Good day all ye Graduates! Hi, I'm Paolo Bataller and right now, I am compelled to relinquish the title of "Fresh Graduate" since you're already around.
Oh, you seem so happy, so full of life! Did the toga fit you right? How long did the ceremony take (Ours took roughly 6 hours from our lives)?
Anyway, I want to congratulate you all for making it this far. I know how much it takes to get at this point of your lives and I salute you for the effort. Remember that you are now a valued commodity from hereon, free to appreciate or depreciate depending on what choices you make in the future. Also remember that for the hundreds who graduate, there are thousands, or even millions more who do not, could not, or will not graduate this year. Feel free to speculate on what will happen to these people but always remember that you are fortunate. So do try to do something about the others who are less fortunate than you.
Most importantly, I also would like to welcome you all to The Real World. Yep, you read it right: The Real World. If you think you have already experienced Hell in your years of "education" (e.g. making your thesis, doing killer projects, racing against deadlines, spiting your teachers etc.), be assured that those years were but the first or second circle of Inferno (you have yet to feel your body being munched upon by the Devil, if you know what I'm saying). But at least you know this and I believe you are well-prepared for the challenges ahead.
One good thing about The Real World is that from now on, you are on your own and you can pretty much do anything about your life. Your achievements or successes are no longer measured by grades (which exist to motivate students out of mediocrity) or phony awards (which only exist to further raise the self-esteem of those who already have too much). Granted, you will still be working to achieve something, may it be Key Performance Indicators, Quotas, or something more metaphysical, but at least you get to decide what you want to work for and why.
Oh, you seem so happy, so full of life! Did the toga fit you right? How long did the ceremony take (Ours took roughly 6 hours from our lives)?
Anyway, I want to congratulate you all for making it this far. I know how much it takes to get at this point of your lives and I salute you for the effort. Remember that you are now a valued commodity from hereon, free to appreciate or depreciate depending on what choices you make in the future. Also remember that for the hundreds who graduate, there are thousands, or even millions more who do not, could not, or will not graduate this year. Feel free to speculate on what will happen to these people but always remember that you are fortunate. So do try to do something about the others who are less fortunate than you.
Most importantly, I also would like to welcome you all to The Real World. Yep, you read it right: The Real World. If you think you have already experienced Hell in your years of "education" (e.g. making your thesis, doing killer projects, racing against deadlines, spiting your teachers etc.), be assured that those years were but the first or second circle of Inferno (you have yet to feel your body being munched upon by the Devil, if you know what I'm saying). But at least you know this and I believe you are well-prepared for the challenges ahead.
One good thing about The Real World is that from now on, you are on your own and you can pretty much do anything about your life. Your achievements or successes are no longer measured by grades (which exist to motivate students out of mediocrity) or phony awards (which only exist to further raise the self-esteem of those who already have too much). Granted, you will still be working to achieve something, may it be Key Performance Indicators, Quotas, or something more metaphysical, but at least you get to decide what you want to work for and why.
For some, this poses a nightmare: gone is the false security of the classroom, where goals are definable in terms of numerical (or alphabetical) measurements, where your life can be measured by how well you do in school or how successful you flatter your teachers. But for the many (most especially the so-called "bugo", the seemingly inept students who are reviled by their teachers), this thought is liberating since now, they can shed off the tyranny that the academia has imposed on them since they were caught napping in kindergarten.
Graduates, you now have a fresh start at life. And so I invite you to create a vision of You when you are already 75 years old or so and dying from some painful disease. Sounds too severe? Not really. If you can picture yourself in your deathbed, you are already ahead of the pack. Because the moment you fully realize that you are bound to leave this place, the more intense the feeling that you must do something about your life. For most, that's what we call legacy and so you have to ask yourself, "What legacy do I want to leave behind?"
That my friends, Your Legacy, is The Real World's equivalent for a grade. I don't know what legacy you want to leave behind but, for your sake, I suggest you have one. There are countless people in this world who have lived their lives aiming at nothing, achieving nothing and dying for nothing. They float, lifeless, in the vast depths of the Netherworld, shriveled, with neither glow in their eyes nor words from their lips to remind us of who they are and what their existence meant.
So ponder upon this for awhile. For a few moments, forget about the anxiety of looking for a job or the question of where you should party the night away. Remember that we like to say "We all live for a Reason". The next question for you is: What Reason is that?
God bless you all.
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