VALEDICTORY ADDRESS by Engr. Meleusipo Eulluran Fonollera Sr.

 It has come at last ... Graduation Day, the day which I believe, all of us have been looking forward to. Tonight's commencement is but a go signal for us to continue the journey that we have started.  The journey we have to traverse further in books of higher types.

It is but meet and proper for one, after having safely crossed a river to be grateful not only to the boatman but also to the banca itself.  Equally then, we must be grateful not only to our assiduous teachers for having guided us for four solid years but, to our dear school...the Pio de Pilar High School for having generously given us every opportunity for self-advancement.  It is a debt of immeasurable gratitude that cannot be repaid in terms of money.  It is a folly, however, to assume that we are now equipped with the necessary accoutrements for a secure trip to the moon.  It does not mean, however, that the journey we have undertaken has ended here.  This is only part of the much longer route we still have to go.  For ahead of us are more rivers, rivers that seem impassable to us who barely have the necessary experience and wisdom.  There are still others more difficult to cross.  We still need further educational and technical training. 

 We have to venture on these rivers if we wish to reach the end of the journey.  We have to make our life a part of a good cause, for as Dr. Rizal expressed in his famous apothegm, "A life that is not consecrated to a great ideal is a like a stone wasted in the fields without becoming a part of any edifice."  We should not be satisfied with the meager knowledge that we have; for life, I believe, is a ceaseless striving and reaching after higher things.  As Browning puts it, "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's heaven for?"

 Across all of these rivers of education lies the broad field of life.  All of us, sooner or later, will be meeting in this field no matter what path each and every one of us has chosen.  It is in this field we put into action all experiences, knowledge and skills we have acquired in the course of our journey.  We must see to it that all of these equipment be used in the cultivation of this field.  We must make sure that the seed we plant will bear fruit.

 We are a component part of that army of Filipino youth, dynamic and eager to find their place in society.  We must not let this eagerness of ours remain dormant; let us evolve this into physical reality so as to make true what Dr. Rizal had said. "The youth are the backbone of the nation."  Let us, at all cost, turn the ardent expectations of our parents and teachers into something tangible.

At present, there are many degree-holders that are unemployed, thousands of them.  It is not orators and debaters that can help the nation best, but trained economists, men of action, conscientious researchers and young men and women who cam ameliorate the lot of the common "tao", especially in the rural regions and who can bring civilization at the doors of these people.  We need them, indefatigable and able students of our social problems; we need youth who can come close to the masses, who can serve the destiny of these people.

The responsibilities of the graduates today are greater than ever before, because our country is heaped up to the neck with varied problems...economic, spiritual, social, moral.  The solution to these problems is our task!

Before we bid our Alma Mater goodbye, let us make a firm pledge tonight to bear these responsibilities without complaint, to pick up the prints of our brothers who faltered on their way.  We promise to try to the best of our ability to free our country from the clutches of poverty and ignorance. 

BOUNCING BACK FROM CANCER: EARNING A PhD @50 (Part 1 of 5)

Knowing you have cancer can be a letdown to your life’s goal.  And at 50 years old, I decided to pursue the dream a few would dare to tread:  The pursuit of a PhD.   When Mom died in January 2005, cancer got the better of her but not after hurdling through several afflictions in her life.  I remember one time as a teenager, while in the thick of writing a thesis for a client (she works covertly as a ghost writer), she suddenly coughed blood in front of me and told me this is just an old illness that resurfaces everytime she gets tired.  I realized later that she was just lying to me to prevent me from panicking.  As an intense writer always beating a deadline, she became a heavy chain smoker in order to cope with the tremendous amount of stress brought about by the job. 

Mom's commercially published books

 That’s my mother and I got to have a first-hand account of the trials and tribulations that she went through in order to earned her much coveted PhD in Educational Administration which was her lifetime dream.  But her dream was only realized after all of us five children had finished college and went on our ways to build a family of our own.  I was with her through the final leg of her journey towards a PhD so I know exactly the rigors and discipline it requires in order to finish her dissertation.  She finally got her PhD and for several years had reaped the fruits of her labor in the halls of academia in several institutions such as De La Salle University Manila and the Philippine Women’s University among others.  Until finally, with the years of abuse that her body had gone through working and raising a family of five, she eventually succumbed to cancer. 

Presenting my diploma and dissertation to my Mom while wearing her doctoral toga

After a year of grieving, I finally decided to pursue the same dream of earning a doctorate.  I was a licensed dentist with 10 years of practice and currently a tenured associate professor.  After having my credentials evaluated and accredited, I was accepted to the PhD Graduate program.  By this time, I was already well versed with subjects related to the human body that the monotony of teaching the same subjects over and over for several years had began to burn me out.  And having reached the so-called midlife at 40 years old, I was seeking something new to rejuvenate my weary spirit.    
     

The future administration building of De La Salle University Dasmarinas

 Almost all Filipinos have at one time in their lives spent a considerable time in the academe.  So almost everyone is aware of what a PhD means.  Basically a PhD is an exclusive type of degree, involving advanced academic work and attempted by comparatively few students.  The qualification for a PhD  has taken on something of a mythic status for those who have gone through the rigors of earning it.  This very myth of which every contender wishes to attain is the major motivating factor for all those who also wish to tread the same path towards a PhD.  For me who often chooses the path less taken, this is my story. 

 Every graduate student has their own paths to travel.  Some began their journey early and finished their PhD at a young age.   I salute them for they will have more time to serve mankind with their achievement.  Some like me, who started our PhD quest late in our careers did so only  when conditions became favorable while raising a family, working and studying and at the same time and distractions and obstacles seemed to be more manageable as they declined through the years.  For us who graduated in the prime of our lives, we just have to do our best with the remaining years ahead.  As for me, things took a different twist of fate as the cancer that once struck my family struck again and this time, the next victim was me. 

Discovery of a 3cm tumor on the left upper pole of the kidney

  It was a realization that the deadly disease is hereditary in our family and not merely acquired.  That period were very trying times for me and for my family but we confronted the disease head-on and we prevailed.    There will be additional afflictions of cancer in the family but despite it all,  we stayed the course and now I am a proud holder of a PhD degree.  Next story will be about my struggle as a graduate student.