Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Schools

Commencement Address
March 28, 2008
Ateneo High School Gym
By Cecilia L. Laaro
!ev. "aniel H#ang, $rovincial S#%erior o& the Society o& 'es#s, Mr. Man#el (. $angilinan, Chairman o&
the Board o& )r#stees, Ateneo de Manila, *r. Bienvenido +e,res University $resident, "r. Maria
Ass#nta C#yeg-eng, (ice.$resident Loyola Schools, (ice.$residents, "eans, Administrators,
mem,ers o& the &ac#lty, my dear grad#ating st#dents, %arents o& o#r grad#ates /ho also today mar-
a milestone in their %arenting career and deserve a%%la#se, &riends.
A co#%le o& /ee-s ago, 0 /as invited to the Ateneo &or a ,rie&ing regarding today1s commencement
rites. As soon as 0 had %assed ,y the g#ards at the gate, 0 -e%t as-ing mysel&2/hat in the /orld
made me say yes to this genero#s invitation to come and s%ea- to yo# today. 3hile it is certainly an
honor, and 0 than- yo# &or it, it is also intimidating. So intimidating that, 4#st the other day, my voice
decided to sho/ 4#st ho/ scared it /as ,y not sho/ing #% in &#ll &orce.
)he invitation came at a time /hen 0 had ,een receiving many email messages a,o#t an internet
video on !andy $a#sch, a %ro&essor at Carnegie Mellon. )he video is entitled 5)he Last Lect#re.6 0t is
not a lect#re given ,y a retiring $ro&essor /ho had served his term o& 70 or more years ,#t ,y a
rather yo#ng one /ho at 89 is at the height o& his academic career :as a ten#red Academic and co.
&o#nder o& the ;ntertainment )echnology Center at Carnegie.Mellon.< )he video /as d#,,ed the last
lect#re ,eca#se it /as %remised on the ass#m%tion that i& yo# /ere going to die soon, /hat /o#ld
yo# /ant to say=
!andy chose to tal- a,o#t his childhood dreams > %laying &oot,all in the +*L, ,ecoming Ca%tain ?ir-,
/inning st#&&ed animals, &lying in ero gravity, and ,ecoming a "isney 0magineer. He said that /hile
he had had many dreams, not all o& them had come tr#e. )he lesson he learned /as that i& yo# don1t
achieve yo#r dreams, yo# can still achieve a lot ,y trying. 3e can1t control the cards /e are dealt,
,#t /e can determine ho/ /e %lay the hand.
Li&e is not a,o#t achieving yo#r dreams@ it is a,o#t ho/ yo# live yo#r li&e. He s%o-e o& a li&e o&
integrity, o& telling the tr#th all the time even i& others o%t to ta-e the short c#t or shave the tr#th.
Ance yo# start doing that, rationaliing the tr#th ,ecomes second.nat#re. B#t i& yo# hold on to yo#r
integrity ,y telling the tr#th all the time, living yo#r li&e the right /ay, there is a tangi,le %ay.o&& in
the end.
Ho/ many o& o#r childhood dreams come tr#e=
And /hat is so s%ecial a,o#t childhood dreams=
)hey are the %#rest and most honest o& o#r am,itions. )hey are devoid o& considerations li-e &ame,
money and %o/er. )hey are driven ,y /hat /e love ,est and en4oy the most.
0& yo# /ant to achieve yo#r childhood dreams, have good %arents /ho are there to have &#n /ith
yo#. 3hy= Beca#se it is %arents /ho allo/ their children the &reedom to have &#n, to ,ecome /hat
they dream, and hel% them ma-e their dreams a reality. *#n is good. +ever #nderestimate the
im%ortance o& having &#n ,eca#se i& yo# do something that yo# en4oy, yo# /ill never /or- a day in
yo#r li&e.
B#t not everything /e enco#nter in li&e is &#n.
0n !andy1s B#est to ,ecome a &oot,all %layer, he met a coach /ho drove him hard >m#ch li-e
teachers /ho ma-e li&e di&&ic#lt &or yo#. He &elt that critics and coaches /ho drove yo# hard or -e%t
criticiing yo#r mista-es did so ,eca#se they cared. Ance they sto%%ed, it /as ,eca#se they no
longer cared or had given #% on yo#.
!e4ection, li-e ,ric- /alls are there &or a reason. Bric- /alls are there &or yo# to %rove ho/ ,adly
yo# /ant something. )hey are there &or %eo%le /ho don1t /ant it that ,adly. My mother #sed to tell
me all the time /hen 0 /o#ld cry my eyes o#t a,o#t ,eing re4ected that re4ection is good. )hat it is a
character.,#ilder. 0 #sed to /onder /hy re4ection co#ld ever ,e good...,#t /ith time and
eC%erience, 0 have learned the /isdom o& her /ords. 0 have learned to never give #% ,eca#se
o&tentimes the ,est gold is at the ,ottom o& the %ile.
0 am not a stranger to re4ection. My dream /as to /or- in media and it too- all o& D7 years a&ter
grad#ation &or me to get to the %oint /here 0 co#ld even ,egin. )here /as neither golden s%oon nor
silver %latter. All there /as /ere sheer dogged determination and a never.B#it attit#de. 3hen /e set
#% $ro,e $rod#ctions, o#r small media com%any, 20 years ago, 0 /as told it /o#ld not s#cceed
,eca#se no,ody /atched )( %rograms that tal-ed a,o#t iss#es. 3e /ere also trying o#t an #n-no/n
&ormat . the investigative ne/smagaine. )hen, a&ter D9 years o& hard /or-, /e /ere -ic-ed o#t and
le&t in the cold. 3hat /e learned /as dogged %ersistence and the /ords, 5never say dieE6 a term /e
still #se today /hen the going gets to#gh.
;C%erience is /hat yo# get /hen yo# don1t get /hat yo# /ant. Most o& /hat /e learn, /e learn
indirectly.
Li-e the yo#ng $ro&essor, another yo#ng ,oy not &ar &rom here had a dream o& his o/n. Let me share
/ith yo# the story o& (ictor &rom /hom 0 learned a lot a,o#t li&e.
(ictor /as a t/elve.year.old ,oy /hom /e met some 20 years ago /hile doing a story on street
children. He had r#n a/ay &rom home and /as living #nder the ,ridge at the F#eon City Circle
!otonda. He had an im%ish loo- and the ha%%y smile o& a child /ith a /ide o%en &#t#re ahead o&
him. 0n my rather long intervie/ /ith him, he ans/ered every B#estion e&&ortlesslyE#ntil 0 as-ed him
i& he loved his mother.
A&ter a long silence, he said yes. 0 as-ed him /hy he had r#n a/ay &rom home. Silently, his li%s
,egan to c#rl do/n/ards as ,ig tears /elled in his eyes. 0 as-ed him 5-#ng mahal mo ang nanay
mo, ,a-it -a naglayas=6 Again, a long silence. 5?asi hindi nya a-o mahal.6 5Ba-it,6 0 as-ed, 5?asi %o
%#ta Gsya.6 His ans/ers 4arred me, ,#t they /ere very real in the heart o& this D2.year.old ,oy.
Altho#gh (ictor /as 4#st one o& many street children roaming the city, ta%%ing /indo/s o& %assing
cars, he le&t a dee% mar- on all o& #s. Sadly, o#r eyes had seen /hat seemed to ,e the %oster child
o& all yo#ng street children, /ho have ,een ro,,ed o& a &#t#re that is right&#lly theirs.
'#st a &e/ months ago, /e ret#rned to Lag#na /here /e had last seen (ictor. 3e &o#nd him
/or-ing, ma-ing hollo/ ,loc-s, never having gone to school, dismissed ,y his mother as dead.
(ictor is no/ H2, has three children ,#t no %ermanent address or income. He has aged ,#t still has
the same smile that /e sa/ 20 years ago. B#t the glint in his eye /as gone, re%laced ,y the
,itterness o& lost o%%ort#nities.
Li&e had dealt him di&&ic#lt cards. Li-e yo# and me, (ictor too had a childhood dream2to ,ecome a
%oliceman. B#t #nli-e yo# and me, he did not have a &amily to s#%%ort him or allo/ him to have &#n
%#rs#ing his dreams, m#ch less send him to school. He /andered the streets at an early age,
sni&&ing r#g,y to stave o&& the h#nger %angs /henever there /as no &ood to scavenge.
0 /as one o& those in cars /ho /o#ld ,e irritated at the children /ho /o#ld ta% at yo#r car /indo/.
B#t a&ter meeting (ictor, 0 ,egan to as- mysel& i& 0 might share some ,lame in %#tting (ictor on the
streets ,y my indi&&erence, ,y my ,eing too com&orta,le in li&e.
0 /onder no/ a,o#t his children and as- mysel& i& (ictor1s li&e might ,e re%eated in the lives o& his
three little ones.
3hen /e are yo#ng, /e s%end time thin-ing o& ho/ /e can achieve o#r dreams. As /e gro/ older,
/e t#rn o#r &oc#s on ho/ /e can ena,le the dreams o& others E m#ch li-e /hat this great #niversity
teaches, to ,e a 5man &or others.6
A&ter /e recently aired o#r story, /e received many calls o&&ering to hel% (ictor. Many o& the vie/ers
remem,ered him &rom the &irst time they sa/ him on )(. )oday, (ictor has a 4o, as a #tilityman &or
the MM"A and a little ca%ital &or a sari.sari store in the sl#m area /here he lives. Ardinary citiens,
vie/ers /ho /ere to#ched ,y his story, came &or/ard to hel%.
(ictor too- #% the challenge, /or-ed and religio#sly %aid the loan every /ee- > 80 or 70 %esos,
/hatever amo#nt he co#ld set aside /hich sym,olied other %eo%le1s tr#st and &aith in him that he
/anted to -ee%.All o& #s, incl#ding (ictor, have a light shining /ithin #s. )his is the idealism that
,#rns ,rightly in o#r yo#th. )here is a /ell.s%ring o& goodness in every %erson that can ,e ta%%ed.
B#t that light is &ragile, easily sn#&&ed o#t i& /e &orget to -ee% &eeding the %ilot light /ith %assion and
commitment. Ma-e s#re2li-e /e do in an air%lane, to &irst sec#re o#r oCygen mas-s o& idealism
,e&ore hel%ing others don theirs.
3e come &rom di&&erent ,ac-gro#nds, and o#r lives move in di&&erent directions. 3e have di&&erent
&amily names, ,#t /e share a common name. )hat name is *ili%ino.
0 have great &aith in the *ili%ino. 0n my media career s%anning t/o decades, 0 have seen a variety o&
de%ressing and #%li&ting stories. B#t /hat stand tall in the clear light o& day are the co#ntless
enco#raging stories o& h#man tri#m%h and greatness o& s%irit.
As /e gather here today, 0 -no/ there are many /ho are thin-ing a,o#t /hat /e can do &or this
co#ntry that /e love. Li-e all res%onsi,le &amily mem,ers, /e /ant to %rotect and ma-e good on o#r
common name.
0& yo#r dream is to ma-e the $hili%%ines a co#ntry /e can all tr#ly ,e %ro#d o&, then &ollo/ that
dream &or only yo# can ma-e yo#r dream a reality.
0 end /ith a B#otation &rom !o,ert *. ?ennedy, and a challenge &or yo# to do yo#r share, no matter
ho/ small, to ma-e change &or good a dream &#l&illed.
;ach time a man stands #% &or an ideal or acts to im%rove the li&e o& others, or stri-es o#t against
in4#stice, he sends a tiny ri%%le o& ho%e, and those ri%%les, crossing each other &rom a million
di&&erent centers o& energy, ,#ild a c#rrent /hich can s/ee% do/n the mightiest /alls o& o%%ression
and resistance.6