A blessed day to my dear classmates, parents, teachers, admin, and to everyone who is tuning in, celebrating this momentous day with us. First of which, I would like to thank my teachers for giving me the opportunity to present a speech to all of you. I will be honest, I have already prepared a speech the moment we received our Graduation Bulletin due to the euphoric feeling I felt at the time; but, I out to save that speech for our physical graduation. So here I am, presenting another speech from scratch, with a whole different format.

Let me begin my speech with a line from a song in one of my favorite musicals, Hamilton. And I quote:
Legacy what is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.

This very line was sung by Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of Treasury of the United States. This was sung during his duel with Aaron Burr, the third US Vice-President. Back in the days, pride was such a huge armor in America. Aaron Burr, at the time, felt like his pride was stripped off due to Hamilton’s immense success; that was why he challenged Hamilton for a duel. And of course, as stated in our history books, Burr shot Hamilton, and he died. Hamilton may have lived a short life, but with that limited time he had, he wrote a legacy of his own that until now lies in the pages of our history books.

With this speech, there is only one word I would like to emphasize: TIME. Time has always been the reason of uncertainties, and I believe such uncertainties are greatly received by all of us, especially due to this dilemma we are currently facing. There might be a moment wherein a local might seem fine, might seem healthy; but the next thing we know, he’s in the ICU fighting for his life. Or… there might be a moment in time wherein a local might have a stable job; but the next thing we know, she had to be fired to keep the company from bankruptcy. Time in this world is really uncertain, but what I am certain of is that we are very blessed, because we are one of the many who were chosen to continue walking and creating our own legacies, thus having this celebration today. Now, knowing that we have an uncertain amount of time in our hands, what kind of legacy are we willing to make?

Teachers, I really respect you all. I see you as heroes who tend to be overlooked by society. I myself have witnessed the amount of hard work you have poured out to ensure that education will still be greatly received by the youth. It wasn’t an easy ride, but I myself want to ensure you all that through your sacrifices, you have already made a legacy of your own. because of your passion and determination, you have honed the future of society. I do pray that as you continue teaching more young people, you will continuously give them hope, you will continuously shower them with care and acceptance despite the variation of their colors. Most of their time are spent within the four corners of the classroom—give the youth the fuel that they need.

Our dear parents… We just want to pour our love and gratitude for the hard work that you have poured out to allow us to have the education we deserve. Thank you for continuously supporting us during our failures and for cheering us up during our successes. We are now in a time and date wherein love is highly needed. I believe that love is the best legacy any parent can every give; and that is because of my parents who never failed to shower me with it. My mom and dad, despite all their hardships in life, never failed to make me and Tricia realize how much of a gem we are, and we will always and forever be grateful for that. I really do hope it goes the same way with you all. After this event, lies a broader road we, your children, have yet to embark. We will be going through some bumps and tunnels, and I really do hope that you are there to continuously guide us through that road we’re taking. We will stumble and fall as we walk our lives… that’s inevitable… yet it is only through your love how we can get back up. Love, our dear parents, is the greatest assurance any child can ever have.

My dear classmates, my brothers and sisters… After 6 years of blood, sweat, and tears… we finally made it! Though this is not the graduation we all expected, this is still a unique memory that will forever be instilled in our minds. Despite time’s uncertainty, I know that time is also on our side. For sure, in the most perfect time, we will reunite once more, gracing a celebration we really deserve. After 6 years, we will finally enter a greater feat of our lives. My only wish for you all is to use the time to grow, and to continuously walk with the values this institution injected in our hearts. Always remember that every action we do is not only for us, but also for the people that we love. Our dreams are not merely just dreams, but legacies that will last more than a lifetime. Let’s craft that legacy, as we are nearing on becoming leaders and movers of society. Time is uncertain, but what is certain is what we can do with the time in our hands. Let’s make every second count—let’s create legacies of our own.

With gratitude, we, Batch 2020, would like to acknowledge Dr. Being, Sir RD, Ms. Jenny, and to every teacher, admin, and personnel who have been a part of our journey, especially with my 12 years of stay in this institution. I wouldn’t be able to reach this momentous feat of my life if it wasn’t for your guidance, and I do believe my classmates feel the same way.

Kudos, Batch 2020! Continue to soar high as you near towards your dreams!