...is 'a thing'.
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by PAM
Nope, not yet time for 'Saturday Photo'. It's just that a few days ago, 18 June 2024 to be exact, I had the incredible opportunity to serve as the Presiding Official at the Solemn Investiture of the candidates for degrees of the College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (CTHM) of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) held at the Quadricentennial Pavilion. That was my second time to have such an incredible opportunity. The first time was last year at the Solemn Investiture rites for the UST Faculty of Engineering.
Just like the first time at the Faculty of Engineering, I had so much fun meeting CTHM's Class of 2024 and their parents - on stage. Although, also just like the first time, I had many sleepless nights days before the event. I was so nervous, I was unable to eat, sleep, or concentrate at all on even the smallest stuff on my plate. There were instances when I'd freeze just thinking about what to say in my Address of Concession, and whether I'd be able to say the formula correctly in the Degree Conferment part. I was so stressed out the whole time. When the moment came, however, it was heavenly.
The Class of 2024 is a very special cohort of learners in my University. They started their freshman year in August 2020 - at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. They came in on a fully online mode of teaching and learning. Even their 'Freshman Walk' - one of our most important traditions in the University, which is part of the Freshman Orientation activities, was held virtually as well. After that, they had to go through a couple of years of virtual instruction. Very fortunately, my University has a very robust e-learning system. We have been using Blackboard as our learning management system (LMS) twenty years prior. Despite that, it was still challenging as we needed to ensure that everyone had stable internet connection, and that they had gadgets with sufficient features to enable them to participate in the virtual classes. It's a good thing that the community spirit in the University helped us overcome the challenges. It wasn't perfect, but we know that we did everything possible to make the experience of our Class of 2024 as good as the more conventional teaching and learning mode that is only balanced by the use of technology through our LMS.
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| A daunting duty... but so worth it! |
To capture the essence of our Class of 2024's remarkable resilience in enduring the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 in a seven-minute Concession Address was such a tall order for me. So much so that so many times, I felt like I was not equal to the task. I prayed so hard for the Holy Spirit to lend me wisdom and grant me the inspiration to come up with the right words to say that can sum up the Graduating Class's experience as 'the pandemic Class' so that they (and their loved ones) can all relate, and feel that that was truly their very own special day.
And then, one night, as I was re-watching the footages of their Baccalaureate Mass in bed, I saw something that sparked inspiration. It was an image of a group of graduates smiling so happily amid all the lights from their candles and the fireworks above them... their faces seemed to radiate from the light of the candles that they held. More images later... something 'clicked' in my heart and in my head. I whispered, "Lord, what are they holding? It's so radiant... like 'lightning in a bottle'?" I opened the Notes App on my smart phone... and before I knew it, I had paragraphs after paragraphs of write-up, all revolving around the 'lightning in a bottle' idea.
I started with: "With how your faces shone in the illuminating light from your candles, you appeared like you were holding a 'bottle of lightning'. Ever heard of that expression, 'catching a lightning in a bottle'? It's an idiomatic expression that means, 'accomplishing something that is extraordinarily difficult'. Look it up, it's a thing! It's a thing because... it's about you. It's about the Class of 2024. You all caught lightning and bottled it. It's your story... and an extraordinary story, indeed! Because... how does one catch lightning and bottle it, too? Lightning is a product of electrical discharge between two regions. It carries a powerful force that strikes in a split of a second with such lethal intensity... much like COVID-19."
And then I proceeded to likening the the light of their candles with 'that Light' that illuminates... the Light that is the Truth, the Light that is God's Love, the Light that is Christ Himself. The grace they received in their experience as the 'pandemic Class' enabled them to endure that difficult but glorious journey of finding the Truth in all their ordeals. And in the end, the Truth revealed itself... in the Love that guided them throughout their journey: The Love from their family, from their teachers and the Thomasian Community as a whole... the Love that is the gift from God... the Love that is Christ Himself. That Love is the Light that illuminated their faces and hearts in happiness as they celebrated the culmination of their journey at the Baccalaureate Mass. That illuminating light borne out of that 'lightning' that they caught and bottled, and that they now hold in their hands. In the future, when they meet challenges in their professional and personal journey, they should not be afraid. All they have to do is to hold out their hand... open, look down on their palm, and be heartened and inspired by that lightning in a bottle: their own contribution in that beautiful narrative of human courage and the astounding triumph against all odds through love.
The same is true for us in the University... Class of 2024 is our very own 'lightning in a bottle'. Their triumph is a reminder that as we did what we did for them - out of love... we, too, caught a lightning in a bottle. And it shall illuminate our hearts... especially in the darkest of days.
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Image credit: All images in the collage above are owned by The Varsitarian - the official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines - thank you for the loan. The other photo is mine.
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