Answering Quo Vadis

This day (April 24) marks the end of the academic life for over 200 Iskolars ng Bayan from the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu. They are about 5% of the best students in the whole country, the cream of the crop. However ending it may seem, the commencement exercises are never the end. To commence means to begin again, leaving the past behind with a lavish ceremony. It’s like the beginning of another beginning’s end. The four-year path has been their journey, their story. They have endured the life of being zombies drinking on coffee as though it was water. Who could even forget examinations and the major extracurricular burden here and there. Oh, the typical life of being in UP.

With the survival in one of the most gruesome yet prestigious universities in the Philippines, these graduates are bound to find their niche in their chosen field after graduation. So Quo Vadis, then iskos and iskas? Quo Vadis is the Latin phrase for “Where are you headed?” The real world is a vast web of opportunities that may sometimes trick, fail or allow us to win at times with the power lying in our own choices. Would you become a call center agent after four years of intense studying? Or maybe take those proficiency tests to propel oneself into the land of milk and honey? A huge percentage of the youth think that finding money is all there is.

For UP students, we have always been taught the concept of giving back to society. The concept is what makes this university unique. Teachers, professors and even school workers encourage students never to leave the country for economic reasons. They say that while it may be help us individually, the country needs our help more. Therefore we are urged to stay. If the next generation leaves bearing all the knowledge gathered in the university, then the people’s money goes to waste. It’s like biting the hand of those who fed you.

However, it is the pang of capitalism that makes all fresh graduates confused. The gap of the rich and poor has become very wide that they have to choose between what they want and what the family needs. This may be the hardest choice they have to make by far, and the decision that may change their lives forever.

My only wish for the graduates, go back to the basics. Remember what you have heard during the first days of class, the speeches made by countless alumni, and the emphasis of every professor – don’t leave the country unless you have done your share in building it again. This goes even to those who have graduated last March. Please think twice. If we become content with all the things money can buy then this country would never move forward. Don’t also become too comfortable with the “silver dagger of entitlement” bestowed upon you, as billionaire Warren Buffet says. Those born with all the comfort may be lucky but unfortunate for not being to experience true fulfillment upon achieving all the material things for these are already given to them.

A salute also goes to all of you for enduring the tough tutelage in UP and giving a hint of hope to our dire country. The answer to the question “Quo vadis” lies in your hands. But do remember that wherever you are heading you are the image of “giting at tapang” that the country has always been bragging about. Congratulations and mabuhay ang pag-asa ng bayan!

**Published in the Freeman Newspaper on April 24, 2012