Recognition Day

Hello there boys and girls....

Finally, the first day of classes has arrived. And keeping with Kalayaan College tradition, we had our annual recognition day and freshman orientation. For the first time in 4 years, I was asked to give the student response in front of the student body and the freshmen. I just want to share with you the speech that I did yesterday. I hope you like it.

Fellow students, beloved officers, members of faculty and staff, and all those present today, a good morning to you all. When I received the call last Friday that I was to speak before you today, I thought to myself, "What in the world am I going to say to these people?" I sat on my bed and stared off into space and nothing was coming out. So I thought about what it is that makes this year so special to me. What makes it different from all the other years that I have been in this place? And I remembered. I remembered that if all goes well, my friends and I will be graduating at the end of this academic year. So what?

So what, when thousands of other students will be graduating at the end of this year? When many will be receiving awards until they are neck deep in it? When many thousands still will not even get a job at the end of it all? Now we get to a poit when we ask, "What is the point?" Why do we continue on this arduous journey called college? What are you, the ones that are just beginning their journey, getting yourselves into? Why do those who still have a year or two left keep continuing to struggle to get to their final years and graduate? Why do we all strive to finish something that does not even guarantee our futures?

The answer my friends, is simple. So simple that it borders on the ridiculous. The answer is that all of us, no matter how we deny it, want to make something of ourselves. That by entering into the halls of higher learning, we hope that we do learn something, enough to be used for the betterment of our lives. But more importantly, we do this because we believe. We believe that if we enter these hallowed grounds, guarantee or no, we will gain something of value. And it doesn't matter if we learn it inside the classroom or outside of it, whether we learn it from our professors, or our friends, or even our enemies. What matters is that we are not imprisoned in the mediocrity that will result in us not even attempting to receive what they so fondly call "higher education."

And I believe this to be true. I believe this in my heart. And whether or not you believe in it as I do, this is the truth that I have found in myself since I first entered this very place. But don't take my word for it. Find your own truths. Find your own foundations for what you believe is true. For as Goethe said, "The first and last thing required of genius is truth." And we don't all have to become geniuses but if we are on the path of truth, the we are at least, going in the right direction.

And now I shall do as others before me have done, and many others after me will. I welcome you to this place that we have grown to know and love. Welcome to another year at Kalayaan College. Thank you and good morning.