“In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb driven cattle
Be a hero in the strife.”
-Psalm of Life
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
With profound sense of grateful appreciation we, the Ten Outstanding Pupils of Iloilo for School Year 2008-2009 receive this prestigious honor bestowed on us by the Outstanding Students Circle of Iloilo, in coordination with the Department of Education. Words are not enough to express our joy.
Being chosen as Outstanding pupil in the whole province and city of Iloilo is a very humbling experience and at the same time a very daunting one.
It is with great humility that I share this award with my nine fellow honorees and also with other aspirants who did not make the final cut.
At the risk of blowing my own horn, for the last six years of my young life, I have achieved and received numerous awards. I have reached and topped several regional competitions in Journalism but it didn’t give me so much satisfaction and pride just like what I felt when I knew that I was chosen as the most outstanding pupil in the whole province and the city of Iloilo.
I’m sure that a lot of children like me would like to trade anything and everything just to be in our place today. But I’m telling you, to get where we are now was not an easy feat. Whatever success we are enjoying today is the product of our hard work, discipline, diligence and strong faith in God.
In view of this, we are also aware that the award as Outstanding Pupil of Iloilo comes not only with honor and pride but also with responsibility. We are also up to a daunting challenge because a lot of our fellow children will look at us as their role model. But of course the most challenging will be the expectations and pressures that will come from the adult community.
To my fellow honorees, young as we are, let us take the challenge. Let us do our share uplifting the status of our community. Let us show to the adult world we are also capable of making positive change and create better opportunities for other children like us. As Michael Gorbachev once had said, “In order to give to others, we have to burn ourselves”.
Let the fire of idealism continue to burn in us.
Nevertheless, let me echo the words of Sir Isaac Newton, “I was able to see beyond the mountains because I was standing on the shoulders of two giants.” The two giants he was referring to were Copernicus and Galileo who were responsible for the First and Second Law of Motion which was his basis for his Universal Law of Motion.
Just like Sir Isaac, we, the Outstanding Pupils of Iloilo will not be standing on this pedestal if not because of the shoulders of the giants in our lives. And it is just but fitting for us to pay tribute to these “giants” who are responsible of making us what we are today.
To our dear teachers, we the honorees, would like to express our thanks and appreciation for all the time and efforts you have shared in molding us into better persons, teaching us the value of hard work, dedication, honesty, and discipline. Your heroic acts have made us go through all these years, and thus you are part of this honor.
To our Lolos and Lolas, our Aunts and Uncles, Brothers and Sisters and the rest of our families, friends and classmates, your continuing support, love, care, understanding and prayers have elevated us to this platform on were we are standing today.
To our dear parents, thank you so much for your unselfish love and undying support. We know, it is not easy to raise kids like us, but you never let us feel that we come short to your expectations. You are always the first person to believe, and who will always believe, we can.
And above all, to our God Almighty, who is the source of all wisdom, thank you for this gift of honor. May your light continue to shine upon us so that we will tread the right path, how difficult it may be. And in recognition therefore, we the honorees lovingly and gratefully offer this prestigious award to all of you.
And finally, in behalf if the Ten Outstanding Pupils of Iloilo for School Year 2008-2009, I am expressing again my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the Department of Education, and most especially to the officers and members of the Outstanding Students Circle of Iloilo with whom we shared now a common award-laden life, and to all those who are behind this very laudable and inspiring undertaking. Thank you for providing us an avenue wherein we can showcase our worth as a young being. Thank you for making us feel that we count and we matter. Thank you for believing that we can make a difference.
Long live Ten Outstanding Pupils of Iloilo!
Long live Iloilo!
Mabuhay kita tanan!@
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