Graduation—Celebration of an Ending and Preparation for a New Beginning

Probably by this time, most schools from all over the country were already through with their graduation ceremonies. Brilliant students were already conferred with marks of distinction for their academic excellence, student leaders were already acknowledged for their outstanding skills, while parents were applauded for their patience and undying support for their children’s scholastic endeavor. And perhaps, various celebrations have already died out and those who have marched are already enjoying their much-anticipated long vacation without having to think about summer classes and extended paper works. But is graduation the end, or the beginning?

Whenever I see people in toga, I can’t help but muse over my own long, tedious scholastic journey. It was an expedition filled with diverse experiences, backbreaking challenges and bittersweet success. I would say my elementary years were spent lucratively because I was consistently on the honor roll from the first grade until I graduated. Though I wasn’t the first in the class, I was proud and happy because I could bring my mother to the stage and she could brag about her son doing well in school.

I thought high school was tougher because I had to contend with the bests from the different towns and the city. But being young and carefree, I forgot about my lofty academic goal and just enjoyed life like a normal high school student. I fell in love, got lazy and I didn’t really care if I couldn’t go up to the stage on Recognition Day. Yes, I didn’t make it to the honor roll, though I was specially awarded for some behavior-related merits. But overall, I would still consider my high school a great success because I was able to keep my scholarship until I finished it. Private school education is quite expensive so it was a relief for my mother because she didn’t have not to worry about my tuition fees for four years.

My college life began in a Catholic school where I thought everyone was intelligent, talented and confident. Those highly competitive students made me realized that I needed to re-establish my towering academic goal. Somehow, I made the right decision and it was very effective because I made it to the dean’s list. When I decided to finish my degree in another school, I set my goal even higher and it was fulfilling to be mentally aggressive and steadfast when it came to achieving that ambition. I didn’t yield to any academic challenges, instead I defied my vulnerabilities, worked on my flaws and slowly crossed beyond my limitations to become excellent, to be on top and to pull it off with flying colors.

Finding the right words is quite difficult for me now, but possibly I felt true happiness several weeks prior to my college graduation. Yes, I did achieve what I dreamed—to be on top of my class, march with highest honors and leave a remarkable legacy to my Alma Mater. When my dean conveyed with pride that throughout his 25 years in the university, I am the first student from the College of Arts and Sciences under his tutelage to stand out and obtain highest academic distinction, exhibit outstanding leadership skill and show strong commitment to excellence, a surge of self-confidence and jubilation consumed my heart. I was supposed to graduate cum laude, but my being a transferred student became the Commission on Higher Education’s ground to disqualify me for the honor. Though I was upset and emotionally impaired, the whole situation offered me few significant realizations that changed my perspective and made myself to understand that medals wouldn’t really matter. I learned many things throughout my academic endeavor and being able to build myself with an arsenal of basic knowledge, along with my extramural experiences, was more important in the world I was going to face ahead. And I was right.

Competition in getting an ideal job is even more challenging and tougher than periodical exams. Landing the first can be daunting, finding the good one can be frustrating. When it’s my turn to explore the world and see if I could survive in the clash of fresh graduates for a job, I knew that my provisions were not enough for me to win. Then I thought graduation was just the warm-up to a bigger challenge of the real world. Education and learning do not end on commencement exercises. Periodical examinations do not stop at the end of the semesters. They were merely preparation to the actual test of survival which is at times cruel, debilitating and unbecoming. But there was one thing I understood, if you were competently prepared you will never back away from any challenge. And sometimes, you need to trust “good luck” and “God’s mercy.”

Finishing school is very fulfilling. But for the fresh graduates, I want you to know that “real world” challenges are not inconsequential matters that tolerate procrastination and indolence, but rather they are like a kind of propulsion that demands you to be timely, determined and fitting. The real world will not ask of what you have done in school, but cares of what you can do now with what you have learned. It will not ask you questions with multiple answers to choose from, but will test your careful judgment and right decisions. It will not require you to get a perfect score in an examination, but will inspire you to be a top player in every task that could lift your dignity higher. It will not rate you according to your academic performance, but will evaluate you according to your promptness, competency and output. It will not only ask you to be competitive, but will expect you to learn to build rapport, cooperation and professionalism. The real world will not measure how fast you can memorize the Bill of Rights, the Periodic Table of Elements or the English Grammar and Correct Usage, but will observe how you can skillfully master your craft, contribute in the institution and outshine what is already superlative. It’s no longer about how your brain works, but about how your brain and heart can work together to fulfill your dreams. These truths are only few, but when you are already out there seeking for your own place in the real world, you will understand everything.

When I wrote this article, I was also thinking of those who are still striving hard in school. I appreciate those diligent students who are burning the midnight oil to graduate. And those who are happy-go-lucky ones, do not take school like a diversion from your crazy, ill-fated life. Embrace it with passion, love it like your life, consider it like a power pill, absorb it like it essential mineral, and be earnest with it because someday it will bring you salvation—and perhaps, the salvation of your family as well. You don’t have to dismiss fun, adventure and youthful exploits, because you can integrate them in. I did just that—I enjoyed my youth, filled my scholastic journey with escapades and pleasure, even committed myself to community service and still excelled in school. That’s why now, I am very thankful that I chose the right path and made the right decisions because it made me easier to understand what the “real world” really is all about. And, I owe my success mostly to my family who inspired me to achieve greater things and had faith in my capabilities. I wouldn’t have tried to dream big and set higher goals without them.

For me, graduation is a celebration of one’s achievement, the end of one hurdle but definitely the beginning of a more rigid and challenging journey to the real competitive world.

I salute to the graduates of 2013 all over the world!

Note: This article is originally posted on Bloodspots' Harbor.

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