Valedictory Speech of Svetlana Riguera (Grade School Class 2012)

Dr. Marl Ferenal, our President; Ms. Avic Suarez, our Principal; Mr. Paolo Reyes, our guest speaker; the
administration, faculty and staff; parents and guests; my fellow graduates; good morning to all of you!

March 30, 2012. I think we will all agree that this day is definitely not ordinary. Today, we acknowledge
the people met, the lessons learned, the tears shed, the laughter relished, and the memories made in our
six years as elementary students. Today, we show our teachers, our parents, and most importantly
ourselves that we’re no longer children. Today we show the world that we are ready to take on the next
stage of our academic life: High School.

I’m very honored to stand before all of you today as the Valedictorian of Class 2012, not only because of
the awards that I have garnered but more so because I’m part of a truly outstanding batch - a
batch that has achieved so much, a batch where everyone is talented in different fields. With
this, let me thank some of the people who have made my achievements possible. I might not be able to
mention all of you by name, but rest assured that I’m infinitely grateful to everyone who has put me on
this stage today.

I would like to thank God first and foremost. Without Him, none of these would have been possible. I
would also like to thank my parents, Atty. Manny Riguera and Atty. Hazel Riguera.  All of my
achievements are not only mine, but also theirs, because without their hard work and encouragement, I
would not be standing here and speaking to all of you today. Thank you, Dad and Mom, for letting me
be, but always under your supervision and guidance. Thank you for giving me the opportunities to
explore and to discover my full potential, not only inside but also outside the four walls of Southville.

 
 
To all the teachers I have had in my life, thank you. All of you have contributed to who I am
today, and although I am far from perfect, I believe that I’m a much better person than the
person I would have been had I not met all of you. To Ms. Jen Gaddi  and Ms. Gladys Mintu, my
advisers for grades 3 and 4 respectively, at Munich campus, thank you for guiding me while I was still
adjusting to a new environment.  To Ms. Icka Santos and Mr. Xander Siose, my advisers for grades 5 and
6 respectively at the Luxembourg campus, thank you for helping me go past my comfort zones, and
giving me inspiration when I needed it most.

 
To all my friends, classmate or not, thank you very much. Andrea, Kelsie and Yifei, thank you for sticking
with me through thick and thin. Thank you for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. 
Yoojung, Eggy, and Russell, thank you for consistently reminding me that I am not perfect, and that I will
never be as awesome or as tall as you guys are.  When others were all praise for me, you never failed to
remind me that I am not perfect. Kim and Maija, my two fangirl buddies, I thank you for bringing me into
the new world of K Pop. To the cast and crew of Seussical Jr., thank you for giving me one of the most
unforgettable moments of my life.  It has been an honor to get to know all of you.  It was great spending
three months of rehearsal and recording hours with the cast who were from different levels in Southville,
from preschool to college.  To our Seussical director, Ms. Icka Santos, her sister Ms. Kookee and her
mother Ms. Lena Santos, thank you. I learned not only the rudiments of acting. I further learned the
essence of my sections’ name - PERSEVERANCE.  And to the rest of my classmates and friends, thank
you for making my four-year stay at Southville a memorable one.   

 
I can still remember the days when I was a new student at Southville. That was when I was in grade
three. As a new student I was on academic and disciplinary probation, which meant that if I failed in any
subject, I would be asked to leave. Back then, all I wanted was to stay in Southville. But as I
slowly adjusted to my new environment, I realized that I wanted to aim higher. I couldn’t
aim for just a green certificate, or a gold medal. I wanted to be the valedictorian. 

 
Henry Ford said that obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. 
To my mentors and friends, thank you so much to all of you for straightening my perspective
when I fearfully glanced to the side. You have made me realize that the only true limits are
those that we impose upon ourselves. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson said:  “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path
and leave a trail. My batch mates, when we walk out of Gym 1 today with our diplomas in hand, we will
no longer be elementary students. As soon as the summer ends we are going to have to take on heavier
responsibilities, learn new lessons, and reach for more goals.

Let us never allow the world’s definition of what is possible keep us from achieving what we
want to achieve.  Let us not only dream big, let us dream grandly. Let us not only reach for
the mountaintop, let us reach for the stars.

Batch 2012, let us blaze a trail and make a difference! 

Valedictory Speech Shirley A.

The noblest and the most admirable Executive Vice President and co-founder of the University,
the honorable, Dr. Daisy Moran Tamayo, the notably high-minded school director, Dr. Alfonso
H. Loreto, the very accommodating and very motherly principal, Mrs. Celia L. Lamarca, the
solicitous and dedicated coordinators and teachers of the grade school, school administrators, the
remarkable achiever and our Guest of Honor and Speaker this afternoon, _, respected guests,
grade school staff, family and friends, my fellow graduates, good afternoon.

I am absolutely honored to be standing here representing the graduating class of 2009. On behalf
of the graduates, I would like to thank you for joining us on this auspicious occasion.

Graduation Day—how sweet-sounding and how delicious it is to savor its very significance! But
sweeter are the reminiscences of memories as we look back across the years in our long and
arduous ascent to the top of our elementary school ladder.

Graduation is a time of reflecting on the past & looking onwards to the future. It is a time that
we, as graduates, get together for one last hurrah before moving on to bigger and better
adventures.

As we look back on five amazing years, it is easy to see that the UPHR Grade School
Department has played an instrumental role in helping to shape the young boys and girls we are
today. Five years ago, we walked into our 1st grade classroom, wondrous and with countless
questions in our young minds.

Can we ever forget our first day in school, struggling to write our names, to read and to recite the
alphabet, to count, to add, subtract and later to multiply and divide. All of these seemed to be
formidable problems for our young minds then.

Later, as we progressed through our primary level, and then our intermediate level, we were able
to decipher the complexities of Mathematics, of the Languages, and the wonders of Science.
These were some of the exciting times in our lives. We were given new privileges, as well as
new responsibilities. Friendship quickly developed among us, and those new friendships has
become stronger. We find self-belongingness. We belonged to the University of Perpetual Help
Grade School family.

For the past years of our lives in the school, we have given information and knowledge and it is
now time to put them to good use. Our teachers and administrators have equipped and prepared
us for our futures. Our teachers did not fail us in this goal of education. Furthermore, they made
us work harder than we ever thought we could, they made us wonder and question natural
phenomena. They taught us respect for our parents, elders and other fellow human beings. They
either way taught us the value of life and reverence for our Creator.

In other words, our teachers endowed us of the gift of literacy, legacy, of computational skills
and of good morals and citizenship.
It takes a truly special person to be a teacher. The University of Perpetual Help Rizal Grade
School is lucky enough to have the most special teachers in the world. You can never find a
more caring group of teachers than our teachers here in grade school. They push you to your
limits because they can see what you are really capable of even if, sometimes you, yourself are
unable to see it. They have helped me as well as my fellow graduates to get to this day. They
have been an integral part of learning inside the classrooms as well as outside of it. In the end,
it’s not about quizzes or test marks. It’s about you have gained as person that truly matter. It’s
about learning more about yourself and trying to be better. Our teachers here have tried their best
to teach us these valuable lessons and for that, I would like to thank them.

This commencement ceremony can be as joyous for our parents as it is for us graduates. This is
the day that they eagerly anticipated and waited, yet one that brings them at least a few tears. I
can feel and see it right at the very moment. My Mama cannot hide her tears of joy that her
sacrifices and hardships are finally rewarded. The time and the sleepless nights researching and
preparing questions during exams are beyond compare. I know that they are proud of me.

I have been so blessed to have my Papa and Mama who has helped me in everyway possible to
get to this day. I have also been raised by a family who have never stopped giving their love and
inspiration to make my dreams come true. In every competition I joined, winning or losing in the
contest, they are always there to appreciate and cheer me up.

I would like to take this time to thank everyone, big and small who has helped each and every
one of us to get here. Whether he/she is a parent, grandparent, a teacher, a guardian, an aunt, an
uncle or a neighbor, you have inspired and made it possible for us to get here. A generous thank
you is well deserved.

As we end one glorious chapter of our lives, a new one begins. We have a fresh blank page
ahead of us. It is up to us to grab our pens and write our own stories. I ask you my fellow
graduates to take this opportunity to write an unforgettable chapter filled with the fulfillment of
your dreams.

We hold the key to our own future. There is a lot of power inside of us waiting to be unleashed.
Getting a diploma this afternoon is not the end of graduation, but it is the beginning of something
special. It is the beginning of new adventures and new friendships, and series of struggles.

In behalf of the graduating class of 2009, I dedicate this moment of glory to all our parents for
their unconditional love and unquestioning belief in our abilities, for, for their selflessness—for
everything.

To our teachers and administrators, we promise to live by the ideals of our school and that these
ideals burn always in our hearts.

As we traverse the unchartered seas towards our dreams, may God give us hope, faith and
courage.
To my fellow graduates, let us altogether offer prayers and thanksgiving to the Father in Heaven
for His blessing of Health and Wisdom.

For Our futures, I hope that our worries will stay small and that all our dreams will reach the
stars because the sky’s the limit.

Lastly, there’s no better advice I can give than to quote: “Take chances, Make mistakes, and
learn from them.”

Congratulations graduates of 2009. This is our time to shine.

Thank you and good afternoon once again.

…shirlsssh…

Salutatory Speech
good morning, father heria, brother felix, administration, faculty, staff, family,
friends, and fellow graduates.i would like to thank all of you who have been our
support system through the years for taking the time to share this special moment
with us, the soon-to-be-graduated class of 2006. this day has been made even more
special because, bythe grace of god, christy gutierrez is here to graduate with us
this morning.everyone always says,enjoy your high school years. They’ll be the
best years of your life.
one thing i have certainly learned in these past four years is that we determine our
own future. if you choose to, you can make every year yourbest. to many of us, our
years at st. brendan will be the most cherished time ofour lives. for others, the best
years are yet to come. however, i feel confident in saying that we all have some
wonderful memories, starting with freshman year when we walked through the
doors of st. brendan as baby sabres. today, as we leave, we are older, wiser,
stronger, and ready to face whatever god has in storefor each of us. we made our
way through hawaii with lilo and stitch as freshmen, into the world of the mario
brothers as sophomores, past the adventures of thearabian nights as juniors, and are
now sitting on our thrones as royalty. well always remember freshman day, junior
ring ceremony, talent shows, homecoming weeks, formals, and encounters. and
who could forget the 12 days of christmas with ms. barnes as alord-a-leapingor mr.
healy with his interpretation ofgeese-a-laying?as we continue in our journey
through life, we should make a vow to never forget the people who crossed our
path and touched our hearts: our teachers, each of them fully dedicating themselves
until the lastlong and productive minute to teach us all they could about a subject
in less than an hour a day, and stillgracefully succeeding in intertwining morals,
values, and spirituality into thedaily lesson. our friends: the ones who brought a
smile to our face each and every morning, the ones who made lunch and 10 minute
breaks a nice respite in ourday, and the ones who helped wipe away the tears when
it seemed that no one really cared. some of the friends we made were part of us for
a short timea few of them will accompany us on through the future. we appreciate
all our teachers andfriends for they have each individually touched us in a way that
we, ourselves,cannot understand. everyday and every encounter with each person
helped carve usinto the unique sculptures we are today.i would also like to
especially thank our parents/ guardians, our families for supporting and nurturing
us throughout our lives. thank you for loving usand dedicating yourselves to us as
we grew into young men and women. without your support and encouragement,
we would not be here today graduating from a school that has helped give us a
foundation to be kind-hearted, loving, christian individuals. above all, i would like
to thank god for blessing us with the opportunity to go to st. brendan high, where
we were educated not only academically, butspiritually as well. we are very
fortunate to have been schooled in a place where our lord was loved and
welcomed. that has made all the difference.now, to my fellow graduates,
classmates, and friends: this is your day.thank you for making my experience at st.
brendan high so amazing. you are eachso uniquely special. i wish you the best in
life and in everything you do. i pray that you all live long, healthy, peaceful, and
beautiful lives. i am confidentthat you will all achieve great and marvelous things,
whether they are known tothe rest of the world or are kept to yourselves within the
depths of your hearts. remember: never be afraid to love. if you love and appreciate
someone, tell them. in the wise words of alfred lord tennysonit is better to have
loved and lost than never to have loved at all.be compassionate, trust god, learn to
listen,avoid gossip, be forgiving, and above all, be yourself. a man who captivated
ourimaginations as children with thing one and thing two and the cat in the hat, dr.
seuss, statedbe who you are and say what you want, because those who mind dont 
matter, and those who matter dont mind.thank you, god bless, and congratulations
class of 2006!!