Passing It On

Today was my last day as one of the vice presidents of our org. We had the induction ceremony of the new officers earlier and so as the awarding ceremony of the outstanding executive board members. Fortunately, I got some awards - though it kinda felt awkward getting them. Haha! Dunno why.

I never really considered joining an org when I was a freshman in college. Everything feels so big and beyond my reach. I was insecure and felt small. I wonder what will that 17 year old Neil say when he knew what lies ahead. He may not even believe it.

My greatest achievement in college is not my high grades (got none) nor the videos I directed nor the projects we did as a team. It won't be the Soya Ice - even though it has potential to be really big. Neither are the projects and marketing promotions/designs I did for our org.

It's always the people who I influenced and worked with. That's why last Christmas, instead of spending money for myself, I bought books to give to my members. For me, they are my greatest success - seeing them motivated or challenge or changed buy what I did or say.

Not everyone can have a claim on that. They might have invested so much on getting those A's and working experience for the resume, but if you strip a person bare to its core, what matters most are the relationships that one builds and leaves. Something forever marked within a person.

Here's an excerpt from what I wrote in our high school year book.

"As i shut the door and open a new one to embark on another journey on this so called life, I took a trip back at the familiar memory lane and find myself stuck within its gray alleys.

I was once a student, like any other student in any other school, with the hopes to graduate and the dreams to excel. But then, after I flipped back the pages of my high school days, I found that I was painted in a bigger picture of people existing, not for me, but because of me.

In this four year roller coaster ride, my greatest success would be the discovery of my identity. My quest then was to achieve excellence in all the fields, but then I realized that there are more important things than academics.

I was able to influence people, and that to me is the greatest harvest that I reaped for all my hard work. I am a people person.

I never wanted to be forgotten easily, and through these people I have influenced, my memories in this Alma Mater will be remembered. With this in mind, I will finally be able to break free, and move on to higher places."

Looks like not much has changed of me.