As you thread your way through wherever on earth you wanted to start proving your mettle, there are bits of wisdom you must heed most and which I want you to take with you as a new chapter unfolds in your life.
First of all, I want to congratulate you on this great milestone you have achieved. The world has been saddled with overwhelming consequences of the pandemic and there you are – reaping what you had sown for four long years or even more than that. No one knew we had to go through this catastrophe nor saw it coming, but you were able to hurdle all the challenges and obstacles that came your way.
There’s a lot that happened this year. There is so much going on in your life right now. Don’t let yourself be swayed by these things. You can get the better of any problems that life may throw at you.
You are a dreamer amidst the pandemic. You might be doubting yourself, your judgment, your skills, and probably even your choices. Please, do not ever do that again. I know how much this pandemic has impacted you. I am very much aware of how this grueling situation has challenged you, changed you in so many ways you never imagined, and perhaps has changed the course of your life forever. Remember that you still have the power to direct your path towards a bright future that I am sure is waiting ahead of you.
You are a product of a different learning environment. You might be thinking about how much this has affected your overall education and how this has made you different from the graduates of the previous years. Please, stop comparing your battles to that of others. You might have conquered learning at home instead of the four corners of a classroom, but it did not change the role that you had to play. You were still a learner. Yes, you are and I know you will always be.
You are the outcome of a new learning modality. The way you learned and the way you were taught were two different things. Your teacher primarily became a bunch of modules in booklets and activity sheets. You might be wondering if you are good enough for this milestone. Please, never underestimate yourself. When you get to that certain point in your life where you will question your sense of adaptability, go back to that very year where you braved a new learning modality. You were hesitant at first. You were filled with disbelief and exaggerated worries. But in the end, you were still able to reach the finish line.
You are a fighter. You were never ready for something like this to happen. You never expected this. Please, keep up your fighting spirit. After the tension between US and Iran, which was followed by the Australia wildfires and Taal volcanic eruption which kicked your 2020 off, you did not think of something much worse than these to occur. But, look at you -still alive and ready to conquer the world. You were born to triumph over difficult circumstances.
You are an achiever. Being in circumstances where you have to hurdle a great deal of challenges that may test your ability, your patience, and your resilience is not as easy as others think. To some, this battle of yours is no match for what they had triumphed in the past. Please, do not put a stop to your desires to reach for your dreams. You may have failed at once, twice, or even many times, but life does not end there. You need to pull yourself up and keep going forward. One day, you are going to look up at your feet and you will be right where you think you should be.
I know for a fact that this year was not as memorable as that of the previous year that you had, but I wish that you will still see the beauty in this time of adversity. It might be way different from how you imagined it to be, but I hope there’s a hint of hope that you can find yourself still holding on to.
In a matter of months after the pandemic spread all over the globe, there had been paradigm shifts in education – leaving behind, for the time being, every traditional teaching and learning strategy which no longer translates to remote learning or learning delivery modalities employed by schools. You are a stranger to this set-up yet you managed to overcome all the hurdles. Congratulations on this milestone!
I have witnessed your resilience, your determination, and your strong desire to finish what you have started. With that alone, I admire you for having emerged victorious through trials.
Pat yourselves on the back for having braved the overwhelming consequences of the pandemic on our education today. There were many hurdles that you had to overcome yet, here you are, you remain hopeful and persistent in the pursuit of your dreams.
Cheers to this success!
