Layout and Words by chardane
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
a day before the graduation...
"good morning teachers, i greet God in you with my God within, praised be Jesus and Mary..."
until it became...
"good morning teachers, praised be Jesus and Mary..."
"...now and forever. take your seat."
"...thank you madam."
and so it began.
...
we are one...we are two...we are three...we are four...we are three-hundred-and-eighty-two...
graduating from St. Mary's College of Quezon City...
they call us Batch 2006...
or troublemaking, noisy students.
i spent eight years in this place...
feeling the air in the morning, the stench of the bathroom, the noise of my fellow noisemakers...
hay...
i've never really thought i'd leave this place...
not because i take it for granted...
but, i guess, it never occured to me that it was temporary...
i mean, i've alaways heard of graduations and leaving schools, but it always seemed so far away from me...from the life that i have with my friends, classmates, teachers, homeworks, quizzes, UA's, tardiness, uniforms and rules...
it seemed to me like the normal way of life...it was natural for me to go to this place everyday for 5 days every week...if i had to do something, sa school na lang; if i had to ask about something, sa school na lang; if i needed something, sa school na lang; if we needed to meet, sa school na lang.
it was always there for me to enjoy, to cherish, to own...
and as i sat there, on the floor of the recently built marian centro, surrounded by my friends, classmates and batchmates while fussing to get our grad invitations, it seemed so unreal that in two days, this place will no longer be mine...
i looked around, and i saw familiar...well...familiar everything...
trees
faces
uniforms
buildings
voices
friends
teachers
lovers
the sky
the wind
the people...
here, i feel secure
here, i feel safe
here, i am known and accepted for who i am.
it is just so unreal that i will leave this place...
my comfort zone.
i won't see the same set of faces that i got used to seeing everyday...
the ones who made me laugh and cry, who taught me how to be strong, who taught me how to love and give a part of myself for others...
you know who you are...
the ones who always manage to make me smile...
the one who listens to me when i need someone to talk to...
the one who puts some sense into my thoughts and make me think a lot...
the ones who inspire my creativity even if they're not aware...
the one who i can talk with freely and discuss endless topics with...
the innocent-and-pretty one...
the not-so-innocent-and-pretty one who never agrees when i tell her she is...
the one who i can sing japanese songs with...
the one who i consider as the kindest person ever...
the ones who make guys melt...
and everyone who became a part of me and gave life to Charlyn Diane Gonda...
all i can say now is...
THANK YOU.
"this song is hard to sing, because goodbyes are hard to say..."
so, i won't bother saying it...
this is not goodbye...
we leave each other to go on separate ways...but we remain in each other.
...
riiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
"...goodbye 1-Makabayan/2-Mapagkalinga/3-Masayahin/4-Matulungin..."
"...goodbye and thank you teachers, may the Lord reward you..."
and so it ends...?
no...
and so it continues...