Time flies so fast indeed. Just two weeks from now, I will be getting my academic attire (toga) and I will be attending the Bacchalaureate Mass to receive the Honorable Mention Award for keeping up with a CGPA of 3.0. All in all, 69 students from different colleges will be receiving the Honorable Mention award. Then, come October 9, I will be marching at the Philippine Internation Convention Center along with the other 897 students (PICC) to get my temporary diploma (the real diploma that will be sent via snail mail one month after the Commencement Exercises) where the Laude’s will be awarded. The total of number of students that will be receiving academic awards is 85 while the number of graduates (including graduates of different Masteral degrees and Doctorate degrees) is 898. Thus, the ratio of awardees to the total number of graduates is almost one percent. Quite a ratio huh?
Honorable Mention is not as prestigious as the awards with Laude’s because I know that only De La Salle University gives such academic award (based on my experience with my recent job interview). Also, most companies would only notice the Laude’s for it has been a standard in every College or University be it in the Philippines or the other parts of the world.
There are a lot of things that I have learned in College. In college, sometimes, hard work is not enough. Surviving college is like indulging yourself into a war. As Sun Tzu has said in his book The Art of War,
“It is a matter of life and death, a road either
to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry
which can on no account be neglected.”
As we all know, there are soldiers that have received several awards, and there are some ordinary soldiers that have managed to survive. Hence, they are the unsung heroes. Like in college, there are a few noteworthy students who have managed to excel during their academic life and there are some students who have managed to graduate even though they have been crippled by failing marks so many times. As said by a graduate in his speech that have circulated via e-mail over the Internet,
“Pero ni minsan, hindi pa ako nakakakita ng unibersidad na nagbigay ng “Hung on and managed to graduate despite nearly getting kicked-out during his academic stay” award.”
Like the soldiers who have survived the war without a medal, just the same, these graduates are the unsung heroes. And to all those who have managed to graduate despite of a “near death experience”, I commend all of you for not giving up, and for not losing hope. I’m sure that your parents are proud of you no matter what.
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