littlestmaan

[littlestmaan]

June 23, 2017

Dean Buenconsejo, esteemed guest speaker Ms. Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa, beloved family, friends, faculty, members of the UP community, and to my fellow graduates, a pleasant morning to you all.

This auditorium has witnessed us at our best and our worst. Tears of triumph and failure have grazed this very stage over and over again. Many lives were touched, and some even changed. Today, we step onstage as graduates of the College of Music.

By no means was the journey easy. More than just a test of knowledge and skill, Music as a course was a test of dedication. We spent sleepless nights arranging and composing music or writing papers due the following morning, battled nerves time and again even though we knew they never really went away, and of course, spent hours upon hours of relentless practice despite aching limbs and minds that could barely focus by the end of the day.

But as the sound of applause fades and the curtain falls over our undergraduate years, we are left asking: What’s next?

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One of the beautiful things about music is that it transcends the markers of our lives. Whether you have been playing your instrument all your life, or performed the same production a dozen times, or shifted across three different majors, you will find that there is simply no limit to learning music.

Through the years we saw that the things we learned outside the classroom were as vital, if not more so, than those we did within. Even when we had school requirements to attend to, we joined organizations, formed ensembles, taught the less fortunate, and played for people from all walks of life, just for the love of it. And we know, even as we walk through those doors later as graduates, that we will continue making music as we always have.

So the message that I wish to impart to you today is: Keep on learning.

Learn because it is a way of saying thank you. College has been a wild combination of the good and the bad, and we are here today because of both. We grew as persons through the love of the people around us and learned from those who inspired us; but when we were pushed to our limits, we also learned to get back up on our feet as stronger individuals. We gave wonderful performances that motivated us to practice further and hone our skills, but we also endured painful words of discouragement. These, and so many others, are moments we are sure to see more of later in life.

Keep your ears and minds open to both praise and criticism. Understand why people say the things they do. Accept the roll of the dice, because in music the outcome is seldom within your control.

But take heart, because there is always room for improvement. And with the desire to improve comes the willingness to admit one’s shortcomings. As the legendary cellist Pablo Casals once said when he was asked why he continued to practice despite old age, and I quote: “Because I think I’m making progress.”

But also, learn because change is constant. This includes having to unlearn the things we learned, as UP has so often shown us. Learning is an unceasing process that spans a lifetime, and it is through unlearning and re-learning that we become truly liberated individuals. The way we hope the future turns out may not be the way it actually does, but we must continue to ask the right questions as proactive members of society.

Learn in the face of adversary because we are not passive observers or victims of circumstance. We are agents of change, and we must take this to heart. Despite the fear, hostility, and injustice our country is faced with, we must strive to look at things constructively. Right now we may not be able to abolish social inequality, or take up arms and march to the frontlines, but with hope and a clear vision founded on a thorough understanding of our current situation, we can work toward a better future, changing one life at a time through the music we offer the people and the lessons we share.

Lastly and the most importantly, learn because it gives you much to impart. What use is there in acquiring knowledge and experience if all they serve is your self-interest? Just as we flourished because of what was shared with us, so do we fashion wisdom for others. Our education in UP is pointless unless it is acted upon and shared, and the greatest challenge would be deciding to continue down the narrow road because life is not so much a pursuit of happiness as it is a pursuit of purpose, which is fulfilled in the service of others.

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And so we step out into the world not only as vessels that have withstood the shaping and the fire but also as vessels to be filled. Though the dream that we have so long been toiling for has finally become a reality and it feels as if we have reached the end of the journey, graduating is not an end. It is merely one chapter of our lives, a movement’s cadence in a musical work that is far from finished. It is the commencement of many things. The real challenges in life are yet to come, and graduation is simply our doorway to them. We have no choice but to move forward and take whatever life throws at us with courage and the willingness to learn.

Listen to people from all walks of life; work with colleagues who may not agree with you but share your vision; share your insights and let your music be heard by the troubled and the jubilant.

Keep on learning.

Padayon!