Huwebes, Marso 14, 2013

Toga-toga

It's that time of the year when students are very busy accomplishing their requirements for graduation. When I was assigned at the Cashier's Office, all we had to do was collect the necessary fees. Now that I am here at the bookstore, it's a totally different ball game all together. I just realized that there are so many things to take care of just like:
  • printing diplomas (even diploma's for one Surigao School)
  • medals
  • diploma holders
  • seat covers
  • gate pass
  • souvenir programs for all levels
  • and the highlight of today's post: TOGA
Just this morning a colleague of mine called me up and told me that a graduating student posted on Facebook that the toga does not smell good. In our defense, I told him that the moment I was assigned in this office that was the first thing I asked of them. What do we do with the toga? And surprisingly they told me that they used to hand washed it.2000 pieces toga??Hand washed??? You guys must be kidding me! Right then and there I decided to have it washed by a laundry shop for P 20 pesos per kilo(the name I won't discuss because that would be free promotion for them). The office paid Fourteen Thousand Pesos for that. My staff and student assistants were very happy because their hands will not be filled with bruises anymore.

Which brings me to a more pressing fact. Is the toga really that important? Or shall I say is the Toga's smell that important? What does it really stand for (I mean the toga not the smell :) )

Good thing we were not required to wear one during college. In my opinion, once you march down that aisle in your toga to the tune of tan-tan-tanan(repeat 1000 times) and accept your coveted diploma (or a piece of paper that looks like one),YOU will be judge not by your hairstyle, or the dress you wear, or your heels, your make up or your perfume or your sweaty toga BUT by what is inside that thing between your ears. Has it accumulated vast knowledge? If YES then, have you considered yourself highly employable for the set of skills you have "mastered"? Have you learned the art of critical thinking by sifting through all the varied information available for you? Are you able to reason your claims with facts you yourself has researched and carefully thought of?

Or were you able to master the art of cheating and plagiarizing just to beat a deadline? Or the right angle of your face which looks good on FB, Twitter or Instagram? Or using up all your allowable absences per subject? Or memorized the names of the cutest hunks in the school or the most handsome dancer in the dance company? Or maximized the use of your iPhone and iPad in garnering highest scores in your favorite games?

It is sad to note if the school produced more of the latter than the former. Your mind should be your crowning glory. Learning has no ending. Even if you have graduated, you will need to learn more and unlearn some.

If not for my college education I wouldn't be where I am today. I will never be afraid to speak up and I will never be afraid to ask the right questions. And most importantly, I will never be ashamed to admit that I don't know everything and that even with a college degree I will still make mistakes and face the consequences thereafter.

As Norman Cousins would put it: It makes little difference how many university courses or degrees a person may own. If he cannot use words to move an idea from one point to another, his education is incomplete.

Make that degree count, not by the amount of pictures or posts, but by doing something outstanding which you will be remembered for.

Welcome to the REAL world graduates!


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