Distinguished guests, honorable mayor Leonisa “Ona” Virata, to our school president, Rev. Dave Sariga, to our school president, Rev. Domingo Ranay , To the faculty members, to our beloved adviser Mr. Ferdinand Berces, to the proud parents and to my dear fellow graduates, a pleasant afternoon to all of you.
One big great responsibility is given to me today, to deliver a speech of farewell, thankfulness, and gratitude to the people I have been with during the four happy years of high school life, at upon this rock Christian academy. It’s a very rare opportunity to be speaking here in front of you, and it’s my pleasure to do so…
When I graduated in elementary, I didn’t experienced delivering a speech like this because I was only the seventh honorable mentioned, but that didn’t discouraged me in pursuing what I want, so when I entered high school at URCA, I convinced my self to focus more on my studies and not on things that won’t be beneficial to me as a high school student. But unfortunately, when I was in first year, I didn’t have the chance to have the number one spot from a brilliant student, named Paul Diaz. And when I entered my sophomore years, I finally got what I want, to be the first honor of our class, and I maintained it until my junior years and here I am now, speaking in front of you as the class valedictorian.
Being the youngest and the smallest in the class, as you can see, didn’t get in the way of my studies. I proved to them that age and height doesn’t matter when it comes to studying. The most important thing is that you have perseverance and the willingness to study.
During my senior years, I have experienced many great things that I will never forget. One of those is the United Nations day, where I became the emcee but that is not the main thing about that, but the highlight is that, our section proved that we can do all things with teamwork and unity. We proved it when our representatives namely Klark Rei Plamiano and Krisha Gandeza won some of the biggest awards in the competition, and that has really been a stress reliever for us.
There are many more happenings but the most memorable one was the Junior and Senior promenade, where we showed other people that we can socialize with other people effectively and we can be ladies and gentlemen of the new generation. Even though after the prom, we faced some problems, still, we didn’t lose our trust with each other, but it served as a challenge that developed our attitudes, and changed our views when it comes to having fun.
Surely those memories will remain in our hearts and mind, specially our bonding time during class discussions, that has been one of the “sakit ng ulo “ of our teachers, because we are one of the noisiest class here, or am I wrong ? WE ARE THE NOISIEST CLASS of all, and that made us unique from all the other batches, because even we are noisy, we still maintain our grades, and remained serious with our studies.
We all know that it’s really hard to say goodbye to our bond as siblings, but at least, we proved to ourselves that we can overcome the challenges in studying and we can surpass the expectations of our parents and teachers.
Now I want to take the chance to thank my mentors, Sir Ferdinand Berces na sobrang masipag magturo, kahit alam niya na minsan , din a nakikinig yung iba kong classmates, tuloy pa rin siya at kadalasan, magbabato siya ng corny jokes na talagang magpapabalik ng attention naming lahat, siya ang tatay figure naming sa school. Sir Jhun Ferrando, na parang tropa lang namin kapag wala sa klase, pero kapag lecture time na, lumalabas ang pagka professional,sobrang mamimiss ko ang tawa niyang unique. Teacher Jeneveb Alcazaren, thank you for your patience kapag nagtatanong ako ng paulit-ulit during math class, teacher Rona Escala salamat din po sa patience niyo kapag nangungulit ako sa klase mo, at teacher Cathlea Reyes salamat po, most especially sa mga advices na binigay mo sakin, in all aspects of life. Those three are like my ates during my senior years. Sir Richard Solano, na parang kuyang istrikto, pero masayang kasama, he also contributed a lot to my character. And last but not the least, sir Lance Aguilar, na sobrang naibahaging lessons sa akin, kapag nagkakamali ako, papagalitan ako ng walang pagaalinlangan, actually I don’t look at you only as a teacher but as a best friend na pwede kong sabihan ng kahit anong problems na meron ako. Sa lahat po ng mga naging teachers from 1st year to 3rd year ko thank you very much to all the knowledge that you have imparted to us, most especially kay teacher Arlene Ranay, thank you very much po for sharing me the knowledge and guts to speak in public, you have been the best and greatest English teacher ko.
To my classmates, kahit masasama ang ugali niyo , ngayon ko lang sasabihin sa inyo na you are the best set of classmates I have ever been with, to the groups in our class, The Zoomers –composed of all the boys in the classroom. The B.A.M.K.A.K.S. – Bianca, Apple, Monique, Karissa, Abigael, Krisha and Sharmaine, to the Quietest group in the class, Christine, Hannah and Rose, and specially to my dearest best friend, Jaea, I will miss you all dudes!!! And in addition, marami akong natutunan sa mga classmates ko, for example , natuto akong magbalat ng manga gamit ang kutsilyo, hindi peeler, natuto rin akong maglagay ng eyeliner at ng mascara. To all the people, who became close to me during my four years stay at URCA, including sir Jhun’s daughter , Jenifer Ferrando, sis, mamimiss kita ng sobra. Para ngang ang hirap isipin na, di na ko papasok sa URCA, iba na yung lugar na pupuntahan ko araw araw, wala na yung old faces na nakasanayan mo nang batiin ng goodmorning tuwing umaga, yung mga taong kahit mabangga ka ok lang kasi sanay ka na, yung classroom, yung upuan, yung building, lahat! Parang ang hirap iwanan, pero we must accept the fact na we are moving on to a new chapter of our lives, to be better citizens of this society.
And now to the most special persons of our lives, our parents, thank you for the unending love and support you have been continually giving us, thank you for all the things you have provided us and most especially to our older siblings na tumutulong sa atin kapag may projects. Our achievements are also yours. And to the parents of my fellow graduates,most especially to the parents of my classmates, thank you po, for raisng these people very well, kung wala po kayo, wala rin po sila dito. I just want to remind you po, na it’s not about the awards or medals that your child will take home, but it is about the honor and success of overcoming the challenges in studying and finally graduating at an institution that has equipped us with the necessary things needed to be responsible people. 
Now in behalf of the fourth year class, I want to say sorry for all the bad things we have done and to all the rules we broke, we are sorry for that. And if ever I have offended somebody, I’m really very sorry.
I just want to congratulate my fellow graduates, especially Dinah, Joanna and Krisha, it was a job well done for all of us, and we should thank God for helping us.
After this day, we will be going with our own paths, and choose our own careers in life but I wish that if we ever cross paths again , may we still have the same bond as brothers and sisters, or even as friends, but not just somebody you’ve known from the past. 4th year Micah batch 2010-2011, rock on! All of you will always be a part of my life, thank you and may God bless you more. 