29/06/2025
๐๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐ | ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฎ๐: ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
๐ฏ๐ Mhelineth Rebong & Argel Oruga
As time moves forward, change becomes inevitableโchanging needs, and decisions are reshaped by unforeseen situations. Still, within young minds lies a relentless desire: to get the diploma, not as a piece of paper but as a mark of dreams achieved and unspoken battles waged in silence, and sacrifices hidden by the masks of a cheerful smile with eyes full of hard-earned wisdom.
Laguna Universityโs 18th Commencement Exercises, which carry the theme โRaising Waves of Change: LU Graduates as Leaders of the Next Generation,โ serve as the culmination of this journey. A testament to the truth that life is an ocean where each dreamer aspires to reach their desired shore, and by there awaits golden opportunities brought by transformative winds.
๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด
Just like ๐๐ฌ. ๐๐จ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ง ๐. ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง, a Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management, ๐๐๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ, walked and entered the gates of Laguna University with a heart full of dreams, led by doubts, and a mind that asks, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ?โ
The sting of failures tested themโthe disappointment of not passing an entrance exam, not securing the course they wanted, and the burden of supporting the needs of their family. Yet, they are here, even paths diverge from what was once imagined, but look how fate opens the wide door, one adorned full of the beauty of progress. Rejection became a guide, not an enemy, leading her to the place where she is meant to bloom.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ
Multo by Cup of Joe is a story of being haunted by the lingering memories of a love once cherished, and it mirrors the silent ache of a brave dreamer asking, โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ?โ
As Ms. Ayson spoke, "๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ."
The four years spent within the Laguna University hold hidden storiesโa journey of writing reviewer at night while memorizing formulas and definitions, meals skipped to meet academic deadlines, and days divided between work and study to meet school needsโfor fare, food, and projects. That even though feet are sore and body is weary, yet still pressing forward to walk, just to save up for something for tomorrow.
๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐
They say that when one chooses the path to be practical and follow a dream not their own, and still finds the courage to move forward despite the difficulties, that journey is no longer othersโ wish but ours.
Entering college is not easy, so when you're inside the university, be brave, just like Ms. Ayson mantra, โ๐๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ without the ambition of getting that Latin Honor. And like small seeds, it grows even if unnoticed.
She is now wearing a ๐ด๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐บ with pride, not a sign of failing to achieve something, but a ๐ด๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐บ that is a symbol of achievements. She seeks not the crown of victory, but embraces the beauty of the process.
โ๐๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ,โ ๐๐ซ. ๐๐๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ฌ, ๐พ๐ช๐ข ๐๐๐ช๐๐ from the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.
This proves that life is like a roller coaster with whirlwind experiences. There are times when he achieved a low score, and then he found himself celebrating that it was better than getting zero. There are also times when he won at a contest, realizing that it is the fruit of doing his best. It is indeed a life full of surprises.
But one thing is for sure: this will help us to shape our ideal self, the one we have dreamed of even before. There's no easy road to grab success. Everyone must struggle first, not the struggle that will make us suffer, but the one that can be the foundation of our triumph. We walk on different pathways, but our destination is only one, our dream.
๐จ๐ป๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น
Interestingly, Dogos is actually a shifter student. He was not able to get the slot in his first attempt, so he enrolled in the other program. โ...๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐จ ๐จ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ-๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐ด๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ he said.
Fortunately, when he had a chance, he grabbed it immediately. After a year of his residency at the university, he finally began to see the starting point of the road to his dream. This shows that our way to success has different approaches, our own timing that God has planned for us.
๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐ป'๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ
His decision was the biggest risk he took in his entire life. He faced lots of disappointment because he will not be able to graduate along with his batchmates. It was difficult. He felt dejected seeing his batchmates wearing their graduation attire while he still needed one more year.
But every time he reaches that situation, he always reminds himself that it was his dream program, a dream he wants to fulfill. โ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ฌ๐ข๐บ๐ข ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ช๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ," Dogos said.
Stereotypes must be removed from our lives. Being late doesn't mean you're not capable enough; we are different at our own pace. No one is too fast, no one is too slow, and we won't fail. Every step we take is in our hands. We don't have to be first; life isn't a race.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐
Ms. Ayson and Mr. Dogosโ journey as college students reminds us that maintaining perseverance and being patient is a must. Things that we're meant for will make a way and find us at the right time. Struggles help us to be the best version of ourselves. All we need to do is trust the process, no need to rush, just go with the flow, and God will lead us to the right path.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐: John Ashley Pural
