Speech at the Philippine Science High School honors' convocation

(Part 1 of 2)

It is truly my pleasure to be here, back in Pisay, 25 years after graduating with the rest of my batchmates, as members of Batch 86. You may remember us, we are the batch that produced the movie “Pisay,” written by a batchmate, directed by a batchmate, and that told the story of Batch 86. Two days ago, we celebrated our 25th homecoming in this very same gym, and once again, I was reminded at how close and united our batch truly is.

I feel truly honored to have been invited to speak to you. Twenty-five years ago, I was in your shoes, and walked the same buildings, and sat in the same classrooms. Twenty-five years later, I still feel the same love, loyalty, and affection for this place. Ito kasi ang naging pandayan ng aking buhay. This is the place where I learned most everything that is important — who I am, what I wanted to be, and my reason for being — the why of life. Pisay was crucial in those formative years, and so is a part of my life. You may not know it now, but you will feel the same way in 25 years, trust me. So before we move on, I want you to look to the person on your left — and look to the person on your right. These people will be part of your life whether you like it or not, and you will be part of theirs.

But back to the topic at hand. What have I learned in those 25 years beyond Pisay, as a scientist, an academic, and an engineer? 

Well, I can’t really tell you what to do with your life, what career you should choose, what college course you should take. This is part of your personal journey, to find your passion. It’s obvious that ideally your work, your values, and your passion, should intersect. The best career or job is one in which you excel, that lines up with your personal values, and also pays well. Knowing this doesn’t really help, does it? So rather than discuss that, I think it would be better to talk about the characteristics of high achievers, such as highly regarded scientists and engineers.

The first characteristic is ATTITUDE. How do you view things? How do you feel when times are good, and when times are bad? I don’t want to turn this into a pitch for POSITIVE attitude, because it may be a cliché. What I am talking about is a general outlook, a general personality trait. Do people view you as someone who complains too much, or someone who gets things done? I think people want to be with other people who are not exactly the rah-rah-rah type, but who exude this aura of confidence. I think it does come from within, from a feeling that THINGS WILL WORK OUT. That the situation is never as bad as it seems. That if we work on it, it will get better. 

You are used to things working out for you. After all, you are considered high achievers, “the cream of the cream of the crop.” Let me tell you something — I never really liked that phrase. It’s often used as a pat in the back, which can easily turn into a feeling of self-privilege. If you think about it, you are here because of a series of small differences, many of which were not of your own making. You were probably born to parents who are more intelligent than average, who believed in education, who read to you when you were young. Perhaps you had access to books, or went to a slightly better school, or had one or two good teachers in elementary school who turned you on to science and math. If you add it all up, those small differences resulted in you being chosen for Pisay. And I don’t think you really worked that hard for it — not yet, not as incoming freshmen at Pisay. And now, those differences with the average high school student are being magnified. So at the end of high school, you as PSHS graduate would have a slightly bigger advantage than the average graduate. It’s all small differences, but they add up. It’s like the 1/10th of a second that differentiates the winner in the 100-meter dash, or the two points that separate the basketball champions. The small differences add up.

Why am I saying this? Because I think that perspective allows us to view ourselves differently, and allows us to be grateful, rather than think that things will always be easy. There is this children’s story set in ancient China, where the quest was for a piece of paper that had the secret to happiness. In the end, the paper contained one word: THANKFULNESS. I think if we all adopted thankfulness as a basic virtue, we will have the right attitude — you can call it positive attitude if you like. We will treasure our relationships, we will pay attention to everyone and be mindful of the ways people are good to us. And in turn, we will strive to be good to other people.

The second characteristic of high achievers is the drive for EXCELLENCE. But how does one achieve excellence? The research on this is quite interesting. There is a book by Geoff Colvin with the title “Talent is Overrated.” The central thesis in the book is that most, if not all true expertise, does not come from raw genius or pure talent, but by putting in hours and hours of hard work. Have you heard of the 10,000 hour theory?

(To be continued)

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This speech was given on Sept. 5, 2011.

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Francis L. de los Reyes III is an associate professor of Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. He conducts research and teaches classes in environmental biotechnology, biological waste treatment, and molecular microbial ecology. He was a Balik-Scientist of the DOST, and is a TED Fellow. He is a member of the Philippine-American Academy of Scientists and Engineers. E-mail at [email protected].