The Final Animo
by Vincent Ryan Ong

With more than three thousand bodies inside the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), the air-conditioning of the establishment was not felt. Yet, no one complained as the final walk on the stage draws nearer by the second. After the Processional, the invocation, and the singing of the national anthem, we, the candidates for graduation, took our seat. It was a relief considering the fact that we've been standing like trees for what seemed to be like eternity waiting for our comrades to take their places. The ceremony continued by giving Honorable Hilario Davide, Jr. a doctorate of laws degree. After which, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court delivered his biased speech to the delight of everyone. And then it was time. One by one, we were called to walk our final walk as undergrads.

It was the longest fifteen seconds of my life. My whole being shivered with the memories of the past twenty years. This is it. I've been having dreams about this moment since grade school. Suddenly, everything became a blur except the stage and the people on it. I cannot hear anything except the congratulations being said by the President. I cannot feel anything except the warm hand shaking mine. And then I walked towards the other corner and gave my last bow.

Generally, a person has to spend at least seventeen years in an educational institution during the course of his life. The mind, being a tabula rasa (blank tablet), is slowly being filled with knowledge and experience given by the institutions. From the alphabet to the sciences and to the arts, believe it or not, we have not learned much. I have to admit that in the seventeen years of my student life, I have learned more from the last four years than from the previous thirteen. It was in college where I learned most of everything I know in my field. It was in the rooms of the Alma Mater where my interest for literature began. It was in the same halls where I constructed a bridge between my race and others'. It was in De La Salle University where I built myself.

Now I begin to yearn for the projects I despised, look for people I avoided, and thank the teachers I loathed. My graduation meant both liberation and captivation. From now on, there are no more classes to dread but in turn, there would be rooms, corners, hallways, and people to miss. It's hard to survive in the jungle called college, but it is harder to leave.

As the ceremony drew to an end, I wished that it would not. I was still spellbound to the magic of graduation. But the end is inevitable. It was time to sing the school hymn. Everyone stood up and waited for the cue. And we sang.

Hail, Hail, Alma Mater
Hail to De La Salle
We'll hold your banner
High and bright
A shield of Green and White.
We'll fight to keep
Your glory bright
And never shall we fail
Hail to thee,
Our Alma Mater
Hail! Hail! Hail!

Then it was over. Our final animo as undergraduates was over.

ANIMO LA SALLE!