Wadeford School Graduation 2015

There  was once a mother and her son who lived in a faraway land. The mother just like any other mother of her time sent her son to school. One day, she was surprised when her son arrived from school with new pen and papers. She asked her son where did he get them. The son replied, "Those things belonged to my classmates. I stole them." Upon hearing this, the mother said to him, "Ok son, but just don't let people catch you." So every time her son brought to her what he had stolen, the mother just said to him,  "Ok son, but just don't let people catch you." These activities of her son continued until he grew up. But one day, the mother learned that her son was in jail to wait the judgment of the court for his crime of theft and robbery. She could not do anything except to cry for him. When her son faced the judge, his mother tried to convince everybody that her son is a good person. But the judge sentenced him to death. All the more the mother cried. She went to her son to give him her last hug. To her surprise, her son bit her ears. But she managed to get away from her son's agression. For the first time, she scolded her son saying, "You must be punished. You know you have done many bad and nasty things since you were young." The son retorted, "This is all your fault. If you only taught me before that I should be punished for doing bad things, I would not end up as a bad person." My dear friends, this sort of story reminds us that first, education is important and second, education is not only confined in schools.  First, education is important for everybody.  The word education means to bring up or to build up. It means then that primary purpose of education is to see to it that a child grows up to be able to stand on his/her own feet and finally can decide what is best for his/her own life.  Yes, it is good to receive some medals or certificates during the graduation ceremony to affirm the determination of the child to aim what is best in life. But these symbols of graduation cannot limit the meaning of education. If these symbols of graduation create the impression that we are the best among the rest, it is through education that we learn that not all best things happen to best people of this world. Education allows us then to decide what is best for us not only during the times we experience success but also during the time we experience failure in life. I remember a grade 6 pupil from St. Scholastica who approached me many years ago. She was a consistent topnotcher during her kindergarteen years until grade 5. But she was frustrated when she learned that she was never among the Top Ten of the graduating class. She wanted to die. She was afraid of her parents who expected too much from her because all her siblings graduated with honors. She was really afraid to go home. She really wanted to die rather than to hear her parents blaming her. My dear friends, do you think this is the meaning of education? Of course not. This sounds more of a competition where the winner takes it all while the loser gets nothing. So I tried to educate the girl. I told her to confront her parents. If they could not accept her as their daughter, she could stay with us in the parish. She could start anew after graduation. After how many days, the girl sent me a text message informing me that she learned how much her parents love her despite her failure. She promised to do her best within the true meaning of education which is to see to it that a child grows up to be able to stand on his/her own feet and finally can decide what is best for his/her own life. Second, education is not only confined in schools. My dear friends, I would like to remind you that it seems useless for the school to teach the best for the children which the home could not support or follow up. If the school teaches the children to pray before and after meals, but they are not encouraged to practice it at home, then what is the use of education? If the school teaches a child that it is bad to tell a lie, but he/she lives with a dishonest parent, then what happens to the so-called education? My dear friends, it is the primary task of the parents to educate their children. The school is there to complement or to assist the parents in giving good education to their children. Remember, what happens to the child when he/she grows up, falls back to his/her parents. If the child grows up as a great physician, it is the parents who can benefit directly from their child's achievements. Then the school can just make a good advertisement that the said great physician was once their student, a product of their education. And if the child grows up as an addict, it is still the parents who will be directly liable for their child's failure. The school has nothing to do with what goes wrong in the life of the child after the child has left the school premises.  So, my dear friends, especially to the parents, educate your children well. Teach them to respect you. Teach them to say thank you, or sorry or even I love you when it is proper to say it. They are your children, they are yours. Teach them to love your home. To end, I would like to tell you -to the graduating class, never stop learning. Allow yourselves to be teachable and be educated. Say thank you for the gifts you received. Say sorry for the sins you committed. Say I love you to your parents who have loved you. Above all, because you are graduates of Wadeford School, students who are inspired  by St. Jose Maria Escriva, learn from Jesus. Do what is right and avoid what is wrong. In the long run, you will realize the difference if you get good education from this school i.e., RO MAY MAYAD NGA TINUN-AN, MAY MAYAD NGA BATASAN. God bless you.