Ad Astra Per Aspera: A Tribute Message To My Batch 2006, College of Medicine.

(On August 29, 2007, the University of Saint La Salle, with the entire Lasallian Community, hosted a testimonial dinner to the medical board passers of Class 2006 USLS College of Medicine at the Sanctuario de La Salle, in the presence of the entire administration, including Bro. Gus Boquer, FSC, former University President, and the man behind the College of Medicine, once a dream, now a reality)

I remember how we started as a batch 5 years ago. We were plenty then. We were more confused as were enthusiastic. Confused in a sense that we have never perhaps expected the kind of dimension we were entering then, the realm of the medical field. We were enthusiastic perhaps because we were excited to start living a dream, for many of us, a childhood dream. We made a choice to study in a new school, rather than in the old and already proven and tested medical schools in the country. We made that choice as one would make that blind leap across the cliffs: with faith. We made that choice because we could not pass on the honor and opportunity to make history for the province of Negros Occidental. We made that choice simply because we saw a shining chance, a slim potential, to be great.

I do not say this with arrogance as many skeptics would find it to be so. Skeptics say our batch would fail every expectation. Skeptics once declared that most, if not all, of us would not make it. Skeptics chose to be skeptics. But we chose to face the challenge. We were the underdogs and we chose not to be defeated.

It was difficult at first, struggling to face these criticisms and at the same time working hard for a dream fueled with nothing but a personal passion and a collective support from families and closest friends. It was never easy. For when was climbing up a steep hill easy? When was sailing out to sea in search of an elusive dream easy? Making dreams come true was never a walk in the park. It had to be difficult. It had to be tough. It was a necessity these obstacles along the road to our dreams. To reach for the stars, one has to fight against the earth's gravitational pull. In other words, when necessary, one has to go against the natural laws of life to fight for one's dream.

Year after year we saw friends who decided to quit or suffered greatly from the pressures of medical school. Year after year we struggled for every step we had to make. Year after year we huddled together, through thick and thin, fought as a legion and never as individual mercenaries. We fought the fight and proven a few detractors wrong. We rode the winds that would be fatal to some and pushed against the tides running against our direction. We were wearied down, beaten down, wounded, scarred, but we never gave up. We thought at times of letting go, but the moment one would almost fall to the ground, two more would come to the rescue. It was a team effort. It had to be. For we would never have survived medical school if we were doing the surviving on our own.

We never yielded. Even to the very end we struggled. We were not certain of winning at first but the victory was not really important. It did not matter to us who would finish the race first. What mattered was to finish the race, and if God willing, to finish the race together. From friend to friend, shoulder to shoulder, we marched towards the peak of our struggles, where our glimmering dream of becoming doctors awaited us. Those who were strong pulled up those who were weak. It was always a team effort. It has always been from the very beginning.

Finally, after 5 years of labor and prayer, we have reached our dreams. We have become doctors. Perhaps we have lessened the skepticism a bit, although I feel skeptics will always be around. But they have to be present. It is a necessity. Their skepticism drive us to excel. Their criticisms push us not to fail. Thank God for skeptics. Our success is sweeter simply because our chance of failing was bigger than expected. We were always told that we might fail, but instead of subscribing to this idea, we took a chance. We continued onwards. We fought it out. And we succeeded. "Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat," Ralph Ellison once said. We played the game in the face of certain defeat, and we were rewarded with victory.

Remember, Class 2006, that this reward of triumph comes with a big responsibility. The game is not over for us. It has just begun. Remember our pledge to serve. Remember our promise to stay true to our principles. "Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles," according to Walter Cronkite. Let us never trade our success for our individual principles. If we lose our values, our ideals, for the things that we have fought for, then we are not deserving our success.

Let us venture out into the world with our fire of idealism still burning. Let that flame be perpetually burning in our hearts. And with this flame brought about by hard work and Divine Grace, let us inflame the world out of its lukewarmness. In our search for other dreams in life, let us not lose ourselves.

Congratulations, Class 2006.

"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." - Albert Schweitzer