Speech in honor of a former student

A speech in honor of a successful former student

Barely five years ago, I used to ask my students in my English classes to visualize themselves 5 to 10 years hence. It was a composition writing activity so the reaction was varied; those who were really good at writing welcomed the activity with gusto but, for those who were a little bit uninterested just did it for compliance.

In that particular activity, I could remember how I got struck with one student’s composition. How I got impressed with her style but more strikingly I was mesmerized by the substance of her work, a simple girl visualizing her dream for her and for her family. I was touched by the wisdom of her message, how it reflected her desire to give her parents and her siblings a more comfortable and a happier life. As their teacher, I called the writer to read her work to her classmates, and that started my personal admiration for this particular student. She was just a nonchalant, low-profile typical MSUan and never did I know the details of her personal circumstance. The following year, she graduated and that ended my contact with this student.

Four years later, we were shaken by the news of the untimely demise of our student’s father; hardly did I realize it was the father of my student who submitted to me a very impressive composition. How I felt so sorry for a temporary breakdown of her dream; all I knew she worked hard for her studies because she wanted to give the best to her parents and to her siblings. Though I haven’t seen her personally anymore, somehow I felt the surmounting grief, the family must have been undergoing that time. Only then I learned that her father was a manager of a bank which added my admiration more for her because she was living just a very ordinary life then as a high school student. How she used to live a frugal life despite their financial status.

And just last Wednesday, when I opened my FB, a familiar name of a sender landed in my account. I was not able to recall right away who this particular sender was, not until she introduced, “Ma’am, studyante nyo po ako sa hi-skul noon”, only then that I slowly retrieved from my memory cabinet – the memory of once a very simple student who touched my heart when she wrote about what she would like to become and why she would like to become such in the future . She asked me if I could come to her thanksgiving party, so without hesitation, I said yes.

Congratulations! Thank you for looking back and I, being one of your high school mentors, am proud to be a part in the fulfillment of your dreams.

This is not the end yet. You are just starting to climb and reach for more stars. Move on, strive harder to reach the higher stars but be sure to look back, many are pushing you to go higher.

Norville, once again , on behalf of your MSU-CETD family, please accept my warmest congratulations and prayers that God give you more years to realize the dream you visualized five years ago.