Not so last hurrah

By: Patrick Ong

In a few months time, some of us will travel the world in search of new adventures, climb a mountain or even move to a different country. In a few months time, some of us will take a more mature dip into the world of higher education possibly after months of throwback days, questioning our competency in deciding our courses along with all the academic and non-academic choices we made.

In a few months time, some of us may venture into a start up company and end up completely broke or insanely rich. It is possible as well that some of us may enter politics, and may or may not be the subject of the national or local paper for good and not so good reasons in the years to come.

And of course, in few months time our parents will start seeing a return on their pricy investment in a Lasallian education as some of us start working for multinational companies, local companies and the like.

The bottom line is that things will change. After all, graduation is about ends and new beginnings that lead to some kind of greatness right?

Perhaps this is the reason we often quote and look into the lives of heroes, industry leaders, moguls and change makers during, and a few months or days after graduation. Because like it or not, leader or not, academic achiever or not, we all long to be great, to contribute and to matter.

This same longing continues to push the boundaries of what we consider possible today. It is this same desire that breeds innovation, value adding initiatives and ideas that continue to contribute not just to the country, but also to humanity.

This desire exists in every person, and most certainly in every Lasallian. I believe that it’s a human spirit, a collection of our emotions, desires, competencies and fears that pulls us to achieve.

We may not think it exists, but it certainly worked during the time we persevered to pass an exam we never thought we would pass; it worked when we spent hours and nights to come up with one good idea that won best thesis; and it worked when we spent terms studying just to experience something I’m sure we never thought of when we entered DLSU – our graduation.

It will continue to make industry leaders and change makers of us years and decades after. We all have our own talents to nurture, and we will all get opportunities to contribute. I mean think about it. Think of all the success stories out there—people inventing things that really matter, people changing society and making a difference to communities in the rural areas, and yes, people redefining norms such as starting a successful career in acting at the age of 40. Case in point, Sir Chief.

The opportunities are limitless and so are our potentials. But with so much potential in each and every one of us, I find the current situation of our society difficult to swallow.

Despite presumably knowing more about the conditions of the Filipino people and despite being talented and being in the position to create positive change, many of our lawmakers have chosen to use their talents, their human spirit for personal gain.

I spent a good deal of time thinking about our country’s financial, economic, but really moral problem. I tried to place myself in the expensive shoes of our politicians to grasp what it is that went wrong or rather, what makes people abuse their talents since these moral lapses can be found closer than we think—in houses, in the workplace, and yes, even in school.

The answer came to me when I came across the DLSU vision mission, which emphasized the importance of developing Lasallian values or rather, human values like faith, zeal for service and communion at DLSU.

Educational institutions in the Philippines, as questionable as some may be, have been teaching values for decades, and in DLSU’s case, for more than a century. Delivery and policies aside, the values taught in all educational institutions such as honesty, integrity and honor are relevant values that we should consider heeding, regardless of our profession.

Perhaps we’ve been looking at the corruption problem of the country in the wrong way. The solution may be closer than we think. If we all just followed or rather, listened to some of the lessons taught in the classroom, maybe we would have less problems and more progress in the country.

Maybe graduation is not entirely about ends and new beginnings. Instead of asking ourselves how much we’ve changed a few decades after, perhaps we should ask ourselves how much of our zeal, idealism, strength in standing for something that’s right, passion for justice and compassion have we retained? Moreover, perhaps we should evaluate the many values and ideals have we held on to?

I recently corresponded with a former USG President about career choices. One thing that I couldn’t forget about our short correspondence was her text, which read, “It’s funny how we all end up working corporate jobs.” She was probably looking back at how students led charitable causes, initiated several USG projects, wrote for the paper and started projects that have successfully and some not so successfully served the student body all to end up with corporate jobs, doing less and less of the “things that matter,” every year.

She’s right. Many of us will start to forget some of the values we held on to during our stay at the University and some of those we ought to have had even before we committed ourselves to spending three to five years at DLSU as if we did not have a choice.

But should we really?

Think about it. Before, we struggled to find funding for community projects; in a few months time, we would be able to fund our own projects. Before, projects had to be approved by a body of people through a tedious process; in a few months time, we could approve and start the project as we please.

The workplace will not be easier than the University life, but it will certainly be a place of constant opportunity to grow, nurture and develop our values, our Lasallian values.

Someone once said that the measure of the success of a University, in retaliation to the notion that the measure of the success of a University can be seen during graduation, could only be seen decades after graduation.

Maybe this is the reason many Lasallians continue to use the word Animo decades after graduation. The challenge though is to mean it every time we say it, but more so, to live it.

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Patrick Ong was Editor in Chief of The LaSallian last academic year, AY 2012-2013. He took up AB Economics and BS Applied Corporate Management, graduating cum laude. He marched during the 168th Commencement Exercises held at the PICC this month. After a colorful college stint, he now looks forward to managing a profitable venture in the hog industry.