And so they marched... and will dance...

This year's graduation day of the architecture students is quite special for
me. It is the only time so far when I feel morally obliged to attend.
It is not because I have relatives among the graduating lot, but it
feels just like it. This batch started their college life as I also
started my teaching life in the university.

In my senior years, way back then, we had a graduation ball and I
was in charge of inviting the special guests. In designing the
invitation cards I chose a quotation that starts something like this:
"Let every man dance to his own beat..." We asked Arch't. Espina to
give an inspirational talk and he picked up from the quotation I chose:
after graduation, each one will go on his own separate way... following
the beat of the music he chose to dance...

This was also the theme that the university president, Fr. Rod,
followed in his homily during the baccalaureate mass for this year's
graduates. This time, however, Fr. Rod made reference to a movie
entitled "Shall We Dance?" The same message after seventeen years. The
bottom line, I guess, is that everyone should learn to accept this
reality. But everyone should use this plurality to achieve a harmony.

We can not have everyone putting up architectural firms. Some will
have to put up the support services. In both endeavors, there is money
to be earned. There will be people specializing in construction
documents, estimates, rendering, project management, etc... As a whole
they achieve a harmony in the profession. To appreciate this, however,
one has to constantly stand back to see the bigger picture, the forest
rather than the trees.

I was also moved when I was invited in the evening for a
thanksgiving party of one of the graduates. He belongs to a previous
batch but got delayed because of his thesis. Among those he invited is
someone who was not able to successfully defend his thesis this year.
This person decided to give up and actually dropped his remaining
subjects. What his friends did was to make a video where each one gave
a message of encouragement to go on... That thanksgiving party ended up
as an encouragement party for this guy.

In the quotation I chose for our graduation ball, a part of it says
something like "some will fall a step or two behind, other will move
forward.. but they are all part of the dance..." During that time, we
also invited those who couldn't graduate. Arch't. Espina also addressed
his speech to them, inspiring them to continue... this is part of the
bigger picture. Their future success might depend on this unfortunate
delay.

And so my good friends marched. I felt as proud as the parents
around me, and never sad. As I looked at a picture showing everyone
during the rite, I could not help make predictions of what each one
would do in the future. I was amused to realize that it is very varied.
It amuses me to think of all of them in the future. There seems to be a
pattern emerging, a harmonious movement, a music starting...

Let the dance begin...