Double Dip

Dammit.

I don’t know what you all expected me to say, but I said what I wanted to say and thanked who I wanted to thank.

If it wasn’t good enough for you, oh well.  It was good enough for me.

Not all of you made it to Pil-Grad, and I don’t know if anybody recorded any of the speeches.  Hell, there were 31 of us.  I went last.  So if you went early… this is what I said.

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Before I begin my speech, I’d like to apologize, acknowledge, and congratulate the people who are still here.  I know that I’m the final person out of 31 graduates to give a speech, and you’ve all been waiting an eternity.  I know you all wanna watch Jessica Sanchez be crowned the American Idol, so I’ll try to keep this short. (ROFL SHE LOST).

My time in college has pretty much been comparable to that of a more mature high school experience.  The reason was because I lived at home, and I have to thank my family for that—starting with my father, who couldn’t be here today because my 18-year old brother is graduating from INDO!

(*Wait for reaction.)

It was my father who taught me by constantly showing how proud he is of me, he also yelled at me a lot.  But whether he was delighted or livid, these four words tended to always come out – “USE YOUR BRAIN, ANAK.”  It’s because of those words that I’m up here.  I used my brain, so dad – thanks.  My brain is the reason why I’m here, and it’s also the reason why my vocabulary has grown so much and I can tell you a whole lot more things you’ll never understand.  Just kidding.

Next in my family, I’d like to thank my little brother.  We don’t talk a lot.  But we talk.  The guy’s been through a lot.  The guy is the little brother of someone who made his mark at Independence through dedication and leadership in the Mabuhay Cultural Club.  Not only did he live up to what I did… he became their President and did a hell of a job.  I did a nice job too, but I wasn’t president.  The ONE year San Jose State doesn’t bring back a trophy from Friendship Games, Independence wins at all at Battle of the Tribes.  SWAG.  You’re not here right now, but I’m proud of you, and I’m glad you use what I did to constantly drive you, but you still suck at Madden.

(Wait for people to boo.)

And in my family, last but not least – I’d like to thank my mother.  She lost her job of 20 years as soon as I became a college student.  This forced me to pay for a few semesters on my very own.  It forced me to work for whatever I got, and at the same time, pursue an education.  There’d be times, especially in April, that I’d never be home because I was either at work, at school, or trying to live some other factor of my life *cough* AKBAYAN.  It was my mom’s lack of work that put me to work, and now I am addicted.  Mom, thank you for everything.  You put food on the table, you’re there to talk to, you went to all my PCNs… you CAME HERE.  YOU’RE RIGHT THERE.  Mom, I love you.

That’s pretty much it… oh yeah! Akbayan!  I didn’t even wanna join the organization because I wanted to get into Greek life.  Oh well.  Little did I know that I’d serve as an Intern (Mas Malakas), become the second male Community Chair (FRESH CAB!!!), become the Internship Coordinator for a group of 30 LEGIT students (5, 4, 3, 2…), nor did I think that I’d come to run the organization or get 13 shirts torn to pieces… winning Most Outstanding Cultural Organization and the big one… Organization of the Year… all while watching the organization host its 10^th Annual Ma”BOO”hay Talent Showcase and even doing the impossible… coming back from SoCal’s Friendship Games with not 1… but TWO trophies.  Two.

Since we’re on the topic of twos, and I tend to do things in twos… I got one more thing to say.

INDO!

Congratulations, Class of 2012.