Rex |

I have placed this blog online for quite some time now but I have been too preoccupied with an upcoming speech to write anything. Now that it’s over, the speech should serve well as the first post on this blog.

Below is my speech delivered earlier this morning on the 16th foundation day of the Philippine Science High School Western Visayas. Congratulations PSHSWV! I am so proud of what you have become.

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Director Josette Biyo, faculty and staff, scholars, fellow alumni, parents, guests, good morning!

I have always dreaded public speaking even before high school, so you could just imagine how the color washed away from my face when Ma’am Val called and informed me that I will be your guest speaker today. Nevertheless, I do have a bunch of thoughts to share with you, and I cannot let this moment pass.

Today, PSHS Western Visayas is sixteen years old, and I am proud to say that I was part of at least a quarter of that period. The four years I spent studying here seemed excruciatingly long, with the never-ending deluge of assignments, projects, presentations, and exams. I find no need to illustrate that further for you all vividly know what I mean.

Then, I look again, and I realize just how much I actually enjoyed those four hectic years of my life. In fact, listening to the opening remarks of Dr. Josette Biyo earlier, I feel like I want to be a student all over again.

In English class, I learned that the best speeches are written out of personal experience. So today, you will hear exactly that, along with some of the lessons I learned after graduating from Pisay which should help each of you become trailblazers in your own right.

Discover your mission

First lesson, discover your mission. It might interest you to know that I didn’t myself choose the course I took in college. On the day of the deadline for the submission of our UP admission test form, I still could not make up my mind on what course to apply for. UP literally has hundreds of offerings. That day, I entrusted the filling-up to my father who happens to be an active sports fisher so he promptly wrote “BS Aquaculture”. For those of you who might be wondering, aquaculture is the farming of fish and other aquatic organisms.

Before I enrolled into the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences in UP Visayas, I jokingly asked “Why does someone need to spend four years of his life just studying how to grow fish?”

Now, let me answer that. Since the last century, the amount of fish caught from the seas and the oceans have leveled off and the number of humans on this planet only continues to rise exponentially. It’s a good thing that we have aquaculture to make up for what the seas can no longer supply. Today we don’t just hunt and chase fish towards their extinction. In fact, about 40% of the fish eaten worldwide is now grown in fishponds, tanks, pens, or even in cages floating in the middle of the ocean. That is aquaculture.

The world needs aquaculture because we cannot just stop eating fish and resort only to chicken, beef, and pork. Fish is one of the most nutritious sources of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Much of the world knows this, which is why we expect people to eat even more fish in the coming years along with growing health awareness. So, do you actually like to eat fish?

Today, if fisheries is not as talked about as the issue of rice or oil, it is probably because aquaculture is doing its job quite well in ensuring that the supply of fish keeps up with the rapidly growing population of fish-eaters. However, Philippine population will exceed 100 million in the next few years, the world population seems to be hopping the billions, and our planet is not getting any larger. That is the challenge that aquaculture faces and it will take no less than continuous research and development to ensure that every family can have fish on the table. So for the scholars who are still undecided on what course to take in college, you might want to think about this. I heard BS Fisheries is now covered by the DOST scholarship.

I realized that four years of studying aquaculture in college was not enough, hence, alongside my job now, I am also investing a few more years taking graduate studies, still on how to grow fish. I have learned to love the field of fisheries, and given the relevance of aquaculture in providing the primary need of man which is food, I think I have found a mission here.

Finding your mission, or calling, is necessary for you to gain direction in your life and career in science and technology. Today, you might not exactly know what or where your mission will be, but pay attention to your interests and opportunities and you will discover it at the right time. Your mission will eventually determine where you will be blazing your trail.

Responsibility

Second lesson, responsibility. During my stay in UP Visayas, I feel sad when I remember some fellow Pisay alumni who were almost dismissed from the university. To be dismissed in UP, you need to fail more than 75% of your subjects, and that is just about what they did. Of course, being Pisay alumni, they were not dumb, and neither were they inferior in academics. Their professors flunked them because they were no longer attending classes. They were almost dismissed from university because of their overindulgence in DOTA and other computer games.

While I would like to believe that it was an isolated case, I feel the need to mention this because we don’t want anyone falling into the same pitfalls brought by the freedom that college life brings. In UPV Miagao, few teachers check attendance, our dorm curfew is at 10PM, and you don’t need a leave pass to go outside the thousand-hectare campus. Remember that even as you leave high school, proceed to college, and eventually choose a career, a PSHS scholar will always be a PSHS scholar and responsibility will always be rightly expected of you.

Choose to serve

Third lesson, choose to serve. After graduating from college, one of my headaches was choosing a job. I must admit that I was for a time drawn by high-paying jobs offered by private fisheries companies, some of them multinational. I also find it amusing to share that aside from the fisheries related companies, a popular fast-food chain and an emerging videography company also tried to hire me. Anyway, it was a critical decision to make, knowing that a “yes” or a “no” will set the direction of your life.

To make the long story short, here I am now working in SEAFDEC. I may not be earning as much than if I worked for the private companies, but I am happy because instead of serving a single company, I am working for the development of aquaculture in Southeast Asia.

Friends always ask me whether I have plans of going abroad, and I always give the same answer, “Only for vacation, or when I get my Ph.D.” Some people seem to have difficulty understanding this, saying we should be practical these days. As for me, I gladly remember the numerous times we were reminded in high school that we are being educated primarily for the purpose of serving the country. Today, I give you the same reminder.

There is this warm feeling inside me when I realize that I am now giving back what the PSHS and the Philippines has sown in me. It is something no amount of money or prestige can replace. This sense of fulfillment was something I learned in Values Ed class under Ma’am Ocampo – aesthetic happiness.

Hard work

Next lesson, hard work. Two months ago, I had the privilege to work with one of the most respected scientists of SEAFDEC in a training course on Mangroves. Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, Scientist Emeritus, is renowned worldwide for her efforts in the conservation of mangroves. It was from her that I realized what it means to be hard working.

One day, while I was trying to catch a nap during the five-hour trip from Iloilo to Aklan, I could not help but notice that Dr. Primavera spent the entire trip with a thick pile of paperwork on her lap. She kept herself busy reviewing research proposals from around the world, while I did nothing but admire the scenery outside the window.

Later in Tangalan, Aklan, I was already breathing heavily and my feet were extremely sore when we emerged from a mangrove forest after hours of trekking under heat and drizzle. We just finished an exhausting activity on mangrove community structure. All my desires that time were focused towards washing my mud-covered feet and stretching my back in a comfy chair. As I sat inside our waiting van with the air-conditioning vents pointed towards me, I could only watch in admiration as Dr. Primavera continued to scurry back and forth in the distance collecting mangrove leaves, flowers, and fruits.

When our group stopped by a restaurant for lunch, I further realized just how lazy I was because while I was preoccupied resting my legs and waiting for the food, Dr. Primavera did not sit as I expected. She was already taking photos of her specimens on another table.

It was very humbling to see myself, just three years out of my teens, drained and helplessly resting, while a sixty-something retired-scientist works round the clock with a sustained amount of enthusiasm. I did wonder where Dr. Primavera derive her energy to tirelessly keep going, but after a while of listening to her talk about mangroves and mangroves, you will realize that her remarkable hard-work comes from her genuine passion and love for mangroves. No wonder she has been such a successful trailblazer.

I know PSHS scholars are already very hard-working because of the demands of academics and extra-curricular activities. Our challenge is to carry the same hard-working spirit up until we practice our profession in whatever field we may be. Indeed, intellect without hard work will bring us nowhere. To blaze our trail in science and technology, let us couple our intellect with hard work that stems from the passion in what we do.

Creativity

The next lesson is what you need to do to really blaze trail. Unleash your creativity!

Being a newcomer to an established institution such as SEAFDEC, I was at first hesitant to give suggestions thinking people might find it weird or too radical. Then one day I decided to blurt them out. Because of some of my suggestions, which at first seemed radical, SEAFDEC now has an official blog where it is easier for us to post news items for the world to read, and an official YouTube channel, where we could post our instructional and informational videos for the whole world to see. Before, these videos would just sit on the shelf, forgotten, and inaccessible to the world. We also have a much more efficient email system that saved SEAFDEC hundreds of thousands of pesos in yearly maintenance and hardware upgrades.

If I chose to restrain my creativity and simply keep quiet in the corner, these improvements would have been lost into the dumping ground of ideas. Creativity gives you the ability to innovate and effect real change. I said “ability” because you need to back this up with a generous amount of hard work. Always think out of the box and don’t be afraid to express your weird ideas. Truly, the best ideas with the highest probability of effecting change will at first seem radical, and weird. Set your creativity free.

Science for service

Finally, let me tell you something about my job. I didn’t like it at first. I didn’t like it because I wanted to do some serious science research, but circumstances have instead given me a job pertaining to the publication of information materials such as books, posters, videos, websites, and newsletters for SEAFDEC. However, in the course of my work, I slowly realized that the Aquaculture Department of SEAFDEC has been around for 35 years, and it is already brimming with so much science-based technologies, but so many of these technologies remain unknown to the fish farmers – the fish farmers who are the ones needing the technologies. So there I found the reason why I am now doing information work. There is an urgent need to fill the gap between science and those who should benefit from science.

As PSHS and its alumni blaze ahead into the frontiers of science and technology, I pray that we keep in mind that our science should reach and be of benefit to the “Filipino people to whom we owe the gift of our education, and to whose uplift we must dedicate our God-given talents.”

Final messages and thanks

As I draw to a close, I would like to take this chance to thank and pay tribute to the true trailblazers of PSHS – our teachers. Thank you for being our teachers when we needed one. In my heart and mind, you have blazed a lasting trail of passion for knowledge and excellence. Without you, I will not be the person I am now, and the same is true for the hundreds of my fellow alumni who have been recipients of your dedicated service. One of my aspirations is to be like one of you in the future.

Thank you also for giving me the privilege to speak before you today. This is a dream come true.

Also, I did not expect my mother to be here today, but she is here right now: Thank you for coming here today. Thank you for making Rex Rex. Sorry if I did not choose higher-paying jobs and refused to go abroad. Your son has been called to serve a larger family called the Filipino People.

Finally, I thank God for putting together the interesting bits of blessings and blessings in disguise which have made me and brought me here today. May He richly bless PSHSWV in the coming years as it continues to nurture the future scientists of this country.

To the scholars, I look forward to working with you in the very near future. For the meantime, take time to find your purpose, be responsible, work hard, be creative, and look forward to a life of service to God and our country. PSHSWV at 16 has been trailblazing in science and technology. Our challenge is to keep blazing the trail. So let’s do this together!

A little later, as we sing the PSHS hymn together, take your time to listen to the lyrics and feel the essence of their meaning. Its message continues to inspire me to this day, and I hope the rest of the alumni feel the same way.

Happy 16th foundation day PSHS Western Visayas! Congratulations!

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