"Faith AND Responsibility" - De La Salle University (DLSU) 187th CE Graduation Speech by Wonhee Cho

our speaker this afternoon is a magna laude graduate of Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics and Master of Science and economics she is a consistent honours student and now a member of the distinguished Jose Rizal Honor Society as an international as an intern international student she values diversity and engages in multicultural experiences including exchange exchange program in Waseda University in 2017-2018 she represented the University in academic competitions and conferences including the 14th economics global economic challenge in 2016 at Jakarta Indonesia where she emerged as champion the Global Initiative symposium in 2017 at the one and the main bank go ahead challenge in 2017 in 2017 Global Finals in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia where she was second runner-up she believed that worthless alien education nurtured her passion to serve others her engagement in social development initiatives include participation in competitions for innovative solutions to social issues in Asia and even she volunteered as interpreter in the International Convention for asia-pacific peace and prosperity both in 2019 she didn't have them all come easy her own personal and family experiences allowed her to be grounded she saw God's movement in her life as well as in her family where her faith has taught her to see the value of hard work excellence and service greatly inspired by the story of our founder st. John Baptist De La Salle and his teachings she committed herself to doing her share for the poor especially the young she has been in the children's ministry head of the Galilee Christian mission fellowship since 2010 to present and she is the communications director of give that pH a non-government organization established to have Filipino school children have bet to have better opportunities she was the first recipient in 2016 of the gawad brother bleah mon pere FSC an award given to the most outstanding international student who exemplifies the Lasallian values and shows better understanding of diversity in the world our speaker is given the loyalty award and also the sixth or sixth okay Rojas gold medal for excellence in economics for having attained the highest cumulative general point average from among the graduates in the School of Economics ladies and gentlemen to give the response on behalf of the graduating backs from the School of Economics recipient of loyalty award and the brother Gabriel Cornyn FSC award miss one he saw Thank You Dean Elko for that very warm introduction and my heartfelt gratitude goes to the university honors and awards council for giving me the honor to give the response on behalf of the graduates today guests of honor mr. Nestor tan chairman of the board of trustees university president brother Raymundo stupido SSC PhD university chancellor brother Bernard oka SSC PhD through the administrators faculty and staff of the University esteemed guests beloved professors and of course my fellow graduates a good good afternoon to all today is a very special day it's the 29th of February an extra day that comes only once every four years and what a pleasure it is to celebrate our milestone on this extra be given to us this 2020 so let's take time to relax a bit just like what or guest speaker guest of honor mentioned earlier so maybe we can rien and breathe out or maybe that was just for me and yes before me before I begin let us give ourselves a round of applause for making it here faith growing up in the Christian family and call me from all across school since prep the word faith was never new to me and I'm sure each and every one of us here has encountered this word at least once in our lifetime but when they stepped into the LSU my perception of this value called faith broadened forever one of the values my very first organization and the LSU installed earnest members was faith and responsibility my initial reaction when I first heard of it was isn't faith alone a supposedly big value a standalone value why combines faith and responsibility into a single value in the organization faith was defined as an uplifting attitude that someone's empowerment from within but with faith comes responsibility translating one's vision into action so as I contemplate another value I had a Eureka moment and I told myself this is like what I learned back in high school the Newton's third law of motion just like the law of action reaction for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction under this train of thought I began to realize or understand rather why faith should have an opposite reaction of responsibility today please let my message revolve around three perspective of free faith and others faith in self and of course faith in God it's a great joy to share this meaningful end to one of the best chapters of our lives with the people who believed in us our administrators and university employees who tirelessly work to ensure we study in the world-class environment our educators who touch hearts teach minds and transform lives our family and friends who walk with us every step of the way from the bottom of our hearts maraming salamat po can you give a round of applause to the people who supported us our successes have meaning because we have people to share them with Miss Universe 2018 catchy own agree once said I stand here today because someone believed in me and we owe it to our children to believe in them this positivity this minds that is something we can share it to create a more meaningful and lasting impact in our society because of my parents who have dedicated their lives in community development and missions I've been very fortunate enough to grow up with first-hand experiences of the realities of her society I've written in the swamps of Toronto for over a decade among other areas the foundation has been serving during weekdays I will be surrounded by people who are very fortunate and blessed enough to receive education just like everyone in this hall on weekends I will be surrounded by people who have never even set foot in an educational institution because of harsh realities they are underprivileged children who are very eager to go to school and learn but their financial challenges and lack of encouragement in their environment hinder them from doing so yet while their living conditions are poor they remain happy and grateful they keep a smile on their faces even if half their meals come from scavenging trash around six years ago and one of the outreach activities I've attended the leader of the session asked five to ten year old children to share what they are grateful for their answers were very very simple the Papa Salama Tejada Hilma trabajo Antartica the Papa Salama Tohoku Mayan aha Mandela one versus Kapil let us ask ourselves when was the last time we were thankful and what really grateful for these children despite living in extreme poverty keep an optimistic outlook in life they also have dreams dreams to become teachers doctors policeman and many more and if you ask them why they would answer go saegusa come to Milan Samana Magoo Lanka hace gusto come to Muslims among about Anka - let go these children as early as five years old dream to contribute to the society and this was the very day I personally decided to be an active advocate of Education because with education their dreams can become a reality and this was also the day I found my wife just like how I was blessed with people who supported me I wanted to pay it forward by giving face to these hopeful children and it's faith feel the responsibility to do something no matter how big how small a northern power this Filipino children well they found passion for education for others it may not be the same some may be passionate about gender equality environment or animal welfare but I do hope each and every one of us finds our own personal advocacy and purpose because when we combine efforts and allow inclusivity to prosper we will be passing on a better generations oh sorry we will be passing on the better place for the next generations to live in today we live in a time where there is so much pressure to look perfect feel perfect and be perfect but truth be told we are in we fail every now and then and that's okay because we learn from our failures and get better although sometimes at the state time and they do not define who we are born in Korea and raised in Philippines I grew up in this country as a foreigner and my life here has been a quite eventful journey one day back in grade 3 I came home crying to my mom insisting that I must learn the Filipino language the young nine year old kid probably felt left out because people would speak in a different language she couldn't speak to speak so from that day on the shows I used to watch on TV shifted from our childhood Jose Rolie Polie Olie bananas in pajamas to Darna bubble gang and pvb and yes I would even vote I would even text my vote every eviction night to save the housemate I rooted for at that time but no it wasn't just for iron bang so I struggle to learn the Filipino language because I don't want people to define my words just because of a lack of proficiency in a language as used by primer my proficiency in Philippine increased and now it's not just about speaking the language it's about loving the language at neon sober Mahayana angry tongue Filipino aside from cultural differences and adjustments growing up in the Philippines of the first generation migrant has always been a series of challenges financial difficulties identity crises legal setbacks and limitations and the greatest challenge of them all was to see my parents struggle and yet amidst such adversities they continued to server so back then as young children my brother and I would complain why they would help others when we couldn't even live comfortably but looking back I realized that those challenging days were when I grew my face and learn to count my blessings and that's also when I realized that serving others should be a habit and not a chore [Applause] proverbs 16 verse 3 says commit to the Lord whatever you do and he will establish your plans the largest inviting us to surrender ourselves to him and in return he promises plans to reward us and not to harm us plans to give us hope and a future with a faith in God a higher being we become responsible for our actions yes we are not perfect and we commit mistakes every day but he strives to become 2 stewards of God's creations so to mom and dad our journey in this country wasn't easy there were years where you feel that I wouldn't be able to go to school the following year because of financial struggles but praise God because he was faithful and he provided thank you for raising me here a country filled with hope and warmth and this place has become my hometown and I am a proud latina at heart up to this day [Applause] up to this day both of you serve as my biggest inspiration to serve us to strive for excellence and to work hard and for that moment I thank you oma comes on NIDA they say the harder the struggle at the sweeter the victory the ratings where I question myself by acababa but these were also the base and realign myself in the journey of faith I reminded myself of the wise I continue to keep my faith and others and myself and in God to those who are going through their own battles don't let anyone define your worth have faith in yourself have faith and what you can do you are valid so are your dreams we each have our own talents some may be more creative than others some may be athletic so maybe more business-minded each and every one of us plays a pivotal role in today's society because everyone is needed you are needed instead of asking kaya koba let's start encouraging kaya koto ty Emoto kaya nitendo what once seemed impossible becomes possible when you let your faith be bigger than your fears try to remember the last time your heart skipped a beat because you were so eager to make something happen I'm sure in each and every one of us we have a dream a purpose a challenge to conquer a while with grit and perseverance that this journey of faith faith in others faith in south faith in God be your purposeful 1000 graduates we individually and collectively have the power to make an influence in our respective fields let us use the power wisely to make a positive influence in today's society like what my favorite Marvel hero one says one said or rather always says with great power comes great responsibility it only takes a leap of faith to start the change we want to see let us strive to be Christian achievers for God and country congratulations to all and anomalisa [Applause]

Channel: Wonhee Cho

Views: 169,888

Keywords:

Id: U5zXlxYsdwU

Length: 16min 41sec (1001 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 08 2020