Sr. Anabel de la cruz, SPC, school head/principal, Mrs.

Josefina Peralta, Academic Chairman, Sisters, Teachers, our dear parents, friends, guests and my fellow graduates, a wonderful evening to all of you! There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, Ten years...? The student then said, But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast how long then? The master replied, Well, twenty years. But, if I really, really work at it, how long then? asked the student. Thirty years, said the master. But, I do not understand, said the disappointed student. At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that? The master replied, When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path. We all have dreams. We all have goals. We all aspire for something and the first step in reaching these goals is by creating a certain mindset directed to it. Oftentimes, we are too mindful of the goal that we fail to recognize the value of the journey itself. We are sometimes too focused on our goals that we often take for granted the fact that there is no finish line where there is no track. The Zen student was determined to find Zen, but little did he know that there is more to life than mere prizes and accomplishments. What we pick up on the way there is what holds the greater value. But, like the Zen student, we can not go on our journey alone. We need the Zen Masters of our lives to keep us on the right path and to create a new path where there was none. And at this point, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who helped us in our journey. First and foremost, we thank our parents, our Zen Masters in love and understanding. Ma, Pa, I know it had never been easy to raise a child, especially a child like I am. Its been one heck of a roller coaster ride for us but still, you put up with all of my faults and accept me for who I am. Your unconditional love is a mark of what real parenthood is about. And without you, I know I wouldnt even be here at all. To the sisters and teachers, our Zen Masters in Faith, the Sciences and the Arts, you are the voice of reason in our life. When the world says give up, you are like the wind that whispers, Try it one more time. You opened our minds beyond the mere words contained in the books and taught us to read the words written in a language only understood by the heart. Your constant encouragements and appreciation remind us that we are unique persons, capable of doing things nobody else can. And Sir Arvin, you are our Zen Master in a hundred different ways. These last 10 months may have felt like 10 very long years. But look at where we are now. We are, as the Phantom of the Opera said, Past the Point of No Return. We never thought wed reach this point in our lives but here we are, maybe a little worse for wear compared to how we were in June, but still in one piece. And, by the way, you can breathe now, sir! And of course, to my fellow Zen students (name all). You are the sunshine after the rain; youre the cure against my fears and my pains. I love you guys just the way you are for youre beautiful in your way because God makes no mistakes so let your colors burst just like a firework. No matter where we go, I know where youll always be: IN MY HEART! You played a huge part in my life and without you I dont think I would be where I am now. I couldnt have accomplished this without you and in that way, I believe we are all valedictorians.

We all stand in the midst of giants. These giants come in different shapes and sizes and may not necessarily refer to the humongous beasts of fiction. There are worse kinds of giants out there. There are Giants of Fear, Giants of Doubt, Giants of Hopelessness, and a lot more. Weve had our fair share of encounters with some of these giants and rarely do we escape unharmed. Treacherous as they may be, these giants are mere obstacles in our journey. Monica is right. Lifes a climb. We need to get through every fallen tree trunk, rise every time we fall on our knees, and learn to rest and heal our wounds. THESE are our giants. David from the movie Facing the Giants had his own giant to defeat. But with faith in God and himself, he was able to overcome every giant that he faced. My fellow graduates, when faced with our own giants, instead of cowering in our shells, stand straight, chest out, stomach in, look at it straight in the eyes and know that were bigger than this giant! Together as a class weve faced much bigger giants and still we emerged stronger than before. We made an awesome graduation song, won numerous awards as a class, took difficult tests, performed breathtaking presentations and many more. If thats what we were able to do in these last few years of high school, imagine what well be able to do in the future when were faster, smarter, bigger and stronger. When we let our passions guide us, we can do everything. Guys, find what you love doing because it is with this passion, combined with our talents and skills, by which we can find true happiness and change the world. My dear classmates, dream no small dreams for small dreams are not capable to move the hearts of men. Be not afraid of achieving great things. Oftentimes, our greatest fear is not that we are incapable. Our greatest fear, in fact, is that we are powerful beyond measure. Never be afraid to reach high and take a chance as Les Brown said, SHOOT FOR THE MOON. Even if you miss, youll land among the stars. William Shakespeare, in his play As You Like It, wrote, All the worlds a stage and all the men and women merely players. Yes. We are players. We are the main cast in a world famous play called LIFE. It is directed by none other than God and the beauty of the play is dependent upon each and every performance we put on. The tears, the laughter, the joys, the pains; each of us has a role to play. Classmates, this is not our final curtain call. Tonight is our premiere night! We entered this hall as bright-eyed hopefuls, full of the dreams and vigor of youth; we leave it still as bright-eyed hopefuls, still full of our dreams. The only difference is that as we march out the aisle of this institution, we are taking one step closer to finally getting the ungettable get. Guys, this is not a goodbye, but as we move on to our next adventure, remember that no matter where life takes us, be who you are. Never let anybody tell you youre not good enough. Sometimes, we ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, talented, and beautiful? Instead, ask yourself, who are you to not be any of these? Let your light shine for the entire world to see. We are all more than ready to seize our dreams and make them into something real. The future holds limitless possibilities. Some take the road most traveled, some the road less traveled. But we, the Oceans Horizon will pave a new road. The path is ours to make, my friends. Thank you all so much. Caritas Christi Urget Nos! Once again, good evening.