The season of new beginnings and bittersweet endings transcends into victory for every individual who conquered the waves of academia.
The 79th Graduation and Moving-Up Ceremony of Urdaneta City National High School held at the Urdaneta City Cultural and Sports Complex on May 31, 2024,celebrates the students’ milestones as they step on the ladder of higher education with the theme, “Kabataang Pilipino Para sa Matatag na Kinabukasan ng Bagong Pilipinas.”
Rejoicing with them is UCNHS’s notable alumnus – Pangasinan State University President Dr. Elbert M. Galas who went back to his alma mater – his home for four years during his Secondary schooling.
“𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔, 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔,” Dr. Galas said in his speech as Guest of Honor and Speaker.
He also urged them to remember that the challenges they have faced during the pandemic have only made them stronger.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚,” he added.
The University President then recounted his experiences and academic journey to the graduates as he himself sprang from humble beginnings. A variety of ‘saluyot’ dishes sustained their family’s appetite for a month. During summer, the young Elbert together with two male siblings, accompanied their father to do carpentry works. They saved up their salary for the next school year.
Financial constraints kept him from studying in his dream school but he said God has other plans as he then applied for a scholarship at Pangasinan State University- Urdaneta Campus, and got accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT) program. Driven by his passion for learning, he pursued his Master of Information Systems degree from UP Los Banos in 2010 as a CHED scholar and earned his Doctorate in Information Technology degree at the Technological Institute of the Philippines.
The value of education is reflected in his perseverance to finish his requirements. Since difficulties still manifested even after obtaining a scholarship, he grappled with the insufficiency of equipment and had to activate his resourcefulness and resilience. He experienced sleeping at the school premises to finish all his schoolwork.
The young president decoded the ingredients of success – resiliency, adaptability, and strategic mindset, with a mixture of grit. Furthermore, he added that the ability to rise above failure and the continuous thirst for knowledge and skills will surely mold one’s character. He said that when he graduated, he started to work for PSU as Instructor I in a contractual capacity. He then rose from the ranks and eventually became the first alumnus of PSU to become its president.
He expressed his gratitude to his former advisers and teachers and congratulated the parents and guardians of the graduating class.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎. 𝑻𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚,” he added emotionally.
Concluding with a call to arms, Dr. Galas said the world expects so much from the youth. “This country wants you to be fearless in the pursuit of your dreams, relentless in the face of adversity, and firm in our commitment to building a better and stronger Philippines despite all the adversities,” he quipped.
Dr.Galas also led the distribution of certificates to the graduating students along with Schools Division Superintendent Aguedo Fernandez and Principal Hilda Lumague.
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