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Tonight is the night to be grateful.

Our esteemed guest of honor Ms. Hidilyn Diaz; chairman of the board of
directors, Dr. Richard Nicolas; university president, Atty. Ferdinand Nicolas;
executive vice president Prof. Liza Nicolas; vice president for finance, Prof.
Josephine Bolusan; vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Elsie Pilar;
members of the board of directors, deans and faculty members of the different
colleges, guests, parents, friends and fellow graduates:

Indeed, tonight is the night to be grateful. And we are more than grateful as
our loving Almighty Creator to whom we owe everything made things possible
for us to be here and relish to see the fruits of our labor.

We have hurdled another level of our journey. And tonight signals the
beginning our journey with an auspicious confidence to hurdle the challenges
that will come our way because we know God is always there every step of
the way.

Out there in the wide arena is the reality of life, poised to make decisions on
our own, sans the people who hounded us with tons of work so we may do
better.

People say that millenials to which we are a part of are indifferent to what’s
happening around them, unmindful of the problems that besiege the country,
focused only on their own selfish interest, determined to settle for a high
paying position on their first job.

We would not be honest with ourselves if we deny that from day one of our
college life, we were not thinking of our own interest. In seeking knowledge,
we were occupied with the single thought that the race to finish our education
was meant to improve our lives and that of our loved ones, never mind the
distractions that beset our community, our country, our society.

Little did we know that the small pockets of challenges, the occasions of
uncalled-for behavior of some people frustrating us to shine, the brutal
frankness of some of our teachers who we thought pulled us down never
realizing such straightforwardness meant to bring out the best in us, offered a
life-changing perspective.

Valedictory Speech Written by Kayelene A. Caacbay : Edited by Ms. Juliet Pascual *April 6, 2017*
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These experiences unwittingly helped us to redirect that me-first attitude, that

self-interest thinking. And we have to thank God for that because He led us to
Northwestern, His little kingdom, to realize that we are meant to serve through
our desires to improve not only our lives and that of our loved ones but also of
other people’s lives and through a redirected value towards our ambitions.

Had we not come to Northwestern, would we have found our niche in our own
chosen programs? Had we have chosen another school, would we have
found our voice?

More importantly, would we have learned the lessons in life that are crucial in
facing life in a troubled, trial-laden playing field?

My fellow graduates, let us thank God for leading us to Northwestern

University where we were nourished of His teachings.

Thank you Lord :

- for Northwestern University, for giving us the venue to find our voice, our
confidence to speak out our mind and to stand by our principles;

-for the institution that helped us build a bridge to connect to people, the
ground to meet and work with people of different characters and be a better
person;

- for reminding us the value of time and how we should use it to be more
productive, to value what we have and make the most out of it.

- for our dear school that gave us the space to exercise stoicism towards things
that could have broken our spirit; to unleash our potential to make us
competent, responsible citizens;

- for instilling in us that our talents are all gifts from you and we should use
these for the common good, and for molding us to who we are.

To Northwestern for preparing us on all fronts so we may win the battles in the
larger playing field. We offer to God our overflowing love and gratitude for you.

Valedictory Speech Written by Kayelene A. Caacbay : Edited by Ms. Juliet Pascual *April 6, 2017*
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To our beloved teachers we thank you for the lessons in life, for giving us
towers of requirements, for criticizing us that led us to raise our level of
tolerance.

To people who came to our lives and offered opportunities that tested our
decision-making skills, peer-groups that tried our temperament, people who
did things to break our spirit, we thank God for you. Without you, we would not
be here enjoying the luxury of gladness on this joyous occasion.

To our dear parents who believed in our capabilities, in our capacity of what
we can do, who toiled day and night just to send us to school, who stood with
us during our ups and downs of our journey, we can never thank you enough.

On a personal note, I would like to congratulate and thank my parents, Arcelito

Caacbay and Magelyn Anua Caacbay for making this dream possible
specially believing in my potential.

To my dearest Jezryll, thank you for making my goals as part of your goals.

To my fellow graduates, let us thank God for each other. The road to oval was
bumpy, but with each other’s company, our journey became fun.

Let us continue to provide support and encouragement for each other in future
endeavors even if we tread separate paths in our journey.

Let us not forget to live by our school’s corporate values CHAMPS –

Commitment to Excellence, Honesty and Integrity, Active Involvement,
Management of Resources, Professionalism and Selfless Service. These
values are our identity as Northwesternians.

William Faulkner, a Nobel prize winner, once said, Always shoot higher
than you know you can. Don’t bother just to be better than your
contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”

Valedictory Speech Written by Kayelene A. Caacbay : Edited by Ms. Juliet Pascual *April 6, 2017*
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As we travel to seek our place under the sun, we will face crossroads and
failures. It is also inevitable that we will be criticized of our own capabilities,
judged by people who don’t even have a clue of our story. There will always
be people who will try to drag us down, and pressure will give its share of the
toll.

Let us make something out of these negativities to turn them into reason and
inspiration, a fuel to keep us shine bright like that of a star. Let these be our
motivation to reach greater heights.

And as we continue to pursue our goals, some of us may become too

ambitious. Blinded by that ambition, we may tend to forget what God has
given us under the tutelage of our dear school. And we may become too pre-
occupied, competing with people who we will regard us as threats to their
ambitions.

A mentor of mine said that “it is not bad to be ambitious. Be ambitious but do
not use people, do not step on other people’s toes, do not pull people down or
destroy them. As you pursue your goal, keep your feet rooted to the ground.
Be thankful with what you get and despite your efforts, when things do not turn
out the way you expect, still be grateful. God has better plans for you.”

Fellow graduates, I pray that each one of us will be reminded of this as we

travel to pursue our dreams.

And on that note, as I sat down and wrote this speech, I came to realize that
the label of graduating with honors is nothing to brag about. We all deserve to
be called honor students. Everyone equally gave his or her best to complete
the four or five-year struggle to be here to be called a graduate. We did it
because God has always been there for us.

All honor and glory belong to God. And by HIS grace, we can all soar to
greater and grander heights with the Northwestern spirit.

Thank you.

Valedictory Speech Written by Kayelene A. Caacbay : Edited by Ms. Juliet Pascual *April 6, 2017*