Leaving Portals

March is the most awaited month for the students who are to commence new journey in their life. It is finally that time when they march down the aisle and walk up to the stage to claim that hard earned diploma.

Graduations I have been with have moved me probably because I see the success not just of one but to a number of people who have helped the graduate succeed.

Most of my friends on my social networking sites have been posting pictures of them donned in the almighty toga. Congratulatory greetings are flooding my news feed that I could not help but share the same sentiment as well, especially that I am also a graduating student.

At one glance, their photos look so triumphant but on the other side are portals to be left behind; portals which have shaped a man into becoming a successful graduate. The graduation is a chapter closed in a story of one's life and another is yet to begin.

But as that new story begins, life in the academe will be deeply missed. It is an institution that allows you to explore your talents and creativity. Your imagination could run wild and your thoughts could be freely expressed. In the portal where I will soon be leaving, we openly study different ideologies, cultures and religions. Nobody is left out, everybody is welcome.

Soon enough, I will find all the lessons learned at the portal applicable to the life that awaits me. I could not help but remember the sweetness of my innocence when I first entered. At first I had inhibitions to the situation that I had placed myself into. College seemed like a big world for me where I don't belong to but eventually I learned to call it my second home.

If there is one thing I would miss from my portal (on top of the cheap food which I could foolishly grab anytime - the classic siomai and puso), are my esteemed professors who believed in the every bit of me as a learned. They have taught me how to embrace life as it is even if the going gets tough. I believe every teacher or professor have exchanged their long night's rest for hours of preparation for tomorrow's lesson while scouting for avenues to further advance their expertise. Despite their very busy schedule, they remain to be always present; a guide to all our academic endeavors. It is but proper to give them the honor they deserve.

On another note, I'm sure nobody wants to be remembered as the laziest student who always came in late for every class. Or the class clown who performs the sloppiest on school work. We all want to be remembered well for the future graduates to look up to and to become one is our choice. As for me, I want to be remembered as the student who pursued excellence academically that when my name is mentioned they automatically recall my diligence and perseverance in school.

The way you will be remembered will be your influence to the next generation. That influence will inspire them to do better even if you have left the portals. What you have done will resound on the halls of what you have left behind thereby your time spent inside would not be put to waste.

As students leave their portals with an elated heart, the question we should all be asking is "How do we want to be remembered?" The question is more than a memory, but a legacy that you have imparted to your institution which will be carried on till the end.

The commencement exercises is more than just thinking where to go next for eventually you will be brought there in time. It is about looking back at the walls that you will be leaving and thinking what you have done to make it a better place.