Hats off to the graduates!

Congratulations to the graduates of 2007! Each year churns out a fresh batch of graduates and each batch brims with promise and potential. Graduation day -whether from elementary, high school or college - is a landmark time in every person's life and it's a ceremony for new beginnings.

The question right after college graduation is always, "So what's next?" (after bumming around for a while, I mean). Many are excited to find a job, some aren't excited at all and others will be pursuing a lifelong dream. I salute those who appreciate what how a good education can arm them for their future plans. Besides knowledge, education arms people with discipline, eloquence and most importantly, an open mind. At this point, I hope all graduates can ask themselves squarely what it is they want to do with the rest of their life and then chase it in hot pursuit. What is it that you like doing? What is it that you can imagine doing or not doing? What would you like to see yourself become five or ten years from now? The options for you, dear graduate, are limitless.

Right after my college graduation, I was so sure what to do. I had earned a degree in Business Administration and such a field called for a corporate job. The corporate world was very tempting: Big, fat paycheck, cozy office setting and great outlet to test and improve one's skills. But then at that time, I just couldn't imagine myself in the corporate world for a long period of time, not even for a few months. Yet, I was still willing to enter the field because I was getting restless and well, broke!

Later within the year, I chanced upon Iste, a photographer (and to whom I'm very grateful to). I told Iste that I've always liked to write since I was in high school so Iste suggested that I hand her my resumé. She submitted it to the Lifestyle editor of The Freeman, Mrs. Mayen Tan and as if I were in a surreal dream come true, I soon found myself writing for the pages of The Freeman. It's been almost a year since I've been writing for the paper and I'm loving it because I just can't imagine anything else I'd rather do than to write. I'm happy with my work. When I first started, I thought to myself that writing for the paper feels like an adolescent's dream of what a good job should be like. That hasn't changed.

This is key: Find your passion. Choose a field in the job sector or in entrepreneurship that lets you do what you like doing - be it meeting people, cooking up a feast or singing your heart out to rock and roll. In the book "Tuesdays with Morrie", it was said best: "Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overwhelmed with what comes back."

Keep in mind that you don't have to go mainstream to make lots of money. There's much treasure along the road less traveled. Lastly, dream! And as long as you're going to dream anyway, you might as well dream big. They do come true. As Christopher Reeve once said, "So many of our dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable."

Dear graduates, enjoy the summer! You deserve to indulge yourself in fun under the sun, in rest and relaxation. The summer weather is lovely, isn't it? Ah, I hear the beach beckoning already. May God bless all your future plans!

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