I also believe it is about time for me to excersie my bragging rights here in my blog. Last Tuesday was the grand opening of UP here in the Visayas. It was a grand opening, I must emphasize. The University Chancellor, Vice-Chancellors and all the deans were present. Plus, big time alumni were also around. The opening was attended by all freshies and most upperclass men. To top it all off, an alumnus of Up who happens to be the national vice-president of San Miguel Corporation was the guest speaker. She was sitting beside moi!
It is my pleasure to tell you that I was chosen to give a response in behalf of the freshmen. 
Can you just imagine it? We are hundreds and I was chosen to give a speech? I must credit it all to God's grace. :)
The screening process included the writing of our respective speeches. Out of more or less 15 chosen freshies the top 4 were selected and were asked to UP last June 5 to deliver their speeches. I was one of them! So there, because God is so merciful, I was chosen to be the one to give the freshmen's response.
All I have to say to my experience of speaking infront of hundred of "Iskolars ng Bayan" is that it was... unexplainable. I was as cold as ice as I waited for my turn to speak. I had lots of experiences of delivering speeches infront of hundreds of people. But that moment was a whole lot different. I was to address to a sea of unfamiliar faces.. and a sea of unfamiliar faces which happen to be UP students.
But I survived that heart-pounding moment..all credit to Him of course. After I delivered my speech, the alumnus who was the VIP special guest congratulated me. I was flattered. Haha!
So here.. I am uber proud to expose my speechto
the world wide web. Keep reading!
To our Chancellor, Dr. Glenn D. Aguilar, to the vice-chancellors, deans, faculty and staff of the University of the Philippines-Visayas, and to my fellow students, good morning.
Since I was in kindergarten up until I graduated in high school, I studied in the same Catholic school in my hometown, Bacolod City. Student life was easy, convenient and trouble-free for me. My alma mater was only five minutes away from home. Because I’ve been in the same school for almost 13 years, I have found second parents in my teachers and have made friendships that have stood the test of time.
As I walk down memory lane, I can’t help but realize how different the yesterday is to today. Now, I am in a whole new university which is a hundred miles from home and I am surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar faces.
Change really is inevitable. It is the only certain thing in this world. Seeds don’t stay as what they are for all time. They propagate into trees. Caterpillars can’t be caterpillars forever. They metamorphose into butterflies. Babies don’t remain as babies for eternity. Babies grow up into adults. Likewise, to my fellow freshmen, we can’t be carefree high school students forever. We have to change, to mature and to take things more seriously as we become college students.
We consider our high school years as the best years of our lives but it is a fact that high school is already history. Gone are the days when we can harmlessly copy assignments, be absent in school and fail that math subject. We aren’t kids anymore. If life was a computer game, we have already upgraded and received that level-up. We are now young adults with greater responsibilities and a higher educational pursuit to carry out.
Unlike high school, college is the stepping stone into attaining our life goals and dreams. The journey to a thousand miles begins with a single step as the popular saying goes. We are blessed and privileged to be taking that step in a premier educational institution like University of the Philippines- Visayas. Studying in UPV is like being the cream of the crop because excellence is the top priority. Being called an “Iskolar ng Bayan” truly is rewarding. The journey to a thousand miles will be tough and challenging for us, but we must be confident because we will be having quality education as our foundation.
As we take that stepping stone in UPV, let us prepare ourselves for inevitable changes that are knocking on our doorsteps. Being away from home, embracing a new lifestyle of independence, encountering a variety of personalities and undertaking a whole new academic pursuit are only a handful of the changes that lie ahead of us. But like seeds that become sturdy trees, caterpillars that metamorphose into beautiful butterflies and babies that grow into wiser beings, we too shall change into better individuals. Change exists so that we can continually correct and better ourselves into the persons we were meant to be. Let us be whoever we were meant to be!
The third chapet of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible speaks that there is a time for everything. There is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to embrace and a time to refrain. Today is our first day as college students. Our time has come. Let us work harder now and play later. It is the time to step out of our comfort zones and to think outside the box. Let’s make no room for mediocrity and push ourselves to the limit. Let us not be vulnerable to our weaknesses as college students because terror professors and grueling subjects await us. But let us also remember that despite the challenging times, life’s biggest surprises are in store for us.
So in behalf of the freshmen batch 2008, I would like to extend our gratitude to the Office of Student Affairs and to our ate’s and kuya’s for being accommodating in welcoming us to UPV. From the freshmen orientation to our enrollment, your presence has been very helpful to us.
And to my fellow freshmen, let’s make the most of our college days and make it worth remembering. Remember, life begins at college! It is the time for us to step out of the comforts of our cocoons and spreadour wings to fly on a wider horizon. We are among the “centennial batch” of the University of the Philippines. Let us live on the centennial legacy.
Mabuhay po tayo mga iskolar ng bayan!
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