to the buganhi

Vita est brevis, ars est longa. Life is short but art is long. The stay is short but the memories are long and profound. And that is what this class is leaving us tonight.
I would like to thank the following:
I would like to thank Rhiyn for reflecting to me my anger and for giving me the opportunity to see it with him, to listen as to where it is coming from with him, and befriend it with him. Our passion might be excessive but precisely because it is excessive, we can also love and be passionate with our work as excessively as we can be angry.


I would like to thank Brian for teaching me to slow down. That poetry and music can be more fully appreciated when you travel at the slow lane.
I would like to thank Alex for teaching me to correct without hurting, be angry without hating and withdrawing, to allow mistakes and learn to laugh at them. Alex has shown us many times that laughter is still the best medicine.
I would like to thank Lawrence for teaching me to work without fanfare, to suffer without groaning or complaining, that like the sun I should light up the moon while remaining at the background, without stealing the scene, without depriving others of the limelight.
I would like to thank Julius for reminding me that youthfulness is not measured by age. That being young is a state of mind, that although naivety may be laughed at today and being unsophisticated is frowned upon in a society that flaunts it elegance, yet both of these remain qualities of the simple of heart.
I would like to thank Sam for teaching me the virtue of persistence. That courage is not determined by how big or how tall or how strong one is but by how determined we are.
I would like to thank Raymund for helping me realize that you don’t have to do something and be someone in order to help people. That sometimes the best service is no service and all one has to do is to be there. In a world of absence, or in a world which measures significance by what one can do and contribute, he taught me that just being there is enough.
I would like to thank Dominic for showing me that one can be holy and be a clown at the same time. That foolishness is not just the attribute of the stupid but also a characteristic of the saints.
I would like to thank RJ for reminding me again that music is the language of the soul, that a person in love cannot help but sing.
I would like to thank Glenn for arguing with me most of the time. He may not have always won the argument but he always won by his charm, proof that in life, it is not always logic but also charm. That in the end relationship will always outlast reason.
I would like to thank Jonathan for the many faces he has shown and the many moods he revealed. He did not just make me realize my own but he also gave me the chance to understand him and to allow him a little space . . . my way of paying him back for accepting me and letting me be with my shifting moods.
I would like to thank Nielbert for teaching me dedication even in the small things of life. That humble work is still dignified labor. That sweating it out in manual work is not something to be ashamed of. He taught me that duty and responsibility, though small and menial, is important for the community.
I would like to thank Nino for showing me what it means to forgive and forget, for giving me the chance to make it up with him, for daring to smile at me and laugh with me despite my past mistakes . . . for because of these, he, in a way, gave me the go signal to forgive myself too.
I would like to thank Cano for helping me regain my own humanity – that I can care too, and be worried sick about somebody, and be disturbed and bothered, be hurt when I hurt him. I would like to thank him for teaching me that there is nothing wrong with these emotions.
I would like to thank Polpol, the famous Polpol, for being frank with me; for helping me many times to realize my dreams. Unsure at times of my footing Polpol was there to encourage. He helped me appreciate myself more fully and to value my own giftedness.
I would like to thank Bogs. I was not so appreciative with him for what he did in the library. I was not so articulate and vocal in my gratefulness and appreciation. He made me realize how important it is to be appreciated, that a simple word of appreciation can mean more than lavish salary. Indeed man does not live on bread alone.
Vita est brevis, ars est longa. Life is short but art is long. The stay is short but the memories are long and profound. For this I would like to express my appreciation and love to Buganhi.