When I Wished To Climb Mount Everest
...ehind our existence, the justification of our actions and the parts we have to play in this gargantuan drama we call life. As honor students and awardees, people look at us and see model protégés who shall probably succeed in any endeavor they wish to follow...yet we have come to apprehend the truth that we still have not uncovered what we wish to be or do someday and the successes people so want us to savor are miles and light-years away from our grasp, so much like the peak of Mount Everest. We see it beckoning us to challenge its prowess; we envision ourselves treading its slopes and conquering the unfathomable depths of its inner destructiveness. In this context, we see Mount Everest as a juxtaposed semblance of our struggles as students, as part of the youth, our families, the school and our individual communities. We all have Mount Everests that we aim to conquer. Yet despite the doubts we have covertly kept, the uncertainties that distort and reduce our determination and the misgivings we possess over who we are, what we can do for ourselves and whether or not we shall make a difference as God-gifted individuals, certain people have patiently accompanied us through the jubilation and mourning that we had to undergo in support of our ambitions and visions. From the very beginning, they have understood the actuality that failure is part of growing up and attaining maturity and that our responses or our tolerance to disappointment can affect how we deal with them. They have been aware of the verity expressing how each of us is unsure of what threads ahead. They see us exhibiting a peculiar likeness to valiant mountaineers crusading past the unforeseen; they may not know nor entirely comprehend the rationales that disparaged and vilified us into accomplishing the unthinkable. They very well know that we are prone to pitfalls and frustrations and they grasp the reality that we may not be or become the champions they envision or fervently wish us to embody. Despite the discoveries they have made of the weaknesses, insecurities and flaws we have in our personality, they have decidedly and continuously replenished our lost optimism, aided us in reducing the distance between us and the attainment of victory and resolutely wiped our tears away when we needed shoulders to cry on while teaching us the wisdom of our errors and embarking against the difficulties of being ‘nowhere’ with us. The time has come for us to personally thank them and express our gratitude for all they’ve done and sacrificed for our sake and the sake of our aspirations. First and foremost, I’d like to articulate my gratitude towards our dear teachers and advisers for taking on the challenge of illuminating us on the lessons we have to learn in the various encounters we will have to propel ourselves through, whether they are of the academic kind or featured as profusely unrelated tribulations. Thank you for the patience you have exercised in dealing with our shortcomings and misled perceptions as young, naïve wanderers of this driven generation. The lessons you have imparted among us bolstered our improvements in the challenges we came across inside the academe and even outside its perimeters which we are very much likely to carry on with us even as we step out of the institution that determinedly sheltered our intentions and our precariously balanced pursuit for excellence, global competitiveness and transformation of being. The logic and altruistic form of education and instruction you’ve uncomplainingly taught us gave us the determination to trek the figurative denominations of our own Mount Everests. When the school year began, we sought momentary solace from this intellectual fortress in high hopes of honing ourselves to our full extent. Our dear teachers catered to the individual demands and exigencies of the student body and exerted commendable efforts in molding our characters into the persons we are at present. We would not have gone this far without their zealous support and steady guidance. On a more personal note directed towards our esteemed teachers, let me thank our class adviser and the moderator of the junior level, Ms. Janalin Fae Tatil, for mentoring me in the countless adventures and misadventures that I took the upper hand in this year and for allowing me to draw inspiration from her sensibly intelligent and charming ways and gesticulations as I took part in various activities and shared in numerous commitments. Thank you for making me learn the value of contemplation and practicality in discerning what is best and proper as compared to what is rash and insensible. Also, I’d like to express my appreciation towards the select few who personally reared me to champion in the debate arena and share the culture of logical argumentation to my fellow Pilarists. My salute to Ariel Ian Clarito and Sharmila Parmanand, my confidantes and seasoned coaches of two years and the distinguished coaches of the Philippine Debate Team, Anna Santos and Leloy Claudio of the Ateneo de Manila Debate Society, who supervised my rigorous training in an attempt to develop my potential and allow me to wallow in the top-caliber brackets. You have been known for meticulously screening selected talents from scores of aspirants and concluding your assent and approval towards even fewer whom you train and condition to emerge among the best for nothing in return. I am happy to have been the one you selected to raise in the debate culture, rooting your motivation in me and the other members of the Philippine team to defend the honor and the responsibilities we abide by as representatives of the entire Philippine archipelago in the Worlds Schools Debate Championship. Through your supervision, I deciphered and learned the meaning of hardships, disciplinary restraints and determination which are consequential in winning the race of nations. I shall not allow this memorable day to elapse without thanking the RVM sisters and the school administrators who became the back bone of the school system which enhanced the educational standards that organized the primary programs and improvements that the institution targeted as a whole. My dear RVM sisters and school administrators, look at the crowd of honorees and awardees before you today in their glorious splendor and you shall see the rays of hope for a better future which you ignited momentously through the way you ran the school and supervised its functions. The concerns of those who yearn to learn were forwarded through you and thus, changes and revisions were acted upon. Your pursuits remind us of great mountaineers who condition themselves to adjust to the nature of the steep slopes to conquer their objectives. In this light, I unravel my sincere gratitude to Mrs. Marylou Cirilo, the English Area Coordinator and Consultant of The Pillar who, even during my earlier high school years indirectly educated me about the value of perseverance. The ideals I learned to master because of her ranged from divergent things, varying from the practical side of life which I have not been accustomed to being a child of precocious whims and simplistic pleasures which have made me neglect the hard reality of life. A similar yet differently angled involvement was engaged in by Mrs. Elnora Perez who invested immeasurable faith in me and in the different academic and non-academic ventures I decided to prolong and instigate. The confidence she had in me and my resolve enabled me to reach even greater heights for the cause of defending the glory and honor of our beloved Pilar College. Furthermore, I thank Mrs. Perez for making possible a great many things that otherwise would have been road-blocked by numerous financial or administrative restraints such as the establishment of the Pilar College Debate Varsity and the sea-fares involved in the Philippine Schools Debate Championship. For the patience she generously poured out while dealing with her students and the responsibilities she took part in despite countless complications, I thank Mrs. Pilar Gaspar, our English teacher and the moderator of the Pillar for showing us what it means to assume responsibilities and work for the greater good. I’d also like to exhibit my sincere thankfulness towards our amorous and devoted parents and, in the case of some, their doting guardians, for the sacrifices they had to render and make this year for the realization of our much-coveted dreams. For the instances when you had to let go of your simplistic necessities only to provide us what we want and what we say we need, for the times you patiently explained life’s concepts to us, for being there when we needed you the most, for being our source of strength and hope when challenges grow tougher than we expected, thank you. For the perilous and funny moments we’ve had this year, for your attendance in school activities to show us how much you care, for your worries when we come home late because of school activities, for painstakingly calling us every night when we venture on out-of-town competitions, for simply reminding us to eat well and refrain from sleeping in class, as I, and perhaps a nameless few, always do, thank you. I’d like to thank my Poppy Jerome and my Mimi Lenie, my ever-supportive parents, and my siblings, Princess Jeanne, Peter Jerome and Pamela Marie, for the extent of what they rendered possible this year to ensure that this school year will be more than just an educational experience but a life-long reminder of how hard work and immense faith can take you a long way as well. As much as people often appraisingly tell you how lucky...