This Made the Boys Cry, Unexpectedly

Batch mates and fellow graduates, I’d like to tell you my own perspective regarding this so-called graduation day. I believe that this isn’t our day to be called, this isn’t our time to be praised, and this isn’t our time to be congratulated. Yes, we underwent sacrifices, sufferings, and trials along our 4-year journey (Some are even more dedicated and decided to extend until the 7^th or 8^th year.) But kidding aside, I want all of you to realize that there are those who underwent sacrifices a hundred times that of ours, our parents.

This is a great time, if not, a perfect time for us to extend our gratitude and express our love and care to our parents. Let’s face it, how many times have we said to our parents that we love them? How many times have we asked for forgiveness and said our gratitude to our parents? I know for a fact that we aren’t hypocrites and I know that you know why we should ask for their forgiveness and give thanks. If not, I’ll give you three of the reasons why.

Every time we woke up late, we hurriedly got off the bed but realized that our clothes weren’t pressed yet, breakfast isn’t served yet. We got mad to our parents, even raised our voices at them, ask for our allowance, and took off without even saying goodbye. (Take note, we still have the guts to ask for our allowance.) What did our parents do? Understood us, act as if nothing happened, or worse, ask for forgiveness from us.

Every time we have night outs or parties, what do we do? We tell our parents that we have projects, case presentations, and the like as an excuse for us to go home late at night or the following day. What do our parents do? They’d blame our clinical instructors and teachers for giving us such activities but in the end give us extra money to spend for the night. They get worried for us, but where are we? We are at some bar having fun and spending all our parents’ money to waste.

Every time the statement of accounts would be released, what do we do? We ask for our classmates’ expertise in making changes with it, making a 1,000-peso expense into 3,000 or more. We even make an expense of our own. We do these for our own personal gain, to have fun most especially. What do our parents do? Work twice or thrice as hard in order to produce such amounts, thicken their faces twice or thrice just to borrow to someone, lessen their rest periods twice or thrice in order for them to do job overtimes.

Those are only three of the many reasons why we should pay tribute to our parents. And those reasons are facts, those reasons are the truth. Believe it or not, no matter how we hide these facts and truths, our parents already know. They already knew on the day you commit these mistakes yet they just let things be. Remember, they were students before also, they know what students do, they know what we really do because they did it also. They were typical students before who turned out to be the best parents for us, right?

I believe I have already made my point with just those three reasons. However grave our acts are, how often we disrespect them, how often we lied and cheated them, how often we stole from them, I’d ask one question: Where are they now? Yes, they are still here celebrating this very moment with us. They are here supporting us all the way. They are here, never getting tired of being our parents. They are here.

I’ve been longing to see a graduation ceremony with us sitting at the bleachers and with our parents sitting at the center, wearing these togas. This is their day, these diplomas are theirs, these awards and recognitions are theirs, these are the fruits of their hard work, and they deserve to be acknowledged.

From this moment on, let us start being there sons and daughters like them who never ceased being our parents, in good times and in bad. So in behalf of the graduating batch, Mamang, Papang, Nanay, Tatay, Mama, Papa, Mommy, Daddy and whatever we call our parents, “Thank you. We are sorry. We Love You.”