Fr. Aquino Urges the 1st Midyear Graduates of CSU to Create an Impact

The homily session delivered by no other than Rev. Fr. Ranhillo Aquino was relevant and insightful. He gave an analogy of having a driver’s license yet being put in no good use. What you do with your license is more important than having the license per se. In like manner, having a diploma or certification is futile if not utilized for the benefit of many. Converting the paper into something beneficial to create an impact to the community, the family, or the public is a challenge to us (the graduates). For graduation according to him is not the end of the life long journey. The grades does not even matter to say the least. He stated that the word graduation was derived from the latin word gradus meaning steps or increments. Just like a ladder or probably a graduated cylinder, graduation connotes a degree of measure. The graduates are one step away from their previous circumstance. Having been imbued with the right sets of skills and knowledge to face the reality of life, graduates are now in a unique position to better the lives of those around them.

Fr. Aquino calling for an impact is a great pressure to live into. The stakes are high and the rewards are uncertain. Because some Filipinos may not able to recognize the impact they have reaped, assurance of receiving an award or sense of gratitude may not be felt. But being rewarded is not the end goal for putting social interest ahead of personal desire. It is a heroic deed where people may forget you or what you did but the impact and legacy left behind stays from generation to generation. The really big issue for us now is how do we create an impact? Or are we making impact right now?

Being conferred with the degree and title Master in Public Health, I am confused on how to employ my certification for the greater good of many. I am in a state where my worrying mindset and inability to problem solved is overtaken by my analytical skills. It is this overwhelming opportunity, coupled with indecisiveness, which is working against me. I can’t quite apply all the knowledge and sets of skills acquired from my almost 3-year stay in the Graduate programs of Cagayan State University. My professors are surely high caliber and did not fail inculcating to me the brain aspect. But more importantly is the heart and the soft skills. My ability to communicate effectively, to collaborate as a team with other people and empathize with people different from me in terms of culture, beliefs, status, etc is still developing. Those are aspects in my graduate schooling that were not emphasized. Unfortunately these also are the priority skills employer need in this 21^st century.

Let me provide two reasons why I am as confused as everyone else in this World of modernity where complexity is inevitable. First, I feel as though I am mismatched with my present job. As an academician preparing future generation of pharmacists, I am suffering from priority issues. There is just too much information to share, too much skills to develop amongst students yet too little time. People should understand that in the Philippine educational system, one teacher facilitates the learning of almost 50 students—a huge number that is difficult to manage especially for young faculty members having none to little experience. I wish I have a mentor who can constantly guide me to become the best version of myself.

Another reason I know is that I don’t want to work. I want to study Medicine and become a good physician. I have this strong desire to pursue the field because I am intellectually capable but having the financial resources is another story. Sometimes I just wished to be an average wealthy student rather than above average yet poor student. The world is unfair. But it is education that levels the playing ground fair or just. Being educated provides one with a voice to be heard in the society—something powerful to move the World for a change.

Whatever reasons I or you have is impertinent at this moment. The true nature of success is beyond degrees and titles, it is a combination character, skills, attitude and of course intellect (growth mindset, hunger for learning). For in the end of our lives, people will see not our additional educational qualifications and attainment but their lenses will focus more of what we did right while alive. No matter how little our contributions are to this country we live, it still counts to excel in our fields. Because in the end, God is the judge not the people. 

The MPH Graudates of CSU. I am the only male graduate among the five.

I and my aunt during the graduation ceremony at Cagayan State University.