Of character

“Knowledge, wisdom and sound ideas are valuable products of your education. But it is your character that will ultimately spell your future success in life.”  This was one line in the inspirational talk that Ambassador Francisco “Frank” L. Benedicto gave during the 18th commencement exercises of Benedicto College.

No doubt the meaning of the line definitely rings true to all persuasions of life. But it rings doubly true if it has to come from someone who could very well be an epitome of the “man of character.” Likewise, to those this message was intended for – the graduates.

Yes, to the graduates of whom some doubts may be raised if character were consciously woven into the formative process in their pursuit of a professional stature. Character building is, of course, expectedly part of the overall educational development, whether expressly articulated in the lesson planning or in the syllabus. Except in specific courses or subjects like culture and personality development, in general character is considered as just another given factor in the overall teaching-learning process. Focus is given more to the acquisition of what is termed as technical or hard skills. In the process, character building is unconsciously or unwittingly sidelined, if not totally ignored.

In one literature session, a teacher explained to the students the essential difference between being smart and being wise.  The teacher quoted a source which delineated the two ideas:  “A smart guy knows what to say, but the wise guy knows whether to say or not.”  To carry the delineation further, the smart guy is not a man of character, but the wise guy is. Bringing the delineation one step further, are we shaping our graduates the smart way? Or are we making them wise?

Knowledge, by itself, bestows as much as Herculean power. But knowledge, by itself, is trivia if not applied in real life. For power, we draw inspiration from Hercules. For wisdom, we draw inspiration from King Solomon.  T.S. Eliot posed the question: “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” In a day and age where the number one TV shows are sitcoms and we commonly find bestsellers written by those on the fringe of society, we are clearly in need of better thinking. We need wisdom.  

The inspiration the speech of the founder of Benedicto College generated is a wake-up call for all stakeholders in the shaping of the character of our graduates. A wake-up call from no less than an exemplar of a man of character.

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