Saturday, April 19, 2014

Crazy Days - 42nd Commencement Exercises of World Citi Colleges






The days leading to our school’s 42nd Commencement Exercises, and a few days after it were the craziest of my days in office. My office teemed with people – from students, to faculty, to department heads. Not only this, since I also had to entertain calls from our two other campuses from time to time regarding our forthcoming graduation which was held last April 11, 2014 at Crossroad 77.

My Cubicle

My cubicle inside our office never ran out of students – both graduating and the continuing ones. Graduating students patiently waited for their turn to be entertained by yours truly, to know the verdict of whether they will graduate or not. They were complete with their ammunition for evaluation – curriculum checklist, completion forms, OTR from their previous school, and even their Dean.

In between them were continuing students handing to me their clearance for signing. Not to be outdone were the faculty members. They too squeezed themselves in, to submit their official grade sheets, and to have their clearance signed by me.


I forgot to mention some parents who were my occasional clients, consulting me as regards the status of their children – if they had complied with the academic requirements for graduation or not. One mother cried because she pitied her son. Another was angry because she didn’t know what to do with her son (all the while they thought he will graduate). A father was angry with the situation that his son got himself into that jeopardized his chances of graduating.

Hence, my cubicle was not only filled with people, but was filled with all sorts of emotions as well. Internally, I surrendered to my own roller coaster of emotions. I was happy for those who made it, and sad for those who did not.

In between all of the above mentioned people were the Deans – inquiring about the graduation list, submitting grades of their students, and ironing out with me issues concerning their graduating students – both academic and personal.

Apart from phone calls that I mentioned earlier, there were also texts that I had to answer from time to time.


No Holiday

April 9 was a holiday (Araw ng Kagitingan), but it wasn’t for me. I left our house at past 1 in the afternoon to go to my office to get some work done. I did a final evaluation of some graduating students who were still on my pending list, and finalized our list of awardees, which I will announce the following day during our thanksgiving service and final rehearsal at Crossroad 77.

I stayed until around 8 in the evening and what made me extend to that hour was my meticulous evaluation of all our awardees.


The Day Before

Last minute preparations for our graduation made our days all the more crazy.

A day before the big day, there were still several students who sat down with me for their never-ending final evaluation. Luckily, they made it. My last client though, came not on that day, but on the following day instead – 2 hours before the graduation, which sent my nerves exploding in all possible directions. Fortunately for her, she made it as well.



Two other vital things were finalized only last 10th of April: the invitations and tickets which were distributed late afternoon, and the personalities who will emcee the program who had their only actual practice during the final rehearsal, which was already late by any standard. They did well during the commencement program itself nevertheless.

At around 8 in the evening that day, I noticed that many HRM and Tourism students were rushing towards our Property Office. The reason – their togas were delivered late.


Other Tasks

But graduation was not my only concern. I had a plateful of two other tasks – summer enrollment and all its nitty-gritty details, and the completion of our compliance report to Deped in preparation for our Senior High School Program in 2016 which was due for submission last 15th of April.

Such report continued to keep me on my toes after graduation. In short, no time to rest.


Looking Back

Looking back, I am amazed at how I managed to attended to so many people with varied concerns. 

Looking back, I thank sincerely all the graduation committee chairpersons and their respective members, and my office staff too.

Looking back, my heartfelt thanks to all our students who graduated, for bearing with me in my moments of impatience, and fits of frustration which they themselves have caused :)

Looking back, I cannot thank God enough for giving me the strength,  guidance and wisdom, to endure and rise above every stumbling block that hurriedly came my way - before and after our graduation.


                     Congratulations Batch 2014 !



Special thanks to the following graduates for the wonderful photos: Jaime Maclang, Janine Dineros, Jezza Nadonza, Jordan Ang, Lai Guevarra, Sofia Toledano, and Yves Avanceña

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