In which the new graduates set out...

... together with the rest of the Benildeans (?) and all other 2008 graduates who will now comprise the huge sea of young humanity that will populate the Philippines in their temporary state of unemployment.

I hope they turn out to be leaders, and none fall into being lemmings And my prayer is that they find their corner in the sky sooner or later.

As I sat right smack in the middle of the PICC Plenary Hall this morning, amidst all the rest of family and friends (not so many teary-eyed parents around, hehehe), I mulled over the fact that in the few hours that I sat there killing time while waiting for the roll call of graduates finish, I was witness to yet another batch of graduates who will join the struggle of the human race in making meaning out of their lives. This "commencement exercise" actually symbolized their beginnings in "REAL ADULTHOOD". No longer will their concerns be of midterms, unfinished thesis papers, missing reports, cranky professor, psychotic blockmates, late night/early morning cramming of memorization techniques. New concerns will take over: Where to work, what work to find, what to wear to work... then it transitions to... how much bills to pay, how to survive till the next paycheck, how to please the fright-inducing superior, how to make it through the rat race.

The lackluster reaction that the general student body had towards the pretty, fair-skinned summa cum laude caught my attention as well. I scanned the souvenir program, and noted her major: FDM. I quickly picked it up as "Fashion Design and Merchandising". Hmmm, it definitely didn't sound as technical as "Applied Computer Studies" nor as challenging as "BS Management" with all the accounting and stat subjects (ugh, flashbacks!!). And I saw that the 3 other cum laude grads were also FDM majors.

Allow me to make my own conclusion: The other grads must've thought that this young lady didn't anguish through much blood, sweat and tears as they must have with their "more difficult" courses. It does seem to make sense. But then again, I felt silent admiration for this girl. Despite the fact that she seemed rather "flighty" by citing Coco Chanel as her inspiration, one thing clearly struck me: This girl knew her inner passion, and followed it throughout her college life with much courage, zest and zeal. In her short speech, she expressed that the Philippine Fashion industry had much improvements to be made, and that there were a lot of fabrics that have yet to be used to their fullest potential.

I'm placing my bets on this girl, that the ripples she is making today will turn into full-fledged waves when she strides through the halls of local fashion... and maybe later, emerge as another Josie Natori or Monique Lhuillier, making all of Hollywood's brightest stars and bigwigs fall agog over their creations.

My point is: This batch's summa cum laude may not be the brightest and most technically adept computer whiz in all of Benilde, but I know she carries within her the fire that's needed for one to successfully carve her own niche in a seemingly chaotic world, and possesses the conviction to make it truly on her own, unfazed by what others may think or say of her in the journey towards her success.