My education, my contribution to my future

I am once again invited as guest speaker on a high school commencement exercises. i couldn't say no because foremost, this school used to be my own and i treasure every single memory i have in this institution. anyway, this is my second time to have accepted their invitation and every invitation is always like the first time...the tension, the preparation, the excitement and apprehensions...all are there in a package...i actually have two speaking engagements this march 2009. One will be held on March 29, 2009 at Stella Mariz Learning Center and the other, on March 30, 2009 in Malinao National High School on its 36th commencement exercises. The sked is quite so tight that i have to rush home right after SMLC so i will have the evening trip going to Bukidnon. It's going to be, more or less, a 5-hour trip via bus but since i am traveling in the evening, i have to sleep over at Valencia City and take the first trip to Kalilangan the following day. Hmmm, sounds exciting and i guess i am going to lovit. i am pretty much inclined to experiences like these and i am sure i will enjoy the trip and savor the fun!

well, here is a glimpse of what i call my "partial" speech.

This year’s theme says: my education, my contribution to my future”, is a universal truth. It is not only true today, or yesterday, but it has always been true since time immemorial. Regardless of space and distance, this is always true, anywhere else in the world. My point is that, education plays a very crucial and significant role in the molding of the future generation.

We would never have known Jose Rizal and other national heroes, had it not been for education. We would never have tall buildings, wide bridges, huge malls and amusements parks had it not been for education as these are designed by well-trained architects, and built by schooled engineers. Nobody could have seen the moon and its craters, explained the complexity of the solar system, discovered some mysteries of the universe had it not been for education…

Take note of our earliest inventors who have made a difference in our lives. The American inventor Thomas Edison changed the way people live when he invented the first practical light bulb wherein people in the 18th century used candles and oil or gas lamps for light. Thanks to Alexander Graham Bell who, at age 18 had developed the basic ideas of the telephone in the year 1876, with that, communication has become easier. Who invented airplanes? Ships? Who discovered that the world is round and not square? Was it not Christopher Columbus? All these have become possible because of education. They did their best in maximizing and furthering their knowledge. We would never have computers, no cell phones, no ipods, no cars and other luxuries that technology has given us, had it not been for education. Basically, these are all products of education.

We would never have known the genius Einstein, benefited from the theory of the mathematician Pythagoras, learned from different schools of thoughts from the famous Philosophers Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, or Confucius, had it not been for education. We will never have doctors to diagnose our illnesses, dentist for our dental care, lawyers to defend us and fight for our rights; we would never have pilots to fly planes and captains to maneuver ships, had it not been for education. We would never have passionate mentors to teach us how to read and recite our ABC’s. These and all other professions and vocations are brought about by education. We would never have books to read and learn thongs from had it not been for education. What is education then?

The school is just one aspect of education – we have a bigger school out there where the teachers are not the same with the teachers we are facing each day in school. The teachers back then are our own experiences…and how do we go about the process of breaking through these learning is what we call education… There are other ways wherein we can enhance and enrich ourselves to the person we can be best at...

Education is a continuous process of learning. It is not bound or limited to a certain stage or level of educational attainment…human as we are, we always seek for something better and that act is called education…when we continually seek for what is good, what is remarkable, what is advantageous, that is education. And while we do nothing, but wait for something good to happen is fatalistic. And it is contrary to education…it is ignorance. God has opened our eyes to see what is there to see and give us wisdom on what to do with what we are seeing…we just don't look into things, we have to use them…we should maximize them not only for our advantage but for others and of the greater glory of God.

the real essence of education is that something which is not bound to anything…no level of educational attainment can ever exactly define what education is because it is relative, when we say relative, it is not permanently fixed, but having a meaning or value that can only be established in relation to something else and will change according to circumstances or context thus, education largely depends on our experience. That’s why we vary. We differ in perspective and outlook. We differ in understanding because education is relative. It goes with the person’s experience, Level of understanding and his abilities.

Children are naturally curious and tend to be very inquisitive thus parents and teachers should not deprive them of the answers to every question they raise. Don’t ever stop them from asking questions because if we do so, it is equivalent to depriving the, of education. Remember there are lessons that are learned by asking, learned from home, church, friends and in school ,and lessons learned from anywhere. So let them ask to learn. According to Peter Usnov, “After all, what is education but a process by which a person begins to learn how to learn?”

It is our every obligation, teachers and parents and the entire community to work hand in hand in building a better and wholesome education to our children because it is then in this way that we can achieve the goal of quality education; the goal of reaching our destiny to excellence and reaping the fruit of our labor, our learned products. these students will be our future engineers, future scientists, defenders, government officials, teachers, entrepreneurs, computer programmers and analysts, bankers, managers, surgeon and dentist, nurses and writers…when we have done our best share in molding our youth, and the younger generation then we won’t be ashamed to ask the question to our children, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Remember that whoever and whatever they will become in the future is their own contribution to their future, to their country and to their generation and the generations to come.

(note: photos were taken during the actual commencement ceremony and posted after the event.)