Dominikanos, today is a beautiful day to be thankful and inspired.

To the administration, faculty

members and staff, proud parents and guardians, distinguished guests, and to the very reason
on why we are gathered here today, our students, a very blessed day to all of you. It is indeed a
pleasure and a great honor to be here with you virtually delivering this speech. Today marks the
start of a new chapter in our lives as we embark into an advanced journey along with a new
style of learning in this New Normal. The time has finally come to reap the fruits of our
achievement that we continuously developed through hard work, tears, hunger, and sleepless
nights just to finish our modules, assignments, performance tasks, and learning activity sheets.
Looking back at those 10 months that we have spent in front of our screens, sailing amidst the
storm, we have finally reached the rainbow. My fellow awardees. Over the last few months
here at Dominican College of Tarlac we have learned a lot. And all of this knowledge will no
doubt be valuable as we go forward in life. But I think that the most important thing that we
have learned over the last few months is to stay strong and continue standing against whatever
challenges life will give you. This academic year confronted us with a new level of hardness.
This pandemic altered our educational landscape by putting extra bumps and cracks on our
road towards success. But here we are, celebrating what we have been through. Next, I’d like to
take a moment in behalf of my fellow awardees to thank the people that have brought us here
and acted as a wonderful tool in helping us reach this far. Special mention the parents and
guardians who became their own school staff in their homes. We know this set up is as equally
hard for you as for us. Of course, I would also like to acknowledge our teachers who in spite of
the big adjustment with the learning modalities because of the New Normal set up brought by
the pandemic, still strived for greatness and made sure that no student will be left behind. You
are our candles in this dark time--- you gave us light. To my fellow awardees, this is it. We have
reached the final level of this round and we are ready to foray unto the next one. Use into your
advantage the learnings and experiences that you’ve gained, the relationships that you’ve had,
and the core values you’ve obtained as a Dominikano. As a final thought going forward, I’d like
to leave you with a quote from Harriet Tubman, an American abolitionist and political activist.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the
strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” When you
leave here today, celebrate what you have accomplished, but look forward with an eye toward
how you, too, can be the inspiration for others. Congratulations and may God bless us all.