This is It!

Last year, I witnessed the UST College of Arts and Letters commencement exercises at the PICC. Compared to it, the Ateneo graduation was quite simpler. No offense to my Kuya, but I think my graduation was simpler, more memorable and more profound. For one thing, it was shorter. By the time his graduation was over, we were starving! We were there at around 2 pm and it ended at about 830 or 9. Ours lasted for just a little above three hours. The language used in the UST commencement exercises was English, with the professors and officials having weird British accents. Ours was in Tagalog. I loved the speakers, especially Mr. Tan Caktiong! His speech was very simple and humorous, but it left the graduates with great, inspiring and serious lessons. The valedictorian's (Echevarria) speech was quite alright.. though I don't know him that much, I still would have voted for Cliff Lim to be the batch valedictorian. Even Fr. Ben's parting message was simple and short, but touching. It ended with the traditional Alma Mater song, where we waved our fists to the air. I think it was the best part of the program. The whole batch sang it with all their hearts. I will definitely miss the Ateneo, the MISA room where we play long hours of Bridge with the addicts, the Faura building and Manang's. Most especially, I will miss all the friendships I have made at the Ateneo. To all my blockmates, and barkada, you have made my Ateneo days worth cherishing.