VALEDICTORY ADDRESS
Angel Dominador C. Vistro
30 March 2009
Romulo Hall, Teachers Camp, Baguio City

To our Confirmer and Filipino Supervisor Mrs. Zenaida G. De la Cruz, Esteemed Guest of Honor, Dr. Lowell A. Rebucal, Madame Principal Mrs. Felizarda Zamoramos, our beloved teachers, fellow graduates, friends, family members and guests, good afternoon.

We are gathered today for a very important occasion – the graduation of Rizal Elementary School's Class of 2008 – 2009. Please allow me this opportunity to look back into my experiences.

I transferred here in the school year 2006 – 2007 to be part of the Fourth Grade Class. I had not just simply moved to a new school but the entire family had just actually moved to Baguio City. Becoming part of the Rizal Elementary School was okay despite my not so smooth yet humble beginnings in the school.

{ad libbed} I thank the Lord God for the spiritual guidance He has given us. May He guide us even further, and give us blessings May He shower more of His grace on us. {ad libbed}

I thank my classmates for the warmth and friendship you have all extended to me. It was a pleasure to have spent the past three years with you because for once I felt that I belonged. I hope you all enjoyed the times we shared together. From here on, we go our separate ways but hopefully we shall still be schoolmates or even better, classmates in high school so that we may be able to build our bonds made here at Dr. Jose Rizal Elementary School.

I thank my teachers and the school officials for the patience and understanding they have given me. Looking back, I can be sure that I was not the easiest pupil to deal with. I talked with my seatmates, doodled on paper and even played while lessons were being given. It was more taxing to you, my teachers, that I would argue and insist that my answers were correct or my habit of using a different and confusing way of explaining myself and my answers to questions. I meant no disrespect to all of you and thankfully, you have the proverbial patience of Job.

I thank my parents and siblings, for their love and support. The chance to be able to rest and do what I want in order to relax whenever I did well was a treat that I looked forward to. As a result, I was always motivated to do my best at school.

More importantly, for this occasion, I would like to thank you for teaching me to love and enjoy reading. If you may, that is a lesson I would like to share with my fellow graduates. Reading is a building block for higher learning. It helps us gain more information and understand complex ideas. Reading helps us imagine foreign lands, appreciate history and create visions of the future.

We all know how to read but do we enjoy reading? From my experience, if I do not like the book that I read, I have difficulty keeping the information in my head. And yet, by reading it again and again, it becomes easier to recall and comprehend everything.

Today is our graduation from elementary education and yet the ceremony is called Commencement Exercises. Today we begin high school life. Two months from now, we shall be students once more. We have had six years of elementary to help us prepare and now we have another two months of grace period for rest and recreation, and also for preparation.

Let us enjoy the summer break. Most of us will surely play and relax to our hearts delight. Hopefully, we would also learn that reading is a relaxing way of preparing for high school.

On this note, let me close by thanking all of you for your support. Thank you for the honor of being valedictorian. As Spiderman said, "with great power comes greater responsibilities." I wish to do you all proud and I will do my best as others surely will, too.

To my batchmates, "Summer vacation is here. Let us enjoy it! "

Have a great day everyone.