WORDS OF GRATITUDE

Ms. Kimberlyn Akiat – 12-LIBERTY

As Martin Luther King uttered the words, I have a dream, the world became aware of how
he, a fellow man centered and advocated his life for a dream for freedom. As we take another leap
on entering our questionable society today as the future leaders, innovators, and hope of our
country equipped with the values and knowledge acquired from this institution, our second home
which thought us to dream big. This institution thought us that we, all have dream. A dream that
may not come as easy as we want, a dream with a connection to the inevitable failure and
disappointments but also a dream that will push us to strive further until we reach greatness, a
dream that teaches us strength and vigilance.

I had always dreamt of greatness but was always enclosed in the thinking of trying for the
sake of trying, creating for the sake of submission, but then I realized all would be worthless if my
goals were bounded by meaningless reasons. Everything happens for a reason they say, and I
believe that we are all gathered here for a reason, I am able to share this opportunity with all of
you, feel the stress, experience failure, sleepless nights and mornings powered by 2 hours of sleep
and a gallon of coffee.

Two years ago I had the chance to meet all of you, apart from those I had grown accustomed
to, one of them standing beside me, my dear Ana, who thought me the meaning of hard work, but
we all had a chance to create a new family, one who we share this story and journey with. My story
might be slight different from yours but I was able to meet, the truest form of truth, my beloved
Integrity, to Shaina, Byron, Rochelle, Clarisse, Shenna, and all other 26 of us. Thank you, for
sharing this experience with me, I hope we all thought each other the importance of courage. All
with the guidance of our very own mother and honorary father, Sir Ezee and Ms. Len, the man and
woman behind our strength and of course our tears from their endless requests for revisions on our
research, they never failed to express their never ending support, we saw not just an adviser but
also a friend and a mentor. To Ma and Pa, all these achievements are offered to you. Both of you
became my reason; the reason to achieve all things for your happiness, to repay your sacrifices
with what I can offer as a child. Everything is for you Ma and Pa. I am nothing without your
support. And most especially to God, He who should be our primary reason to dream our model
of strength, with faith in Him everything is possible.

We have our dreams and together let us walk in the path of our dreams, it may not be easy
and courage may run low but let us always remember to persevere. You are not alone in this world,
you will always have a companion, a friend, a colleague experiencing similar challenges of life. A
country will not survive with only one warrior, we all should be one, a warrior fighting for our
dreams. We can make our own history.