Valedictory Speech

Good morning to all of you, first I would like to thank my family, my friends, my teachers, and my helping
hands who helped me through the years, I would never be who I am today without all of you. On the 8th of
march 2018, my father called me while I was in school, I was very stressed on my academics and I then I got a
very sad news. That's when I lost my grandpa, our best friend, we visited him on the hospital many times and I
saw how much he suffered, he was fighting because he wanted to live. He wanted to see us graduate and travel
the world. I felt so hopeless when I saw how my family was hurting. That was the first time i felt that kind of
pain in my heart and I hated it. Days passed and everyone was trying to move on, I would always dream about
my grandpa , giving his final goodbyes, saying that he will be fine and he'll always be by my side. It took me a
long time to realize that he was really gone. On April 2020, during pandemic, I realized that I was always
stress, I was having anxiety, and I was always crying at night not knowing the main reason why. I felt so down,
like my body and mind is always tired, I didn't want to do anything but lay on the bed all day and just sleep
because my mind was tired. I never told anyone what I was feeling because I'm afraid that I would be a burden.
I saw how tired my parents were and I don't want to be another problem that they have to carry.
And then on my birthday, I invited my friends that I haven't seen for a long time to come over, it was fine
but I was not really happy. It didn't feel like us anymore, I didn't know that, that would be the last time we will
celebrate something together. We lost communication and just like that, I lost them. I lost people who I once
loved and trusted with all my heart. April was my birthday month yet I was feeling sad and depressed, like my
everyday life doesn't matter anymore and I don't even know my purpose. I saw my grades failing, of course I
was disappointed, not in my grades but in myself. I told myself that I had no interest in my academics anymore
that's why I was failing. I tried to change it, I did my best to pass and promised myself that I will have good
results and then I failed. Tried to improve my grades again and I failed. Tried again and then failed. For the last
quarter before the end of schoolyear I was losing hope and because of that I let myself just shut everything off. I
told myself that "I give up, it is what it is. Doing my best won't change anything. And guess what? I lost." And
then year 2022, I was given a chance to talk to a priest. I was supposed to say my sins and then I ended up
telling him everything that I was feeling. I was shaking, my hands were sweating and my throat was dry. I told
him that everyday, I would ask questions to God and one of those questions is "what did I do wrong? why can't
I be as happy as they are?" He just said that "God knows what he's doing. He gave you these challenges to tell
you that you can. That there's nothing you can't go through. Be strong and never give up until you find your
finish line. Be brave, he knows you can do it." and just like that, every part of me felt better.
And I want you all to know that, there are people who will come and go. Things will hurt and that’s okay.
There are things we need to let go to be able to grow. There are things that we will have to do on our own. If
you’re already tired, rest. And when you know you’re ready, continue.
Being here, standing in front of everyone who definitely had felt so down and insecure, I wanna say that no
matter how long you wait, no matter how long you cried, no matter how many times you failed, there will
always be a good thing in everything. I want to thank you for being so strong and being here today, everyone of
us had gone through so many things yet we remained standing. If you ever felt like the world has turned their
back on you and you're all alone, go back to yourself because at the end of the day, the only person who will be
your strength is yourself. Giving up is a choice. Giving up is the birth of regret. If you never tried, you will
regret it in the end. People lost because they were afraid of failures! People failed because they didn't wanna try!
And if you once felt like questioning God why is this happening, why is life so hard? Why can't everything just
be okay? GOD MADE THIS HAPPEN BECAUSE HE KNEW YOU CAN DO IT. If something didn't came
out how you wanted it to happen, it's okay! Trying and failing is always better than never trying at all. I would
like to end this speech by saying that it's okay to cry , it's okay to fail, it's okay to be imperfect. No matter what
you go through, never lose hope. Always try to find the positive in everything and keep moving forward.
EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT IN GOD'S PERFECT TIMING.