Commencement Speech: Science and Virtue

Ciencia y Virtud

Good morning faculty, families and student of 2015. It is my honor to speak in front of you today. Science and virtue as the university maxim, how does it relate to each other? Science as defined to be the body of knowledge and virtue as moral principles, does it really necessary to be smart or be intelligent to know your moral principles? Yes, maybe. But, do you think being aware and using what you learned to follow your moral principles are enough? At first, I’m not pretty sure with psychology as my course but as the time goes by, I knew that I made the right choice. With CEU’s maxim, “Science and Virtue”, it guided of what an Escolarian should be. In college, it’s not all about how smart you are or how popular you are. I experienced how hard it is for me to manage my time as a student and as a leader but look at me now. I’m here in stage, standing in front of you and about to graduate. Let me share you my secrets and how Cienca y Virtud guided me during my college years. First, I have this strong perseverance and determination. I’m always willing to do everything to achieve my goals and give my 100% best effort to do it. Second, passion is always the key to be successful. When I force myself to do something that I don’t like or I don’t have the interest to it, it always leads me to disappointments. So it is very important that you are well-decided with your plans and you love what you are doing. Third, I don’t let bad people influence me. Instead, I influence them to do what is right and let them decide on their own. They’re old enough to know what is right or wrong. I’m just guiding to make good decisions. And lastly, I always express my appreciation to my friends, professors and to those people who help me, especially my family. Without them, I might not be here, speaking in front you. You’ll probably find me in clubs or bars performing in front of the public to earn money for my schooling or I’ll end up sitting in the corner, staring blankly to nowhere and just eat until I explode. With those four secrets of mine, the university maxim is a perfect fit to me. You cannot just be a person full of knowledge but lack of virtue or vice versa. CEU taught us that being intelligent and living up to your beliefs and virtues, that together, it will guide you to achieve your goals and meet your purpose as a person and be successful with your chosen career. And with the education we received during our years at CEU, it prepared us to be competent, innovative, creative and successful.  I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true - hard work pays off. Use your knowledge to do what is right. If you don't think it is right for you, then don't do it. Thank you and God Bless.