The salutatory address below was delivered by Mr. Ethan Gabriel Lee during the UA&P Graduation Rites held on August 26 at the PICC. He graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Science in Industrial Economics degree.
“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.*” The same can be said of gratitude, and a movie that really exemplifies both virtues is The Shawshank Redemption. I’ve watched this movie around 10 to 15 times already, and I kid you not, it is one of the greatest movies of all time, so please do watch it! I rate it a 10/10. Anyway, I remember watching this movie several times during the pandemic, and each time I was brought to tears because of the message it provides. As a story of a man who was wrongfully imprisoned, who had to endure immense pain, and who was able to capture his own freedom, its main message was hope and gratitude.
Our batch is no stranger to these sentiments. We have been “wrongfully imprisoned,” confined in our homes in recent history, not really knowing when we would be able to freely experience the world again. But through hope, we stand here today, and through gratitude, we can move forward into tomorrow. As graduating students, it has been such a pleasure for us indeed to see how things have slightly gone back to the way things were. We can easily walk along Pearl Drive again, frequent popular student areas like Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks again, and even see our friends and loved ones without fear again. While some of the things I’ve mentioned may not be so applicable to us anymore moving forward, let us be thankful for the fond memories they have made for us and hope that these things will remain even as we grow old.
We have also had to endure immense pain – whether this be in our academic struggles or our personal challenges. I know all of us here today have had to continuously push forward when it would have been easier to just let go at times. But again, we have hoped in ourselves, most especially through the little things – the little routines, the little pep talks, and even the little rewards we give ourselves getting through each day. But more than just hoping in ourselves, we have hoped in others: the little get-togethers with friends, the little actions of loved ones, and the little affirmations from family members. All these things have allowed us to not only endure challenges but rise above them.
Thus, we must never forget to thank the people in our lives. So let me give thanks now to some very important people: To the UA&P community of professors, thank you for all the effort you put in guiding us to be competent individuals. To the people we’ve formed strong bonds of love and friendship within the university, thank you for the solidarity and all the good times. I myself cannot imagine going through college without you. And, most especially, to our families, thank you for all the love and support. I specifically want to give thanks to my own parents, my oldest sister, and even my younger siblings for always believing in me and my abilities. All that I’ve done and all that I hope to do, I do in honor of you, Mama and Papa. So again, let us be thankful for the little things that continue to help us, and let us also hope that our little actions can help others rise above every day.
And now, we are at a point where we are also able to finally capture our own freedom. We are graduating – entering the next chapter of our lives, where we will be genuinely free – free in choosing our work, free with more of our time, and free in deciding what we really want in life. This privilege and opportunity is something we must be so thankful for as it is such a blessing for us to be able to look back at this university as an institution that has provided us with the basic tools to live good lives and to truly hope for even more. So thank you, UA&P.
As I conclude my salutatory address, “I find I’m so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free person can feel, a free person at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.*” With that, greetings to all the parents, professors, and other guests here, and good afternoon, Batch 2023.
*Quotes from The Shawshank Redemption
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