Dr. Maria Luz C. Vilches, PhD

Jose Maria Edito Tirol, PhD

DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS AND AID

At the end of the tunnel, there is light. But that light is also the one we ourselves make, and constantly seek to share with others.

DEAR ADMU BATCH 2022,

So there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.

Barring the arrival of a contagious new COVID variant, all of you can look forward to an onsite graduation. Some of you have even had the joy of face-to-face classes once again, and hopefully the opportunity to all walk around the campus again after your final exams. With the reduction in cases, it has become easier to move around and travel, at least within our own borders.

Yet at the same time, we cannot look forward to a return to the Old Normal, or dream of an idyllic New Normal, and pretend as if the last two years never happened. The reality is that 2022 has already been far from peaceful, with continuing COVID-related confinements and deaths in other parts of the world, the terrible ongoing war in Ukraine and its expanding economic repercussions, and now the uncertainties arising from the coming May elections.

As Fr. Bobby put it, there will be no Old Normal or New Normal, only Next Normal. What will it be like? We don’t know. Will it get worse before it gets better? We don’t know. But what we do know is that we have not just survived what the pandemic has wrought, but endured, and in fact, some of us have not just endured, but even thrived.

Wars can bring out the best, but also the worst in us. In many ways, the last two years may not have been a military conflict, but it has definitely been a period of intense struggle medically, socially, economically, mentally, and emotionally. And we take pride in thinking that for all the times we wanted to give up, or more often than not thought only of ourselves, we instead told ourselves I will get up, I will not be defeated, I will remember that I am not alone and that precisely because I am not alone, I will think not just of myself, and ask, how I can keep helping others worse off than myself?

The graduating batch of 2022 holds great personal sentimental value because with a few exceptions, it is composed entirely of the first group of students that I accepted as freshmen in my first year as Director of the Office of Admission and Aid. My goal at that time, which has carried over for the last five years, has been to select students who are not just academically gifted. Rather, I have sought to select young men and women with tremendous potential as leaders, and understand the meaning of resilience, integrity, and love of country.

And as they graduate as Ateneo alumni, I want them all to know, I am so proud of them.

At the end of the tunnel, there is light. But that light is also the one we ourselves make, and constantly seek to share with others.

Lux in Domino, Ateneo de Manila.

Sincerely,

Jose Maria Edito K. Tirol, PhD Director, Office of Admission and Aid

Loyola Schools Office of Guidance and Counseling

For the privilege of standing on holy ground when you opened yourselves to us, we thank you.

TO THE GRADUATING BATCH OF 2022,

It has probably been two years since you last set foot on campus.

The relief and awkwardness of this year’s return to partial on-site classes may have elicited feelings of excitement and, at the same time, feelings of apprehension. Your interactions with LSOGC have likely drawn the same feelings over the years. It was awkward and scary to have to tell a total stranger about how you felt, what your deepest and most secret thoughts were, how complicated things were, what confusion you were facing, and the kind of dilemma to which you could not think of a solution. For a good number of you, we hope the fears and apprehensions changed into relief as you spoke about your feelings, thoughts, stories, and behaviors.

It crystallized in your mind that the solution was indeed with you. You just needed someone to talk to, who could make sense of the chaos, objectively reflect on who you really are, and help out in plotting the next steps to move forward. It prepared you for this moment where you are set free into the wild bearing the thought of the bright star which comes out in the evening. It is your compass. It is your guide. It will likewise be your counsel. After all, you are a co-pilgrim, and we accompanied you in the four to five years of stay in the Loyola Schools, pointing out the inner strengths and value that you had but never believed in despite all the external evidence of it. Amidst all the trimmings of the assistance we tried to engage you in, the momentary rest in Blue Snooze, the peaceful interactions with plant life and visual arts, the soup that helped you through pangs of hunger during midterms and finals, the dogs that absorbed the stress in you, and the webinars that educated you on how to deal with certain issues, we hope that you had a happy and meaningful time in college. And we send you off, not just with all the survival skills in this jungle called life, but with the kind of care that sustains life itself. God bless you all and we continue to pray that when the journey seems to get rough, you will close your eyes, breathe slowly and deeply, recall the times you hurdled similar difficulties, and relish that you have gone through these before and surmounted them in victory. And when you reach that moment of peace, where the bright star has shown again amidst the darkness… smile to yourself, and continue on.

For the privilege of standing on holy ground when you opened yourselves to us, we thank you. We also cherish the moments that you have lightened our path with your own light. It is your turn to be a light to others.

Sincerely,

The LSOGC