We will all be visiting on Saturday (June 1, 2013). All of us who are one year removed from love, from passion, from our [temporary] family. There are too many of us who wish to speak, but if I could (and if I won't chicken out), I would. I have several messages that I would like to send across.
[Addressing the current TNTs]
I know that some, if not all of you, are anxious about a lot of things. The newbies probably anxious about their first OrSem, the young guns about experiencing Ateneo philosophy and major subjects for the first time. The hardcores and softcores (plus yung mga newniors(tanga) dyan), about their final semester or year in Ateneo. Don't get me wrong, these are all legit anxieties. I can write you a paper about it. But no, I won't. I won't even bring them up again.
I want all of you to close your eyes and envision one thing. Go back to your own OrSems and imagine the last day, before OrSem night. Do you remember your TNT's face? Do you remember your TNT saying goodbye? I do, and I remember it from both sides, being a TNT and being a freshman. It wasn't until I became a TNT that I understood why they were crying on the last day. It's because, for us, it's more than just a mere sadness of letting the freshmen go out in their Ateneo journey. For TNTs, OrSem was never just about introducing the freshmen to Ateneo and Ateneo to the freshmen anyway... And it shouldn't be.
Tears spell the difference between dedication and passion. If you were dedicated to attain a goal, then good. Dedication just shows that you can work, and that you can work hard to attain something. Passion, meanwhile, entails a desire. Passion will make you cry in success or in failure. Dedication will make OrSem so much easier, but you will only enjoy OrSem if you're passionate about it.
I can tell you now, that you're all here because in one way or another, your own TNTs affected you in some way. They planted in your heads, the idea that this tradition should be held on to; that OrSem, no matter how differently Ateneo does it, is something that you know you cherished. If you didn't then you wouldn't even think of being here right now.
I am happy to say that I guess I had changed five people's lives in the course of my two years as one of you guys. Four of them are among you right now, but I won't give their names. And as conceited as telling you that I influenced them sounds, they had also influenced me. When I was a newbie, I spoke up and said... I had never imagined that one person can be so influential to a lot. And since that moment, my view on influence had changed so much. I believe that all of you here can be influential to all of those whom you will meet next week.
Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
He was right. You're all given the ability to make changes in thousands of lives next week. Make the changes you want to happen. Their lives, your lives; they will cross first in that moment, so make the most of it because in the coming years, you'll find yourself standing here, where we are. You'll find the kid of whoever's mind you can change, seated on that same floor you're sitting on right now, staring at the future TNT core, the future TNT alumni, or maybe just staring... but staring in to the future.
Chuga on, and good luck in OrSem. Make your core proud and make yourselves proud.
No comments:
Post a Comment