year [hehehe. nakaka-aliw minsan na-feature siya sa isang publication di ko sure kung kule yun o UP newsletter tas sobrang kamukha niya yung isang orgmate ko sa erg, si Nicky] anyways, eto yung speech niya:
Mikaela Irene Fudolig – BS PhysicsSpeech at the Commencement
Exercises, UPDApril 22, 2007
One of the things that strike me as
being very “UP Diliman” is the way UPD students can’t seem to stay on the
pavement. From every street corner that bounds an unpaved piece of land, one
will espy a narrow trail that cuts the corner, or leads from it. Every lawn
around the buildings sports at least one of these paths, starting from a point
nearest to the IKOT stop and ending at the nearest entry to the building. The
trails are beaten on the grass by many pairs of feet wanting to save a fraction
of a meter of traveling, no matter that doing so will exact some cost to the
shoes, or, to the ubiquitous slippers, especially when the trails are
new.
What do these paths say about us, UP students?
One could say that the
UP student is enamored with Mathematics and Pythagoras, hence these triangles
formed by the pavement and the path. Many among you would disagree.
Others
could say that the UP student is naturally countercultural. And the refusal to
use the pavement is just one of the myriads of ways to show his defiance of the
order of things. This time, many would agree.
Still, others will say that the
UP student is the model of today’s youth: they want everything easier, faster,
now. The walkable paths appeal to them because they get to their destination
faster, and presumably, with less effort. Now that is only partly true, and
totally unfair.
These trails weren’t always walkable. No doubt they started
as patches of grass, perhaps overgrown. Those who first walked them must have
soiled their shoes, stubbed their toes, or had insects biting their legs, all in
the immovable belief that the nearest distance between two points is a straight
line. They might even have seen snakes cross their paths. But the soiled
footwear, sore toes, and itchy legs started to conquer the grass. Other people,
seeing the yet faint trail, followed. And as more and more walked the path, the
grass gave in and stopped growing altogether, making the path more and more
visible, more and more walkable.
The persistence of the paths pays tribute to
those UP students who walked them first – the pioneers of the unbeaten tracks:
the defiant and curious few who refuse the familiar and comfortable; the
out-of-the-box thinkers who solve problems instead of fretting about them; the
brave who dare do things differently, and open new opportunities to those who
follow.
They say how one behaved in the past would determine how he behaves
in the future. And as we leave the University, temporarily or for good, let us
call on the pioneering, defiant, and brave spirit that built the paths to guide
us in this next phase of our life.
We have been warned time and again. Our
new world that they call “adulthood” is one that’s full of compromises, where
success is determined more by the ability to belong than by the ability to
think, where it is much easier to do as everyone else does. Daily we are
bombarded with so much news of despair about the state of our nation, and the
apparent, perverse sense of satisfaction our politicians get from vilifying our
state of affairs. It is fashionable to migrate to other countries to work in
deceptively high-paying jobs like nursing and teaching, forgetting that even at
their favored work destinations, nurses and teachers are some of the lowest paid
professionals. The lure of high and immediate monetary benefits in some low-end
outsourcing jobs has drawn even some of the brightest UP students away from both
industry and university teaching to which they would have been better
suited.
Like the sidewalks and pavement, these paths are the easiest to take.
But, like the sidewalks and pavement, these paths take longer to traverse,
just as individual successes do not always make for national progress. The
unceasing critic could get elected, but not get the job done. The immigrant
could get his visa, but disappear from our brainpower pool. The highly paid
employee would be underutilized for his skills, and pine to get the job he truly
wants, but is now out of his reach. And the country, and we, are poorer because
of these.
Today, the nation needs brave, defiant pioneers to reverse our
nation’s slide to despair. Today, we must call upon the spirit that beat the
tracks. Today, we must present an alternative way of doing things.
Do NOT
just take courage, for courage is not enough. Instead, be BRAVE! It will take
bravery to go against popular wisdom, against the clichéd expectations of family
and friends. It will take bravery to gamble your future by staying in the
country and try to make a prosperous life here. It might help if for a start, we
try to see why our Korean friends are flocking to our country. Why, as many of
us line up for immigrant visas in various embassies, they get themselves
naturalized and settle here. Do they know something we don’t?
Do NOT just be
strong in your convictions, for strength is not enough. Instead, DEFY the
pressure to lead a comfortable, but middling life. Let us lead this country from
the despair of mediocrity. Let us not seek to do well, but strive to EXCEL in
everything that we do. This, so others will see us as a nation of brains of the
highest quality, not just of brawn that could be had for cheap.
Take NOT the
road less traveled. Rather, MAKE new roads, BLAZE new trails, FIND new routes to
your dreams. Unlike the track-beaters in campus who see where they’re going, we
may not know how far we can go. But if we are brave, defiant searchers of
excellence, we will go far. Explore possibilities, that others may get a similar
chance. I have tried it myself. And I’m speaking to you now.
But talk is
cheap, they say. And so I put my money where my mouth is. Today, I place myself
in the service of the University, if it will have me. I would like to teach, to
share knowledge, and perhaps to be an example to new UP students in thinking and
striving beyond the limits of the possible. This may only be a small disturbance
in the grass. But I hope you’ll come with me, and trample a new path.
Good
evening, everyone.
Okay lang pero di ko masyadong gusto. pero opinyon ko lang naman to.
anyways, meron akong dalawang nabasa na valedictory speech (2005 at 2006) na sobrang nagandahan ako. eto basahin niyo: valedictory speech (Anna Theresa licaros) // valedictory speech (Donald Ngwe)
