VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

Listen to advice and accept discipline,

    and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

    but it is the LORD ’s purpose that prevails.

This words I quote from the book of Proverbs Chapter 19 verses 20 to 21.
Isn’t it coincidence that the situation we are experiencing today started in the year 2019,
continued and we were prohibited to move in the year 2020 up to now 2021? We didn’t
really expected these things to happen to us. Only God knows and all His plans will
prevail in our life. He is still up there covering His wings over us to keep us away from
danger and to enjoy good health upon His divine protection. In times like this, only God
is our refuge and deliverer. We will surrender everything unto Him and allow Him to
control our lives.

Today, we are at the end of the rainbow about to get the treasures we’ve been digging
for, for the past 6 years. However, our travel to the end of this rainbow was really
difficult and challenging. It is not the usual experience like our elder brothers and elder
sisters when they reap the fruit of their labors. Ours, is different. We traveled from the
normal curve of the rainbow up to the new normal when all of us finished the course
not seeing each other face to face.

Although, we want to hug each other to greet each one of us a word of congratulations,
but we cannot do it since the unseen enemy along the way threatened and prohibited
us to do so. All we can do is seeing each other’s teary eye over the screen, show each
one of us a sweet smile over the phone because we live in a virtual world, virtual
classroom, we are in a virtual graduation.

In this past ten months were very challenging to us. All we have experienced, I cannot
elaborate it anymore. What I can say is that, despite of the Pandemic brought by the
Covid-19 we continued to pursue our dreams and here it is, we’ve finished our
elementary years. What lies ahead, we will leave it to the Lord for He alone holds the
future. What is certain is we will become Junior High School students in the next school
year. Wherever, the Lord will lead us, let us not forget our alma mater, Bata Elementary
School I. Let us all remember our loving and understanding teachers. Many to mention
but they are around us still willing to help and guide us whatever challenges we may
face. Because they really became our second parents inside the classroom. In fact,
during the face-to-face classes they spend much of their time to us than their families
and love ones. They extended their time to us to the extent that they don’t have time to
their own children. Right at this moment, I encourage you to get your phone and start
sending messages of gratitude to them - our teachers. To my teachers, Mam Corpuz,
Mam Penales, Mam Jalandoni, Mam Dumaicos, Mam Gozon, Mam Estilo, Sir Trono,
Mam Ann, and for the rest of the teachers especially sir Ton who taught us to become
responsible persons, to all of you thank you very much.

God is really wise and wonderful, He alone is great and His works are immeasurable.
This thing happened to us with a purpose. There’s a lot of good benefit this pandemic
brought to us. You know a lot of them. But what I can mention is that we now spend
most of our time with our parents and love ones. We have most of our time to our
siblings who became our playmates from dawn to dusk. Although we spend our classes
online, answering our lessons via the internet or most of us answering the printed
modules, our parents played a great role. Not only financially, morally, emotionally but
also intellectually. We really tested the capability of our parents to facilitate our learning
at home. Instead, we were going to school to submit our activities but they’re the one
faced the danger of being infected of the virus outside our home. From the time we see
the light of this world up to this very moment, our parents are there supporting us. They
are willing to offer their lives for us to see us achieve our dreams. In fact, before we hear
the sound of our laughter, they were the very first happy for us. Their joy is
immeasurable seeing us receiving our certificates and medals. Although, they cannot
give it to us on the stage but deep in their hearts and inside their minds right now is the
imagination that they are on the stage together with our dear principal and teachers
giving certificates into our hands and putting the medals into our neck. Their tears are
unstoppable to drop from their eyes because their hearts are joyful. Let us thank our
parents every day, every minute every second of our lives. We owe our lives from them.

This School Year start irregularly and ended irregularly without compromising the
quality of education we can acquire from the system. However, our learning is not only
limited to the four corners of our classroom. The new educational system gave us the
freedom to acquire our knowledge over the web and even in our surroundings. This year
end ceremony’s theme is: “Strengthening the Quality Education amid the Covid-19
Pandemic”. Our parent and teachers, really did their best to provide this quality
education to us by sacrificing everything brought by the abnormal situation. From the
preparation and printing of modules and online presentation. Despite of so many
challenges, we still survive.

To my fellow graduates, thank you for days we’ve shared together while we were still in
the normal situation. The teasing and bullying sometimes made us strong. It tested us to
become a big boys. Though, we have no chance to say good bye under the roof of alma
mater, but the technology never limit us to communicate each other. Soon, we will go
back to our school gym and run again and hug our teachers.

Now that we have the opportunity to play our phone and gadgets all day long,
remember everything has a limitation. Let us remember, that our success do not lies on
the social media alone. Let us filter the information that we read and viewed from the
internet. Not all of them are beneficial to our brain. Let us not waste the financial
resources of our parents playing online games. Instead, use it for our studies to acquire
new learning to become our weapon to face the real challenges that lies ahead of us.
Whatever the pandemic will take us, let us be strong and have faith in God. Always be
healthy and physically fit. All these thing shall pass away.

Congratulations to all of us and move forward…