Reverend Father Joel Tabora of the Society of Jesus, Dr. Rodolfo Ursua, our guest speaker, Mr. Gregorio Re Abonal, our principal, distinguished members of the Jesuit community, the administration, faculty, and staff, respected guests, beloved parents, dear batchmates, good afternoon!

I clearly recall the first day when we started to become Ateneans. Although we were welcomed warmly by the whole assembly, we felt we did not belong.  It was hard to find familiar faces. We clung to friends in the grades. Any smile that was open and warm was like sunshine to us. Everything else seemed o huge and strange and cold. That was June 5, 2006, our Schola Brevis. Our first day of school.

On that day, we all started out as children. We came in all shapes and sizes and from different walks of life. But no matter how different we were, there was one thing we had in common. We all felt excited and anxious of what was to come. That was the first day of the four years of our life in this school.

It has been four years. Like all other batches before us, we feel that no other batch has experienced the highs and lows that we have experienced. We feel that it is our batch that has experienced the most excruciating hardships, and the most disheartening and scary changes. Did our brothers and sisters before us suffer from insomnia and paranoia as we did over nerve-wracking projects? Did they have to endure as we did sticky and sweaty legs from wearing a PE uniform? Did their hearts break as ours did when we learned we were not joining the Military parade? Were they scared as we were when we learned that the school year will be divided into three terms and not four quarters?

We feel that no other batch has felt the most exuberant and glorious “FIRSTS” our batch has experienced. We did not march in the streets during the military parade, but we marched into the cathedral and sung Salve Regina. In the military parade, Ateneans elicited ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ from people. When we sung, the people’s hearts were moved in prayer. The three terms we were so scared about have passed and gone. It was as if we climbed a mountain and now, it is behind us. The PE uniform we disliked is now among the precious souvenirs of high school life. And have we not gone more global than the others before us? We have our Chinese classes and our beloved Chinese mentors. Dai lao shi, Xu lao shi, xie xie!

But we are also a batch that is normal and ordinary. We broke rules. We stayed in the corridors when we were not supposed to. We ran when we sensed a teacher approaching and finding us out. We came late. We never seemed to have our own papers for activities and quizzes. We slept in class when we were bored or no longer understood the lesson. We procrastinated and crammed and constantly complained about logging our heavy books day by day.

But to sum it all, we are a great batch, we are a good batch. We are far from perfect. But despite our weaknesses, we have struggled for excellence, for Magis – not for ourselves but in the service of others. We strove to do everything for God’s glory as we started to see the greater purpose behind everything that we did and in what we have grown to be.

As the waves are powerless without the winds, we too would never have become what we are now without the winds beneath our wings, and we thank them all…

…Our parents, who have done a lot for us so we can be here in our blue attires. They sacrificed so much and worked so hard for us so we can have a quality education.

…Our benefactors who selflessly paid for the education of teenagers they hardly knew.

…The administration and staff who made sure that we are studying in the best environment possible.

…Our teachers who had to put up with our immaturity day after day after day in order to guide us into becoming mature Christian individuals. You have taught us so much more that we can ever thank you for.

…Our dear classmates and friends, who have held us up in our lowest moments. They laughed with us, cried with us, studied with us, messed around with us, and made us realize that we were never alone.

From the perspective of that first day, four years seemed too long! Today, the first day seems to be only yesterday. But now, we have to say goodbye. Years from now, as we look back to this day, March 20, 2010, I wish and pray that we have become better persons than we are today. That as we shine bright now, we shine brighter still so that our glow will touch the hearts of the people around us, and it will be as if we sing Salve Regina once again and move their hearts in prayer.

Thank you, and once again, good afternoon.  Xie xie. Xia wu hao.