Lance Miguel's Challenge Speech

     Lance delivered this speech masterfully last April 2, 2016 at SLCS.

   To our guest of honor, to our Principal Teacher Ritchie, to our school officials, distinguished guests, dedicated teachers, beloved parents and fellow graduates, a pleasant afternoon to all!

   We are all gathered here today to recognize the efforts, sacrifices, and all the hard work we made this school year. The wonderful and challenging times we spent here in SLCS will always be cherished even when we are already outside the walls of this great institution.

   There have been several speeches delivered during graduation by the class valedictorians and the salutatorians. Mostly they talk about being successful in life and the bright future of each student. It is a challenge for me to share something more meaningful and inspiring that will be useful to us all.

   We all want to win, right? We all want to have perfect scores in our exams. Make the right answers on Quiz Bee questions. On anything that we do, we always want to come on top. We don’t want to lose. Losing is equated to being a failure, who wants to be called a failure or a loser. Nobody. But here lies the problem, we don’t always have the right answers, we are not always the brightest, the strongest on a particular subject or area… losing, making mistakes, or failing is surely inevitable.

   Are we going to play it safe? Or are we not going to try at all? Don’t make challenging goals for ourselves. Lower our expectations so we will not get hurt should we not receive the recognition we think we duly deserve. My answer to this is definitely NO. We should put higher expectations of ourselves and be not afraid to make mistakes. A lot of famous people did not get to where they are without failures and mistakes.

   There are 3 things we can learn from famous people who encountered failures and made mistakes before becoming successful on their field:

1.   There will be times when you fail.

Sometimes physical handicap or lack of abilities cause us to fail. Sometimes it is lack of preparation or maybe even overconfidence. Regardless of the reason, we all at times fail and encounter disappointment and setbacks in life.

2.   Mistakes must Not be avoided.

A lot of people avoid making mistakes since they feel it is a sign of failure or weakness.

But mistakes can become learning experience. Fear of making mistakes has kept many people from rising to the top. If Michael Jordan who is considered one of the best basketball player of all time, stopped pursuing his love of basketball when he did not see his name on the list, if he did not try to improve his performance while he is not yet meeting the height requirement, then we would have not known of his genius and eventual greatness in the game of basketball.

3.   Embrace change.

Only thru change can there be true growth. But why do people resist change? Change is uncomfortable, consumes a lot of energy, and people fear negative impact of doing those changes. Winners and successful people did not become who they are when they are finally recognized. They became what they are when they acknowledged their mistakes and weaknesses and embraced the need to change. To improve once performance and change their attitude that is when people started to grow. We grow only when we change.

So again what do we need to learn from our mistakes and overcome failures:

1. There will be times when you fail. 

2. Mistakes must not be avoided. 

3. Embrace Change

   Thanks to all my teachers and classmates for helping me in correcting the mistakes I committed and being part of my journey. Without you guys, I wouldn’t be here this evening speaking to everyone. To my friends, my batchmates, and classmates, thank you for everything. Congratulations to all of usl!

   Next school year will bring us to another stage in our lives, I challenge you all to always keep dreaming big and don’t fear committing mistakes. Take the learnings graciously given us here at SLCS, I am confident that someday we’ll be the leaders in our society and good Christian people of the future.

   Firstly I would like to thank God, for all the talents and blessings he bestowed on me, for all what I have comes from Him. I return all the glory to God for my achievements. I also would like to thank my parents, Mommy and Daddy for being my biggest supporters and inspiration in my life. My Ate Che and Kuya Tristan who came before me here at SLCS and helped paved the way for me to adapt and meet school requirements with their help and advices. To my Tita Phoebe who always push and encourage me to be my best at school.

Thank you and once again, good afternoon!