To the 2019 IBS Graduates
Dean Felino P. Lansigan, Associate Dean Flor Palis, College Secretary Ivan Marcelo Duka, our Professor Emeriti: Dr. Milagrosa M. Goss, Dr. Asuncion K. Raymundo, Dr. Macrina T. Zafaralla, Dr. Virginia C. Cuevas, Dr. Cleofas R. Cervancia, Dr. Ida F. Dalmacio, and Dr. Rita P. Laude, parents, the graduating class of 2019, faculty and staff, friends, ladies and gentlemen, Good Morning!
There will be 158 BS BIO graduating students, 24 will be graduating with honors, Sean Lemuel Santos is the UPLB salutatorian, the highest among the magna cum laudes, the salutatorian for CAS and one of the BPI DOST-Science Awardees. There will be 7 MS Botany, 3 MS genetics, 4 MS Micro, 2 MS MBB, 3 MS Wildlife Studies, 4 MS Zoology, 2 PhD Botany, 2 PhD Genetics and 1 PhD MBB.
To our BS BIO graduating students, you will be opening a new chapter in your life. Most of you will be pursuing medicine, graduate studies, find a job in the industry and research institutions, be a teacher, and others will build a family.
For those who pursue medicine and graduate studies, we certainly prepared you for this. Forgive and forget the professors who challenged you and made you cry. At the end of the day, you will be thankful for they prepared you to meet the rigors of post graduate studies.
For those who will work in the industry, academe or research institutions, definitely we want you to be successful. According to Angela Duckworth, the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent, instead it is GUT, G U T is a special blend of persistence and passion. It is about being unusually resilient and hardworking. You are willing to continue on in the face of failures and obstacles. Being gutty according to Duckworth, is being passionate about something.
Talent x Effort = Skill
Whatever profession you will choose, never forget the UP motto, that is Honor and Excellence. Let me share this short poem on “What UP made you”
You will be the standard.
But never forget to be humble and accept that you are capable of committing mistakes. Be a team player. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Talk to people the way you want to be talked to.
For those who will build a family, never forget the 60:40. The contribution of the mother is 60 because aside from the haploid nucleus, she contributes the cytoplasm with mitochondria, while the father contributes only the haploid nucleus. There is uniparental inheritance of mitochondria from the mother. If you heard about the bi-parental inheritance of mitochondrial DNA, it is more of an exception rather than the rule. The mechanism of paternal mitochondrial elimination which is happening in nature is erroneous `in few of the individuals that show bi-parental mitochondrial inheritance. When you get married, always remember the specific base pairing, A=T, C=G and the fidelity that is happening in DNA replication. Always keep your wife’s picture as a mobile screensaver. Whenever you face a problem, see the picture and say if I can handle her, I can handle anything.
According to Sir William Golding, women are far superior than man. Whatever you give to a woman, she will make it greater. If you give her a sperm, she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will give you a home. If you give her groceries, she will give you a meal. If you give her a smile she will give you her heart.
Kidding aside, definitely, challenges will be coming your way. Please remember this. I got this from the Power of positivity.
And the best people give you memories”.
Let me quote the words of Pope Francis as a reminder.” Life is good. Make it beautiful. The less you respond to negative people, the more peaceful your life becomes. Save only those memories which give you twinkle in your eyes, not wrinkles in your face”.
“Behavior is always greater than knowledge, because in life, there are many situations where knowledge fails but behavior can still handle”
Mabuhay ang mga Iskolar para sa Bayan. Magandang Umaga sa ating lahat.
