my speech for JS Prom '03

I have come accross the speech I addressed to the Senior and Junior students of Purisima School, my Alma Mater, in my YAHOO!MAIL and I think it is worth posting/sharing.

Here it is....

Greetings…..

Beforehand, I would like to relay to you the story on how I have come to Converse with you tonight. Engr. Secarro, together with his two comrades, approached me last Tuesday morning and told me about this affair and their plan. I was hesitant to accept the invitation for three reasons: First, I am not well-verse at relaying insights with regards to this sort of affair considering my being young and my experiences. Second, I don’t have ideas on what to talk for they said the activity doesn’t have any theme. Third, I do still have school chores left undone. As a matter of fact, I am absent from my classes this time. However, as Paulinians or Purisiminians as we claimed, I could not muster enough courage to turn down the invitation. Moreover, they are saying that it would be of more facile for the listeners to grasp the message if the speaker is of their class, I mean, of their age. I hope so…

You are celebrating, tonight, JS Prom and Bequeathal Ceremony. A two distinct significant events in the lives of high school’s students that are fused into one. I bet, your idea of this evening affair is concentrated merely on JS Prom that is considered by most of you as the time when the ambience turns to be poignant and romantic. A time when you are afforded an opportunity to be with your campus crush. Undeniably, that remains true. Yet, that is not the only definition of this occasion. What you have accomplished now is one of the manifestations that Purisimian Family is one and united. That love, fraternal love, flourishes among her members and even extend beyond the school premises. That camaraderie is nurtured and rapport among Purisimians is maintained and valued. This is the image that you, Seniors and Juniors, must be able to depict to the younger Purisimians and to the society in general, being their role models.

“Purisimians should make a difference.”

How could I ever be oblivious of these words of my then high school principal, Sr. Mediatrix Delos Santos, Spc, that keeps to linger in mind until now? I could still picture her reprimanding us, my batch, every morning after the flag ceremony instilling in us that same phrase. I couldn’t even vaguely remember if my batch had missed one of her sermons (let may say, her reminders) on school days. However, we are very much grateful to her for her ways paved the way of making us refined men and women today. But of course, that is coupled with our own sacrifices and efforts.

What my principal would like to emphasize when she say “Purisimians make a difference” is - First, we should convene our efforts and aim our shots on excelling in our chosen field of endeavor that would simultaneously lead to a socially buxom lives. In short, to live a morally, modest, and upright lives. Secondly, we should strive to hone our skills and traits of being a leader. Basically, we are to develop the so-called “Servant Leadership” conceptualized by Robert K. Greenleaf.

We will also witness, tonight, the Bequeathal Ceremony. The handing-over of responsibilities by the Seniors to their successors, the Juniors. The delegation of obligations by the Seniors doesn’t necessarily means that they have relinquished their duties towards the school. It only marks the commencement of a greater responsibility towards the school and the community. It is, indeed, fitting to elucidate the concept of “Servant Leadership” I have had mentioned a while ago. We may say, perhaps, that it is impossible that two roles, that of the Servant and Leader, be fused in one real person, in whatever level of status or calling.

Let me share to you the story Journey to the East written by Hermann Hesse. In the story we can see a band of men on a mythical journey. The central figure of the story is Leo who accompanies the party as a servant who does their menial chores, but who also sustains them with his spirit and his song. He is a person of extraordinary presence. All goes well until Leo disappears. Then the group falls into disarray and the journey is abandoned. They cannot make it without the servant Leo. The narrator, one of the parties, after some years of wandering finds Leo and is taken into the Order that had sponsored the journey. There he discovers that Leo, whom he had known first as servant, was in fact he titular head of the Order, its guiding spirit, a great and noble leader.

We can deduce from the story that the great leader is seen as servant first. And that simple fact is the key to his greatness. Leo was naturally an all-time leader but he was servant first because that was what he was, deep down inside him. Leadership was bestowed to a man who was in nature a servant. Leadership was something given, or assumed, that could be taken away. His servant nature was the real man, not bestowed, not assumed, and not to be taken away. Leo was servant first.

The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with a natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice stirs one to aspire to lead. That person is extremely different from one who is leader-first, perhaps because of the need to assuage power drive or material possessions. The leader-first chooses to serve after leadership is established. The difference is clearly manifested in the care taken by the servant-leader first to make sure that other people’s highest
priority needs are being served. Not that efforts are channeled to self-aggrandizement and selfish interest. Purisimians must not wait to be elected or ascribed first as leaders and then serve. You must do the otherwise. Everyone can be a leader. The new leadership definition recognizes the greatness and unique contributions of everyone. “Everybody does have a leader inside,” says Robert Reich of Harvard University. It is our task to uncover and cultivate the leadership skills we have. Leadership is no longer exclusively “top-down” rather it is “bottom-up” and “omni-directional.” Leadership is not only the assignment of elected or chosen one but it sips down among the different integral parts of the system for in the final analysis, it is not the general who wins, but the army.

It is noteworthy, however, that leadership entails greater responsibility. A leader has accountability towards the led. To effectively lead, a leader must have a vision, principle, and passion. A vision to see the potential in every situation. The principle that give him integrity and the passion to pursue his vision even at great cost.

My fellow Purisimians, I exhort everyone of you to be a servant-leader. In the words of my high school principal, Sr. Mediatrix Delos Santos, Spc, let may say, “Let us make a difference!”