I
was tasked to give you an inspirational speech. I said to myself, “I am
not a doctor. I am not an engineer. I am not a chef or an architect. How could
I possibly inspire you?” And then a thought occurred. Is it not true that
inspiration-- that which we seek knowingly and unknowingly every day of our
lives whether we are 12, 16, 35, 50 years old or older, whether we wear a white
coat and stethoscope, whether we build bridges and houses, or whatever
profession we are in, inspiration is found is to be found inside of us? If the
words I share with you today is not important to you then inspiration is a lost
cause. Therefore I encourage you, Grade Six Graduates, Grade Ten Completers and
the rest of the audience to listen for even just one thing that may be
important to you in your life as I speak. Of course, to find the one thing, you
have to listen to the entire speech. I promise it won’t be one hour
long.
A
thirteen-year old girl sits in the middle of a party filled with people who are
at least two years older than her. She watches the crowd. They talk to one
another. Music is blaring in the background. She wonders why she is even there.
But then again, she thought, I could not very well attend the children’s
Christmas party either. I am too old for that. And yet, it seems I am too young
for this. She sits through the entire two hours until it is time to go
home.
A
sixteen-year enters a college campus on the first day of school. The
school is new. The program she is enrolled in is new. The teachers are new.
Classmates are new. Even the air she breathes into her very much eager
collegiate lungs is new. The only ones left that are old are her clothes. She wonders
whether she will ever get used to the newness of it all. Then she said to
herself, “No matter, I graduated from the best school in the city. I will
concentrate in being at the top of my class. I can do this. I hold the
world at my fingertips. ”
The
thirteen year old was me. At the time I remember it came to a point whether I
did not know if I would still act like a child or as a young adult. Will I play
Chinese garter with my classmates? Or was I too old for that? Will I play “bahaw-bahaw,
jack stone, tago-tago, dakop-dakop” with them? I was in between. It was
like waiting for a tricycle ride to go to a place where it is too near to
commute and yet too far to walk to. But the one sure thing that one must do is
to go to that place. Entering junior high school is quite like this, I
believe. Even if we are unsure of our selves, of how we are going to face
the new road ahead, we just have to forge on. Because there is so much to
look forward to and so much more to learn.
What
is there to look forward to? What is there to learn in Junior High
school?
I
had to ask help from a few people to recall what their most memorable days were
in high school. And these were their answers: Summer vacations, more freedom to
do things with friends, sleepovers, field trips, plays, participating in clubs
and organizations of interests: art, music, sports, dance and the making of
lifelong friendships. What they failed to mention was the wonderful, amazing
world of Calculus, Trigonometry, Geometry, Ang Noli Me Tangere at El
Filibusterismo and the very encouraging hours of research and term papers
defense! Oh there is so much to look forward to in Junior High. Am I correct
Grade 10?
Here
is what you will learn: Two things-- Changes and Challenges. They happen.
It is the fact of life. There will be times when you will be caught in the
whirlwind of it all wondering if this will ever end and you end up asking
yourself, “Who am I? Where am I in all of this beyond term papers, projects and
requirements? Will I even have time to be who I really am and who I want to
become?” Don't worry. You will find your answers. No doubt about it. But you
will soon learn that they will not appear out of nowhere and pop up after you
ask the question. You will have to look for them. You will have to work for
them. You will have to experience them. And, you will soon learn to
appreciate the experiences that challenge you. Those that make you sweat a
little. Those that make you use the most important thing between your ears.
Because those are the ones that will change you, make you a better person.
Enter Calculus and El Filibusterismo.
Changes, they happen every day , just like the constant updates our smart
phones are doing with the gazillion apps we have in them saying, “Several
updates are waiting. Click to approve.”
But
remember that while academics in Junior High may be overwhelming, there is life
outside of it. Perhaps even more so. You will find it in laughter shared
with your friends, in easy, insightful, or often difficult conversations with
your teachers. You will find it in thought-provoking dialogues with your
parents such as: "Anak, ayaw sa panguyab, ha." "Wala pa man ko
manguyab, Pa. Crush- crush pa man lang." You will find life in the
sketches, sculptures and paintings you will be making, in sweet music you will
be rendering as you pluck guitar strings or pound on piano keys, in plays you
will be acting in and poems you will be writing, in every dribble of the ball,
in every spike you strike over the net, in every 5, 10 or 20 kilometer race you
will run. You will find the answers in new people you will meet who will become
lifelong friends. In other words, you will find the answers; you will find
yourself, out of the chaos of all the changes happening, all in good
time.
So when the time comes when life asks of you, “Several updates are waiting to
be approved,” I hope you do click that button because you will become the
better person because of it. And that will be something to look forward
to.
Let’s
talk about the Senior High School Program. I think your parents may have slowly
come to accept this fact. This change has been quite disconcerting considering
the additional two years added to your high school education. I imagine in your
minds, you have all but run out of comments that are similar to: “Kapoya oy.
Ngano pa man. Kadugay pa ba diay nako maka human. Kadako pa ba sa gastohonon.”
Pero kay dili naman gyud ni mapugngan, ato nalang ning pagadawaton. The school
administration may have already explained to you the ideal behind this program.
I will not go into the details of it. But here’s what I do understand and what
I will tell you about it.
While
we have slowly come to embrace the inevitable, how about if we think of it this
way:
When a pastry chef bakes bread, he doesn’t immediately throw the dough in the
oven. An intricate process is required to produce that one delicious tasting
Pan de Sal or Monay. When an artist, furniture maker creates a bed out of a
huge block of Narra, he does not just go ahead and chisel all the parts right
away. I am not a chef or a baker as I made it clear from the beginning. Nor am
I an architect or designer. But my father-in-law was one of the best bread
makers in Bohol many years ago. And he was a brilliant artisan in carpentry and
wood working. From what your Sir Andro has shared with me, he was
thorough, methodical and gave exquisite value to each process of the baking. In
the process of making furniture for the school and for the family, he was even
more passionately deliberate.
In
baking, he chose the best ingredients, kneaded the flour meticulously as if his
life and the life of his family depended on it, and then waited for 45 minutes
or so to let the dough rise. He waited patiently, no distractions, no smart
phones, no WiFi , silent, he just waited. Then he punched the dough and
laid them into the pans and into the oven that was already preheated, prepared.
After another half hour or so, depending on the kind of bread he was baking,
the bread was now ready to come out of the oven and set on the table to be
sliced or put on the display window.
As
for his masterpieces in furniture-making, the wooden arm chairs and tables he
made for the students in school were, remain magnificent. Suffice it to say
that our bed, survived Yolanda. Even when our entire roof was blown away and
all of the appliances and furniture in our house were damaged beyond repair,
our bed, that Papa Ching made stood strong and proud like a defiant warrior
against the ruthless winds and rains of Yolanda. Nobody could create furniture
like that without putting his whole heart, and enduring patience into what he
was crafting, as only Papa Chinggoy could.
Passion.
Patience. Time.
Remember
the 16 year old? I graduated from one of the most highly academic schools
in Cebu, Sacred Heart School for Girls, now known as Hijas de Jesus. I thought
I knew everything I needed to know about life and how to survive it. But what I
did not know was that having the highest scores in English or Math, was not
enough. I did not have control over the world just by my fingertips. I
felt I was wearing blindfolds, groping in the dark, unsure of my footing. All I
could hear were voices, “Do this. Do that. Pass your exams. Don’t keep shifting
courses and programs. Follow the right path.” Sure, I managed my way in that
tunnel. I am here now. But looking back, I know now I was so immature,
half-baked, not yet ready to go out into that world. I may have been the dough
that was not given enough time to rise and shoved into that 300 degree oven. I
may have well been the wood that was not given enough time to cure before being
chiseled into the bed posts or legs of the bed.
So
how did I manage all those four years of college? All I know now is that
experience became my primary teacher. And the most difficult and trying
circumstances in my life were the best ones. Most of them happened outside the
four walls of the classroom. There was no fast forward button. There is an app
for that now called, "Time Lapse," right? Well, there was no such
thing as apps in those days. I had to go through life one day at a time. I had
to experience the wonderful, amazing, tedious, discouraging, empowering and
beautiful process of living through it all. One day at a time. So what I am
trying to say is that it took time. Oh how it did! And it required a lot of
heart, the same amount of heart or close enough to how Papa Chinggoy has
lovingly poured into his masterpieces of bread or furniture.
So
maybe Senior High is a lot like this. Maybe you, Grade 10 Completers need to 45
minutes more or two years more for the dough of your hearts and minds to rise,
to mature. Maybe you need the core of your spirit to cure some more. Perhaps
this is the work of adding two whole years more in your education. So that when
it is finally time to decide what vocation, ministry, and calling you will
devote yourself into, you will be mature enough, ready to find your way in
life. And so that when the winds and rains of life similar to that of Yolanda
or worse may come again, you stand more steadfast, more defiant, more
unwavering, stronger, better than ever before.
Mary
Oliver, one of the most celebrated American poets in this century wrote in her
poem, "Don’t Worry":
Things take the time they take.
Don’t
worry.
How many roads did Saint Augustine follow
before he became Saint Augustine?
I
am not a doctor. I am not an engineer. I am not a chef or an architect. Nor am
I a saint. But I am a human being striving to become better, a better mother,
wife, mentor, teacher, daughter, sister, friend. A better person every single
day. I do not seek to inspire you. I only seek to ask you this— Do you want to
become better too? If your answer is yes, remember and do not forget,
everything, especially the greatest masterpieces, are made with passion,
patience and unfolded all in good time.
