To the honorable Board of MT, PAMET,...family, friends, classmates, and now colleagues, good morning. Talent is not enough.

Those were the words printed on a t-shirt i saw at robinsons magnolia last June, while i was still reviewing for the board exam. A tshirt with an all-too-familiar check logo on it. Those words really stood out for me. Not because they were supposed to be basketball related, but because they applied to any endeavour in life. Talent is not enough. The line itself, implies something else is needed in order to succeed in life. But what is it? Is it luck? Is it being rich? Pagiging gwapo ba gaya ko? Biro lang. My professor in college, Dra. Lozada, once said, all the students who reached this level, meaning the collegiate level, have the IQ. walay bogo ninyo. Walang bobo sa inyo. Ang kailangang idevelop, EQ. What is EQ? i am not referring to the diaper brand, by the way. EQ means emotional quotient. Ang isang tao, merong utak. At meron ding emosyon. For one to become successful, for one to be called mature, both have to be developed. Ang saba ni Dra., tayong mga binata't mga dalaga daw, super emotional. Eh di anong kulang? Us teenagers, now young adults, dahil sa pagiging emosyonal natin, (hindi emo na naglalaslas) minsan nawawala tayo sa focus. You have lots of things you want to try out. You want to do. There are also innumerable trials that we face everyday. Pag nabigo tayo sa isang bagay, akala natin katapusan na ng mundo. Diba ganun ang feeling pag fail yung marka mo sa isang exam? Does anyone out here like that feeling? Didnt each and every one of us, feel that way at some point in our journey to become a professional? I dont know about you, but i sure did. Way, way more than i wouls have wanted. More than i bothered to count. Call me a sadist but, i relish those times when i feel like ive failed at something. Theres a beautiful poem shared by my review center, the line said, success is failure turned inside out. The silver lining in the clouds of doubt. Diba ang ganda nung rhyme? When you fail at something, its not just because you were bad at it. You have to look beyond the pain, beyond the pride, beyond the fear. The fear of doing something because "i might fail at it." I might suck at it. Let me quote another saying. This time by michael jordan. Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion. Nasa isipan lang natin ang takot. Ang sakit. You have to reach deep within yourself, and find that fire. That right emotion. What's that? Courage. Not courage to never fail, but courage to rise above failure. Half skill, half will. Recipe for anything in life. Tayong lahat dito, mga tao lamang. No matter how good we are at one thing, we will always come up short one time or another. That is never, EVER an excuse to stop trying. To stop giving your best each and every time. Isnt that what makes life beautiful? There is always hope. Theres always another chance. Tomorrow brings new hope. Dare i say, the ones who've accomplished the most in life, are the ones who've failed the most. Sure, you can read up on all the quotes ive quoted. Reflect on them. Share them with others. Ipost sa facebook tsaka twitter tsaka instagram. But it is a different feeling, when you experience it firsthand. Personally, i have experienced that in my journey towards becoming a registered MT. And i believe, it has made me a better person today. I would not want to make my speech very long, or too clich, as I know that the stage is not just for me, but for all of us. But we must not forget too, the support that we have received,

not just in our journey to licensure, but ever since we were conceived. You know, thats the funny thing about support. Emotional, physical, financial, whatnot. Sa pagka rami2x ng suporta at biyayang dumarating sa atin, we tend to take them for granted. Lest we forget, we are part of the health care professionals that take care of patients everyday. Let us be the support that these patients need. Invisible or barely there may we be, but rest assured are efforts are ever crucial to patient care. That is why i would like to thank God the Eternal Physician, the Eternal Health Care Professional, first and foremost, for bringing us all here. For blessing us with this victory. For good health. I also want to thank my ever supportive family, my aunties Nelle, Heidi, and Penny, and especially my father. Who always believed in me. Pa, this ones for you. I am also indebted to my alma mater, velez college, for always training excellent medical technologists, for challenging us to excel. To ACTS review center, for resharpening our minds in preparation for the board exam. Sa tingin ko, marami kaming wala dito kung di dahil sa inyo. And of course, how could i ever forget my friends, batchmates, schoolmates, and relatives, although they arent here today, for their encouragement and support. Little things can mean so much to one person. My fellow newly minted medical technologists, as we enter the professional world, let us never forget how we got here in the first place. And who helped us become who we are today Let us take those lessons learned with us. Away from the classrooms and review centers. And into the arena that we call life. Let us fail. So that we may learn to rise. As another one of those shirts once said, the time is now. This is our time, my fellow RMTs. Maraming salamat at mabuhay kayong lahat.