Commencem ent Speech

To the WMSU President Doctor Milabel Enriquez-Ho, to our Vice President for

Academic Affairs Doctor Ma. Carla A. Ochotorena, to our Dean of External Studies

Doctor Ricardo A. Somblingo, to our Associate Dean Prof. Byron B. Go Silk To our

Municipal Mayor, Atty. Lycel “Tata” Castor Tan, to our Unit Coordinator Dr. Oliver B.

Talaoc, visitors from WMSU main campus, Faculty and Staff of Wmsu Diplahan, Parents,

Graduates, family and friends, ladies and gentlemen Good Morning. We gathered here

today to celebrate and validate the graduation ceremony of batch 2018. I am Raymond

Clark Yan, University Student Council President of Diplahan ESU, and I am honored to

have the opportunity to speak today. Before I commence my speech, on behalf of batch

2018, I would like to welcome you all to the 11th Commencement Exercises of Western

Mindanao State University - Diplahan External Studies Unit. I also want to thank all

parents, family and friends for their love and constant support, as well to the members

of WMSU faculty and staff for their guidance and patience; we truly owe you all that we

are here.

It has been an unforgettable journey that has prepared us for the future,

whatever it may hold. These past four years have involved some of the most memorable

and influential moments of our lives. Individually, our experiences here are unique, but

together we share a common bond as members of the batch 2018. I am filled with

excitement and anticipation as the next stage in my life is about to begin through the
support and guidance of my Parents, Family, Friends, Teachers, and most of all to our

Almighty God.

Today, what I have here is a TOR. Owned by a college dropout student, his

previous school only allows a maximum of 18 units or 6 subjects of failed grades for the

entire school year, if more than that then he cannot enroll and wait for the next

semester to come. This TOR has 27 units or 9 subjects of failed grades, obviously it is

really enough for a student to be kicked-out from that school. I made this speech not to

humiliate the owner of this TOR. This speech is for all non-achiever students, just like

the owner of this TOR.

“There is this one research experiment that a shark was placed into a large tank of water

and then some small fish were released into that tank, as you would expect the shark

quickly swam around the tank, watched the fish and then ended up eating all of them.

Then a strong piece of fiberglass was inserted into the tank. This would create a division

between where the shark started and where the smaller fish started. Again the shark

quickly attacked but this time the shark went in straight into the fiberglass divider and

bounced off. The shark tried this several times again and again and again until it became

tired and weakened. Meanwhile the fish on the other side of the divider carried on

swimming peacefully. After about an hour the shark finally gave up. This experiment

was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks where the shark became less

aggressive every single time. It got to the point that the shark stopped trying to attack
and eat the fish at all. The fiberglass was then removed out of the tank and to their

amazement the shark still did not attack. The shark had been trained through habit that

a fiberglass divider was there and that it would bounce off, and therefore didn’t even

consider it. At the same time, the small fish freely swam wherever they wanted. The

moral lesson of the story, many of us here are experiencing setbacks and failures in

everyday life just like the owner of this TOR. Eventually we got emotionally drained,

tired, unmotivated and we stop trying. Like the shark in the story we believe that

because we’ve been unsuccessful in the past that that barrier still exist even for new

ventures. In other words we continue to see a barrier in our heads that separates us

from our dreams, even though there is no real barrier between where we are and where

we want to go. I believe that success is not permanent and failure is never the end. To

tell you akin po ang TOR na ito, and yes I fail several times in the past, but I never

hesitated to keep on trying, and never stop dreaming. I believe that everything in life

happens according to our time, according to our clock.

Dahil karamihan po sa amin ngayun dito ay mga kagaya kong medyo na delay lang.

Karamihan sa mga classmates ko ay mga butihing ina, butihing ama, mga butihing asawa

na kahit may mga responsibilidad na sa buhay ay patuloy na inilaban ang kanilang

pangarap na makapagtapus.

Marami din sa amin ngayun ay mga working students na hindi napagod at hindi nag

patalo sa hirap ng buhay. Pati na sa mga classmates kong masunurin at masisipag.

To make it short proud ako sa batch ko na’to.

Graduates I want all of us, to be able to create meaningful, purposeful, fulfilling lives for
ourselves.

And learn how to use that to make an impact and a difference in the lives of others.

Congratulations Graduates,

God bless us all

Thank you.