STAR columnist urges grads to be life-changers

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine STAR columnist Joaquin Henson called for educational institutions to read the trends of enterprise development clearly, encouraged students to enroll in courses that are relevant to the national effort and urged graduates to become life-changers in his commencement address during the 66th graduation program of the Naga College Foundation (NCF) in Naga City last Saturday.

Over 360 graduates in college, masteral and doctorate courses from the Departments of Commerce, Computer Studies, Criminal Justice Education, Engineering and Technology, Liberal Arts and Education, Nursing and Health Sciences, Midwifery and Graduate School received diplomas.

The NCF is a premier private school in the heart of the Bicol region providing basic, tertiary, graduate and technical education to 2,800 students, 35 percent of whom are on scholarship.

It was founded by public school teacher Melchor Villanueva in 1947 and now has over 30,000 alumni. To this day, the school upholds Villanueva’s vision of delivering high quality, transformative and affordable education.

Henson discussed education and economic trends, citing the country’s growth spurt, graduation statistics and public-private partnership as key to achieving the goal of universal education for all. He also shared 10 points of advice with the graduates – look to the past in order to build for the future, continue to learn and improve, live by the core values of honesty, discipline and dedication, never compromise principles, find inspiration and guidance in prayer, believe in yourself as a life-changer, show respect to elders, peers and subordinates, follow a career path and set a timetable to track progress, be humble in seeking advice from those who care and always remember where you come from because home is where the heart is.

In a campus tour, Henson met NCF’s champion athletes in basketball and taekwondo. The NCF Tigers varsity recently won the Naga Charter City Intercollegiate and Mayor’s Cup basketball titles under coach Wesley Villanueva.

Henson told the athletes to keep in mind this acronym for sports – S for strength, P for prayers, O for obedience, R for respect, T for teamwork and S for spirit.