XAVERIAN'S CORNER

Students Response: A Call to Service through ACTION!
By Carlos Locsin, H4B Batch 2005

Posted Tuesday,03-May-2005 9:00 AM

Our dear school director, Rev. Fr. Johnny Go of the Society of Jesus, the chairman of the board of trustees Rev. Fr. Ismael Zuloaga of the Society of Jesus, Honorable Secretary Arthur Yap, our beloved Principal Mrs. Jane Natividad, our School Chaplain Rev. Fr. Art Borja, our Assistant Principal for Formation Mr. Michael Delos Reyes, beloved teachers and staff, dear parents, and fellow graduates, a good evening to you all.

As we celebrate this joyous day, I cannot help but look back at the many challenges we faced here in Xavier School . I would like to start by sharing with you an experience I had when I was a junior.

After doing particularly well in Math during my sophomore year, my teacher decided to challenge me to do even more by moving me to the Advanced Class. Thus, I entered my third year as a Math, Science and English advanced student. However, because the academic load was too difficult, coupled with the extra curricular activities I had, after two quarters, English was my only remaining advanced class. Furthermore, with a grade of 80 in Math, my dream of being a consistent honor student from Grade 1 to High 4 perished in an instant.

But I was not the only one struggling, we as a batch had our own share of trials together.

Four years ago when we were freshmen, we struggled in adjusting to fit in our environment and a concrete indicator of this was the numerous amount of green slips given to us throughout that year. Moving on to second year, I think my batch mates will remember that our integrity was under a dark cloud. Then, when we got to third year, we struggled with grief as our batch lost a dear brother, Dominic, and to top it all, we had difficulty involving ourselves in the school's activities.

Tayo'y nagmistulang maliliit na apoy na nanganib sa bawat suliranin at kabiguang ating kinaharap. Ngunit ang munting ilaw nati'y di nanatiling nakikipagbunuan lamang sa mapagbantang hangin ng pagsuko. Di nagtagal at natuto tayong pagningasin ang munti nating mga liwanag na siya ngayo'y nagbibigay kabuluhan sa atin.

Ngunit, paano nga ba tayo unti-unting nagtagumpay sa ating mga kahirapan?

Nakasisiguro akong naaalala pa ng marami sa atin ang matagumpay na pagdaraos ng Xavier-Poveda Interaction kung saan nabigyan tayong lahat ng pagkakataong mas makilala ang mga magagandang Povedans, At pati na rin ang sarili nating mga batchmates sa pamamagitan ng sama-samang pagtatrabaho't pagaayos nito. Talaga nga naman, “XPerience para sa lahat.”

Kamakailan lamang, kahit naghihikahos tayong mapanatili ang ating academic standing, nakuha pa rin nating makibahagi sa Sagip Pasko, isang Sabado ng Disyembreng nag-uumapaw sa dami ng mga proyekto't aralin. Mula sa isang halos walang pakialam na batch sa mga gawaing pampaaaralan, nagkaisa tayo at namuno pa nga ng makabuluhang gawaing nakatulong nang malaki sa kapus-palad nating mga kababayan. Tunay na tanda ng pagiging “Men for Others”.

Mula rin sa isang batch na hindi makahanap ng pagkakakilanlan sa Mataas na Paaralang Xavier, tayo ang namuno sa pagsuporta ng nakaraang Tiong Lian Game, kung saan ang naging mas makabuluhang luwalhati'y di ang mapanalo lamang ang laro, kundi sa wakas, ang mapagkaisa ang komunidad ng Xavier. “At, nang matapos ang laro, sa kaibuturan ng ating mga puso, nang may maigting na paninindigan, ating sabay sabay na isinigaw: manalo matalo, Xavier pa rin kami!”

Fellow graduates, don't you wonder sometimes how we were able to really survive such struggles and accomplish such feats? Where did we get our strength and our tenacity? Who inspired us to transcend the challenges that were laid out before us?

In my case, as I went through the disheartening experience with the advanced class, there were people who were there supporting me all throughout. Mrs. Cruz was would occasionally ask how I was doing in the regular class and tell me: “Carlos, I miss you in my class.” On the Math side, Ms. Certeza warmly welcomed me back to the regular class. Over the summer, she even gave me an encounter of the lessons I did not know. My mother would still give me the same good night kiss and warm embrace before I would go to bed every night and my father would still give me the same quality advice he would give me every Sunday breakfast.

The tender loving care of certain people who were with me no mater what happened, enabled me to overcome my struggles and to relish my triumphs.

Truly, dearest parents, you are the greatest gifts God has given us, worth a lot more than any award that we receive today . Sometimes, you may feel that we love you less because we are hardly at home and we rarely get to talk to you. Know that deep in our hearts, the love we have for you grows as our heart continues to grow. Nothing in this world can erase the truth that you are our parents and we are your children.

Of course, in school, we also have our second parents. On our first day in school as in the first day of creation, God gave us light-you, our beloved teachers! For the past thirteen years of our journey through Xavier, you were not just teachers but also friends, confidants and even parents, to us. We may eventually forget the particulars of your lessons, like graphing ellipses and hyperbolas, but surely, we will treasure deep in our hearts the synthesis of the “big ideas” that you have imparted to us.

(Delivered in Chinese)

Thank you dear teachers for you patience and kindness. We will always remember the lessons you have taught us and we will do our best in our studies in college.

Xavier School stands because of a mission- to bring the Good News to the Chinese-Filipinos. Thank you dear Jesuits for sharing this missions with our parents, teachers and school administrators.

(End of Chinese)

Dear parents, Jesuit fathers, school administrators, staff and teachers, thank you for being credible witnesses of Christ's love for us. Through each and every act of love you have shown us, we are able to see Christ more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly.

Fellow graduates, I am sure that more struggles will come our way but I hope, these struggles will not stop and make us passive. Instead, we should continue take action because to be a Xaverian is to take ACTION. But what kind of action? As seen in Sagip Pasko, a sense of service is our mark as Xaverians. If we love Xavier, if we are proud of Xavier, we should translate our actions into service.

Let every ACTION lead us to what we will pledge later which is- “to seek this reward: to find greater meaning in our lives and to continue making a difference in the lives of others.”

Fellow graduates, let us continue to LIVE, to SERVE and to be MEN FOR OTHERS as our future rises with the sun!

LUCEAT LUX!

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