Good morning, everyone.
Fellow harvests/graduates
Parents and guests
IB faculty and staff

Title: Am I enough?

Let me start with a question: Have you ever felt like you are not enough?

If yes, that’s good.
But if not — and you dream of changing the world for the better — then I’m telling you now:
You are not enough.

Now, I don’t mean that in a discouraging way. I mean it in the most freeing, powerful, and human way possible. Because the truth is: you are not meant to be enough alone.

Let me tell you how I learned that lesson.

Part 1
In high school, I thought being “enough” meant being self-sufficient. Kaya ko ’to, magaling ako.
I took pride in being that person — the one who had the notes, who grasped the lessons quickly, and whom classmates turned to when they didn’t understand a topic.
I rarely relied on anyone else unless I absolutely had to. Group work? I usually took on the bulk of it — except, ofcourse, the artsy parts. Studying? I did that on my own. Relying on someone else’s notes? Well… it rarely crossed my mind — because the pride of being the smartest in the room felt good.
And it worked — for a while.

Part 2
Then came college.
And with it, Bio 120: Microbiology – one of the first majors.
That illusion of “I’ve got this, I can do it all on my own” started to crack and crumble.
I couldn’t keep up.
I couldn’t take all the notes on all the bacteria Dr. Adao was discussing.
I couldn’t study alone and expect to thrive the way I used to.
It was humbling – But it was also the beginning of a better kind of success.
Sa Bio 11 and Bio 12, wala pa kaming shared notes ni Lance. But then sa Bio 120, we started dividing the workload. Then the first long exam for Bio 120 came, and that was the first time I went to a cafe to study with my classmates in IB, memorizing all those scientific names until morning.
And that’s when it started sinking in:
I wasn’t enough. I cannot finish BS Biology with flying colors alone, and I was never meant to be.

Part 3
Instead of falling apart, I started falling into a community.
I had friends who studied and persevered with me.
In every class we took, we collaborated on taking notes.
For example, in our Bio 132 class, we didn’t have access to the PowerPoint during lectures.
So some of us would focus on what Sir Acebedo was discussing, while others searched Google for the figures he used in the slides.
Then, some would format the notes, make flashcards, or add extra information to make the subject easier to study. That was also the case for 102, 131, 134, 150, 160, 151, and many more.
There were also times I felt sleepy during class — especially those 1 p.m. lectures — and in the moments I’d wake up, I’d see my friends still diligently taking notes – with such quiet diligence speaking volumes to me: Kaya pa.
And even this speech I am delivering right now had some help from Char and Hyle.
Thank you Marco, Coco, Klago, Roy, Aja, Ryan, Jerie, Narq, Niña, Beryl, Iggy, Tracee, Kyle, Krisel, JL, Lance, Adri, Belle, Hyle, Char, and many many more.
Then there were the orgs in IB, which gave me space to grow and serve: PMHS, ABM, ZS. Throughout my college life, I was given the opportunity to head 3 medical missions. But these outreaches wouldn’t have been possible without my VPs, Coheads, SCV, and the org members. The amount of things to prepare can’t possibly be handled by a single head, and the event itself requires a lot of manpower.
I had friends outside of IB who were always there for me, constantly reminding me: “Kaya pa.”
Thank you Gabo, Albert, Ian, Alex, Raoul, Lucky, Alaisa.
I had my family, who let me stay in Manila when I needed to, and who gave me the stability and quiet privilege to eat well, move freely, and even go out with friends to manage my stress.
Thank you Mommy, Daddy, Pia, Lance, tita ghay, tita trix, mommy old, daddy old, mama, papa.
I also had the IB staff, who greeted us with a simple “Good morning” — small gestures that grounded me on long, draining days.
I had mentors like Sir Acebedo, who probably doesn’t realize how much his encouragement meant to me.
I had Dom — who is the best support system I could’ve asked for.
And of course, I had God, who was the source of all wisdom and strength.

Part 4
Slowly, I unlearned the high school version of “success,” where doing everything alone was the goal.
I learned something more powerful:
Relying on yourself can only take you so far.
But trusting others — walking with others — can take you farther than you ever imagined.
It is like being a macrophage in a myriad of immune cells, a coral polyp in the Apo reef, an actin filament in the gastrocnemius, WNT in a series of signalling molecules, or a single base pair in the DNA. Alone, you are not enough.
And it’s not just about getting high grades or earning honors.
It’s about the kind of person you become.
It’s about whispering “kaya pa” to someone beside you, even if you’re both barely holding it together.
It’s about being in a community that strives to serve the taumbayan.
It’s about realizing that even your “not enough” can become part of someone else’s “enough.”

Part 5
So no — you are not enough. And that’s the point.
Because if you want to serve others,
if you want to change the world,
if you want to become someone who brings light, relief, or hope —
you cannot do it by relying only on yourself.
You were never meant to.
You are meant to grow with people, lead with people, and lean on people.

Part 6
That’s why today, I don’t just accept this honor as mine.
This is also for my family, who never made me feel like I had to carry everything.
For my study group, my orgmates, my friends, my professors, my IB family — especially those who let me rest while they kept going, who helped when I was tired, who reminded me that it’s okay to not have it all together.
This is for everyone whom I shared these halls with.

Part 7
So, let me ask again:
Have you ever felt like you are not enough?
If yes — that’s good.
Because that’s where growth begins.
That’s where community begins.
That’s where real strength begins.
And if not — if you believe you can change the world alone — I’m gently reminding you:
You are not enough.
But that’s okay. Because you are not alone either.
Padayon, mga bagong siyentista ng bayan!