Speech Title: May Fifteen

May 15 of thus year, I

woke up with a happy
heart. I thought o myself
when I reach 50 years
old, 60 or beyond, I will
look back to this day and
smile. Then, I paid
attention to my college
graduation picture,
framed on a 4x6
decorative wood edging
emblazoned with
beautiful memories. I
reached for it, and held it
closely, and uttered m,
10 years, and I think you
did a pretty good job! I
slowly put it back to the
side table, off to my
working station across my
sliding window to fulfill
one in my daily routine:
journal writing.
Then, I started: Dear
journal, In my 10 years
as a member of the
noblest profession in the
universe, I have
encountered several
influential, inspiring and
fabulous people. So,
today, as a tribute, Im
going to write about
them, starting off with my
top three favourites.
To begin with, I did not
like my first pick. She was
someone who would
always, always disagree
with my ideas and
decisions. I remember
one time while I asked
her to sign my college

Edited/Revised Version

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admission papers, she

was infuriated because of
my choice because I
ticked Mass
Communication as my
priority. It was a very long
battle of verbal
argument. As expected, I
did not win. Another, I
came home from school
sharing I would want to
extract the tooth of my
lab partner without an
anesthesia because hes
irresponsible and
ridiculous. Instead of
letting me vent and
giving me back rub, she
defended the behavior of
my lab partner saying,
He must have a bad day.
You have to understand.
Precisely, shes a devils
advocate.
But, I have loved her. In
fact, I have been playing
as a devils advocate
since college. I think its
important to see a
situation from different
perspectives. In that
sense, I can think
critically and make
reasonable decisions. In
the academic context, I
employ it as a strategy
to make my students be
effective communicators,
critical and creative
thinkers, service-driven
citizens, and reflective
life-long learners through
exposing them to several
relevant activities. I
learned this from her,

from someone I know a

devils advocate.
However, she left me.
And for once, it broke my
heart.
If United Kingdom has the
late Margaret Thatcher,
and China has Wu Yi, I
have a friend, too, an Iron
Lady who is my second
choice. And, Im lucky to
have known her. Coined
by Russian journalist
Captain Yuri Gavrilov in
1976, the iron metaphor
is used to describe a lady
who is strong -willed.
Strong-willed, thats a
perfect word that
describes my friend. I was
in grade six back then
when I witnessed the
misery that happened to
her family. I knew how it
felt thought I was still
younger. Their business
went bankrupt; her
husband was hospitalized
fighting against death;
and; she was falling
downward spiral. But, she
did not let go. She stood
her ground, fought bank,
and turned every tragedy
into triumph. Thats why
shes an Iron Lady to me.
Being strong-willed and
turning tragedy into
triumph are lessons which
I learned from my Iron
Lady friend. Had I not
applied these lessons to
my personal and

professional life, I would

have lost my sanity and
remained miserable.
However, she left me.
And for a second time, it
broke my heart.
Of course, we all have
heard the story about a
university professor who
sought a Japanese master
for enlightenment about
his question on Zen. The
master served the
professor suddenly said,
It is overflowing. The
master replied, You are
like this cup. I cannot
show you Zen unless you
empty your cup.
I first learned this story
from my third choice,i.e.,
my teacher who I used to
call master. That was
supposed to be a lifechanging tale for me
because I was very
stubborn and unreceptive
back then. But , my
master taught me to be
more open with new
perspective and continue
to seek inspirations from
other people who I can
call masters, too, and to
absorb and just filter
later. As Bruce Lee said,
Absorb what is useful.
Hopefully, after I have
taken everything in, I will
have evolved into a
better educator, just like
my master and
ultimately, a better

creative person. I want to

reach that zen point,
where everything is
intuitive and instinctive,
where teaching and I are
one (like samurai and the
sword are one), where I
can see beyond what my
eyes tell me as what
swordsman Miyamoto
Musashi said.
Yes, I am aware of the
dangers of having too
many masters,. But
mixed martial arts taught
us that we can learn
different masters, and
eventually, evolve into a
well-rounded warrior. I
guess the secret lies in
keeping an open mind. I
learned that from my
master. So I just make
sure that when I meet
other people and listen to
their stories, I go with an
empty cup.
Nevertheless, she left me.
Again, it broke my heart.
Right after I signed on my
journal entry, I heard
euphonous voices of
these three personalities
fused into one calling my
name. It was my mom.
She came in to my room
with two pieces of cake
each shaped with letter P
and J enough to be
carried by her hands. The
letters are intials of my
first name- Philippe John.
Planted on the edge of

each cake were five tiny

well-lit candles. I stood
from my post, grabbed
the pieces from my
moms shaky hands, and
put them on my desk.
Then, I hugged her. It was
one of the tightest hugs I
had given her. And, she
told me, Youre now
decade young teacher.
Way to go, my love, and I
promise I will not leave
you anymore. Never.
I couldnt thank her more.
May 15 of this year, I
woke up with a happy
heart. And, again, I
thought to myself, when
I reached 50 years old, 60
or beyond, I will look back
to this day again and
again and again.