OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (GRADUATION SPEECH 2017)

To our Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Teresa David-Carlos,

To our members of the Board of Trustees: Susan David-Nunga, Yolanda David-Aguila, Reynaldo S. David, Mallory Anne David, Bro. Harold Espeleta, Mary Rechelle A. Guzman,

To our dear Parents,

Teachers, and MQC Personnel,

Graduates, Friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

A pleasant afternoon to all of you.

I have witnessed MQC graduations since 2005 and I must say, that judging from the location of our present graduation here alone, MQC has gone a long way.

There was a time when we had the graduation of our two year ACT course right there at the second floor of our main building at MQC. That was how few we were, and how much of our school space was simply unoccupied empty space, beginning from where the speech lab is presently located, up to the mock hotel near the stair cases.

But things have indeed changed. It used to be that not even jeepney drivers knew where MQC was. Even our school uniform then was different from what it is now not until one fine day, one of our pioneer students suggested and designed a new uniform for our female students which eventually became an instant hit not only for our students but for outsiders as well.

Back then, the school didn’t have a BSHRM course, a BSIT course and a BS in Elementary Education course. We also didn’t have the night class. But now, we not only have these courses I’ve just mentioned, we even have senior high school for Grade 11. And we are happy to inform you that MQC has the highest number of enrollees in senior high school in our district, even out numbering the enrollment of other schools, whether private or public schools. This coming school year, we expect even more senior high school students to enroll in Grade 11, considering how our incoming Grade 12 students have rated MQC very highly in a survey conducted recently by our Guidance and Admissions Office.

Back then, I personally was very worried if any of our graduates would make it to the board exams of accountancy and education. That has all changed now. Our school is now well known to have a high passing rate when it comes to the board exams of accountancy and education. In fact, in 2016, we were second in Pampanga, as far as the passing rate in accountancy was concerned, next only to Holy Angel University. In the Licensure Exams for Teachers, we were at one time, the number one in Pampanga as far as the passing rate was concerned.

Another of our biggest transformation I’ve witnessed is about our Aeta students. Back then, I wondered how Aeta scholars would be acceptable among our students in the school community. Now, to my delight, among you is a graduate who is an Aeta who has become not only a member of the supreme student council but also one of its active officers. Of course, I am talking about Melody whom I see as one who has shown us that an Aeta student can really be confidently beautiful and still be active in academic and student affairs.

Another great transformation we have witnessed at MQC is our basketball team. It was only about two years ago when we started to get serious in recruiting and training our basketball varsity team. Now after only two years of constant coaching and untiring practice, we are now among the top three basketball teams perhaps in the entire region.

And of course, the Papyrus, our school paper. For the past so many years, they have always brought home from their competitions top awards and prizes. They have been winning every competition almost consistently. It has come to a point “na parang nakakasawa na, na palagi silang nananalo”. That’s how good they are.

And perhaps I can go on and on, and tell you the many changes and transformations I have seen in MQC from the time we’ve started it in 2003. I was there when we started MQC. And looking at you now in this beautiful and elegant hall, I couldn’t help but remember the difficult journey the school had for it to reach this stage. I couldn’t help but remember the struggles the school went through all these years, overcoming one difficulty after another only to emerge triumphant and victorious.

But amidst all these transformations that I’ve just cited to you, there remains one thing in MQC that has not changed. It is something I’ve seen in school from the time it started. And up to this day, it can still be palpably felt. This thing, which has always been there at MQC from the very start, is what I would like to call Community Spirit. This community spirit has made us into a community from day one. Do you think that MQC would have been transformed in the way we see it today, had it not been for this sense of community? Would we still be a leading school in so many aspects, if this sense of community were absent from the school? This I can tell you. We could not have been the school we are today, if we did not have a sense of community at MQC. It is not quality education alone that makes us known and rise above the rest. There are other schools who excel much more than we do when it comes to quality education. But I can proudly say, that here at MQC, you can see a real sense of community. And for me, this quality gives MQC its unique identity because it operates not only as a school, but as a community as well. This unique blend of a school and a community is what perhaps has drawn many students to enroll in our humble school. When we started as a school, and perhaps in a certain sense, even today, we could not boast of the best facilities compared with the other schools. And yet, despite this inadequacy, students found in MQC a home. A home that would be the best environment where they could learn, be happy and grow in confidence.  A home where people, especially teachers give of their best, and are caring and are concerned for the welfare of students. A home where they could learn to know more about themselves, about God, about their family and about the realities of life. A home where many poor students have found the possibility to make their dreams come true. A home where children of drivers, maids, labanderas, Aetas and poor farmers are not afraid to be who they are and who would still feel accepted and feel at home with other students who may not be like them financially or culturally. It is this sense of belonging and sense of family and community that create bonds that perhaps do not exist in other schools. And it is perhaps these bonds that make us different and make us successful and rise above the rest.

And why do you think understanding the bonds of community are important?

It is important because you my dear graduates will have to build similar communities in the future, whether these communities are in your own families, whether in your workplace, or whether in society. The Church, this year, has taken for its theme, a theme about communion of communities. This year’s graduation theme is also about community. I wish and pray that what you’ve experienced as community at MQC will help you build communities in the future, true communities who care and look for the welfare of other people. When we truly live in community, we care for people; we think first of what is good for everyone and not just for ourselves. This idea about community is very much opposed to the prevalent culture nowadays, a culture where people prioritize themselves first and completely disregard the needs of others. This is why, it is also common in our society to hear of corruption; to hear about the fragmentation of families and communities because we no longer know how to live in community; we no longer know how to care about others and be concerned for the plight of those who are poor and defenseless.

As you have felt this sense of community at MQC, I expect each and every one of you to champion the cause of communities, first in your own families, second in your future workplaces and to a larger extent in the Philippine society where you belong. Living in community may be challenging, but the benefits of living in a community outweigh the challenges. It is only in a community setting where the human person begins to grow and mature. So love your families, love your communities. Avoid things that may disrupt or may disadvantage communities and society as a whole. Always work for the common good.

And I would like to end this talk by remembering a person who is not here anymore with us who would have been proud to see this beautiful graduation. I am referring to Papa Choy, who is the founder of this school. Last year in September, he passed away, leaving this beautiful school as his lasting legacy to all young people past and present who have studied in this school. In remembrance of him, let us clap our hands for him who has given hope to so many of us and made sure that MQC will make it through whatever challenges it may encounter now or in the future.

Thank you.

Michael B. Lapid

President