2009 NEW GENERATION CONFERENCE SPEECH
by Gov. Sid Garcia, RI District 3830
September 12, 2009 University of Makati
Good Morning Everyone and Welcome to the 2009 New Generation Conference. It is great to know that so many enthusiastic young men and women are here to take time out to nourish the potentials of being responsible citizens and leaders of the future as the fate of our Country is in your hands!
Let me first thank the following for making this first ever simultaneous New Gen Conference of Districts 3830 and 3860 possible: DCC Youth Lilibeth Dela Cruz and DCC Youth Tina Bacalso.
Salamat also to District 3830 Chair for New Gen Wash Roqueza and District 3860 Chair for New Gen Dinna Ramos; and SVP Jo Yap of RCM Paseo de Roxas and President Radi Abarintos of RC Fuente Cebu.
This is truly a first and I believe this will be set a new standard for the New Gen Conferences in the future! Let’s give them another round of applause!
I also would like to thank SVP Jon Arayata of Bayantel, and also PLDT for making this simultaneous conference possible. Salamat to all the host clubs, to CP Grace Rallos of RCM Essensa for the program content, and to everyone who made this event possible. My gratitude and respect to my counterpart in Cebu Gov. Tony for his able leadership and support. Mabuhay ka Gov. Tony!
I know that many of you probably struggled to get out of bed this weekend morning, some probably skipped breakfast to make it here on time and so I acknowledge your presence here today as you participate in the first ever simultaneous New Gen Conference.
The theme of this year’s conference is “WINNING THRU F.A.M.E” The activities we have planned are workshops designed to make you appreciate and understand the theme in the hope that it will serve as a guide in steering you toward becoming more responsible, productive citizens and leaders of your communities and of the country.
F.A.M.E stands for F – Foresight; A – Access to Success; M – Mileage to Global Competition; and E – Empowerment of Principles.
Though some of your friends are enjoying this day probably still in bed, or going to the mall later, or simply chilling out at home watching a DVD, updating his or her facebook account, need not worry as you can do those tomorrow! The truth is, you are lucky to be here this year as we have experts on each topic of the theme I have just mentioned and they will share their knowledge to you. There will be entertainment numbers too that I think you will enjoy.
When I was asked to give a message to you, dear delegates, I didn’t immediately know where to start. Today’s program is packed with very reputable resource people on each topic lined up and I thought – what else is there to say?
I also thought that a generation gap exists between you and me. Being over 50 years old, I thought I will probably sound like your parents or perhaps an elder uncle, or to some of you, your grandfather! And so I asked myself, “If I were in your shoes now, what would be significant for me to hear from someone over 50?”
I thought of this question very well and I realized the irony of it all – and that is, the things that are significant, that I would like to hear, are the very same things that my parents and elder uncles told me when I was young – the very same things your parents, uncles and aunts, and grandparents tell you now: study well, come home early, wake up early, wash your hands before you eat breakfast, fix your room, please take a bath, do your homework, etc. etc. etc.
And so I realized I was back to where I started. What message do I have for you today? What would be significant? I began to think about the question and decided to share to you what I have learned over the past 5 decades. Don’t worry as it will be short.
And so my message to you is: Believe, Learn, and Never Give Up. Parang Star-Struck!
- 1 – Believe.
I stand here today believing without a doubt on what our National Hero Jose Rizal said. I am sure all of us here have heard this that to some it already is a cliché. He said that the youth is the hope of the motherland. And that is a universal truth.
When I was in my youth, my generation too was the hope of the motherland. Currently, my generation is the movers of the motherland. Soon you are to be the movers of our motherland. In light of all the new and old difficulties we confront – a worldwide economic crisis, global warming, social injustice, moral corruption of our leaders, graft, poverty, etc. etc., there is a deeper need to arm the youth with the right vision, skills, mindset, and principles in making a difference and changing the world for the better. As I said, I believe in Rizal when he said you are the hope of the motherland. I believe in the youth! I believe in you.
Do you believe in yourself?
I believe you can be whatever you want to be. I believe you can dream big and make a difference. I believe you have the time and the opportunity to attain your full potential. We of our generation believe in your generation so I stand here telling you not to put our belief to waste. Believe in yourself first and foremost. What you will be, what you can do, how you will affect the people, the community, or world around you all begins with you.
In line with how the future begins with you, allow me if I may to espouse District 3830’s advocacy for voter education and responsible citizenship which is called the RVOTE. The objective of RVOTE is centered on empowering the people and the transformative role of the youth to spearhead the country’s rebirth and renewal. So it is important that you register early and volunteer for our voter education program at RVOTE2010@wordpress.com.
- 2 -Learn.
Let me start under this topic with two quotations for us to reflect on.
In a book I read many years ago, there is a quote that says, “Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves.”
Also, a wise man once said, “The man who is too old to learn was probably always too old to learn.”
We learn in various manners. Whether we are being thought by a teacher or a mentor, or whether we are simply observing and experiencing a situation, reading a book or whether we simply see something we already know in a new light, learning happens.
As the hope of the nation, continue to learn and be hungry to learn. Be passionate in learning. Though learning does not stop at a certain age, it is important / to learn as much as you can while you are young because life becomes too busy later. And it is largely what you learned earlier that will determine your success when your life becomes too busy.
To this day, I still learn new things. Older people continue to learn new things. When I was your age, our generation had no celfones, emails, wi-fi, YM, mac air, blogs, internet, etc. etc. We had our makinilya and the ever reliable and heavy rota-dial land line phones. We had no CD, VCD, DVD, MP3. My music gadgets in my younger years are now obsolete. Extinct! And if ever you see them, they are now technological relics.
And yet much of my generation now can text, can email, can chat. Not as good as you guys but we learned. Thus, I can tell you with all certainty that it is in one’s youth that one has the most time and opportunity to learn. So be aware of this and take advantage of it. Build the passion to learn.
You can learn anything you want to learn: productive things and unproductive things. Good and bad things if you will. We from the older generation have the responsibility to guide and offer what we have learned all through-out our years of experience and provide opportunities for you to learn the productive things that will matter in your future and that is what we are doing today.
- 3 – Never Give-up.
I have learned from people I know and even from my personal experience of great failures.
Failures happen. You have encountered them and you will encounter them – failing an exam, a back-subject, getting cut from the basketball team you tried out for, baking a burned cake, getting “basted” by the girl you are courting, not getting the job you applied for, your essay getting rejected, a business deal gone sour, going bankrupt.
The failures you have experienced in your early life will not make you immune. There will still be failures to encounter. That is reality.
I know that many a great men have failed / not once in their life but many times. People I know have encountered failures. I myself had several failures. But we never stopped and never gave up.
When you stumble, pick yourself up. Never let failure erode you belief in yourself. Failure is not a person. Failure is an event. When failure happens, continue believing in your self and learn from the failure. Then, move on. When you fail, fail towards succeeding.
Thomas Alba Edison has a very nice way of putting it. He says, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Edison never gave up because he knew that the only true failure is when you stop trying.
You are the hope of your family, of your community, of our nation. Our country’s future is in your hands. No matter what difficulties you encounter, when there are roadblocks in your path, never lose hope. If you lose hope, then the hope of the motherland is lost.
You simply cannot and must not give up!
To all of you: Believe, Learn, and Never Give-up!
Thank you for being here, welcome, and enjoy the conference!
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