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AHS senior clinches Volvo Voice of Leadership Elocution Contestdate posted: 2009-02-13 09:03:30
Video by Elmer Gadaingan of AHS ITC
Ateneo de Manila High School senior John Xavier R. Valdes (4N) beat representatives from eleven other private high schools to win the first ever Volvo Voice of Leadership Elocution contest. The finals of the contest were held on the night of Wednesday, February 11, at the RCBC Theater in Makati. Valdes was also given P60,000 by Volvo as a cash prize.
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| John Valdes delivers his speech during the Volvo Elocution finals. |
The video playing above is of Valdes' elocution during the semi-finals held at the Tanghalang Onofre Pagsanghan last February 4, 2009. That performance won him the right to represent the AHS during the February 11 finals, for which he made a few adjustments to his speech.
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| The seals of the 12 schools that participated in the first ever Volvo Voice of Leadership Elocution Contest. Photo by Aldo Atienza |
Below is the text of John's final speech:
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my name is John Valdes. I am seventeen years old and I am a senior at the Ateneo de Manila High School. Though I am often mistaken for Chinese or Japanese or Korean… I am in fact, pure Filipino. I have lived here all my life, save for a few trips abroad, which have only served to strengthen my love for my country and my countrymen. I love being Filipino. I love how we pick up things with our feet, how we point with our lips and eat with our hands, our hospitality, our staunch zeal for God, and how we treat our elders with utmost respect and love.
But there is one Filipino trait that I am not so inclined to admire, and that is, our messiah complex. Now, I’m not talking about the messiah complex that leads one person to believe that he is the savior of the nation, no. The messiah complex that we are afflicted with is the one that makes us think that one person, one leader will solve all our problems and deliver us from all our hardships overnight. We spend our time looking for that one leader whom we believe will alleviate poverty, annihilating corruption, building infrastructure, and ushering in a renaissance for our nation. And, we look everywhere for this leader… everywhere, except inside ourselves.
As we all know, the Philippines has been in a RUT for the last couple of decades. SEVENTY percent of us are below the poverty line, and many more are skirting close to it. There are many who say, “What can I do? I am just a student, I don’t have the experience of a leader,” or “I am just a farmer, I don’t have the education of a leader,” or “I am NOT a politician, I don’t have the power or charisma of a leader.”
Ladies and gentlemen, this much I have learned: Leadership is NOT about education or job experience. It is not about power or charisma. And it is not about social class or distinction. As John Maxwell once wrote, “Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.” And by this definition, every man, woman and child in this nation of ninety million is a leader in his or her own right. The student, the farmer, the grandmother, the blind beggar, the little girl… they all have influence in their communities. Leadership transcends age, gender, handicap and yes, even the shape of one’s eyes. The fact that you are part of society makes you a leader ; a strand in a web, interconnected with ninety million others. If we all just realize the simple fact that we are all leaders and we all have influence and LIVE OUT these truths in our daily lives, we can bring about change, and be the very messiahs our country so desperately needs.
One person I know who realized the messiah and leader in him is a classmate of mine named Quinto. When I first got to know Quinto, my impression of him was that he loved to eat and he loved to have fun. He was always cracking jokes and the highlight of his day was what he had for lunch. He joined a school organization that did magic tricks, thinking that he’d have a lot of fun performing in front of people. And fun he had! He relished entertaining crowds and lived to see the bewildered smile on the faces of those watching whenever he guessed their card or made something disappear. It was this passion for making other people happy that lead him to eventually become the Org President. He enjoyed making people happy so much that he made their happiness his JOB. He stopped asking himself “How can I have a good time,” and instead asked, “How can I help others have a good time?” I would have never thought back when I met him, that this fluffy, roly-poly, fun-loving friend of mine would eventually bloom into such a wonderful, wonderful leader. Quinto dared himself to do more and to be more, because he believed in the magic of his magic. He knew that he could make a difference. Now, he is the difference maker in his organization. He has inspired so many people, including myself, to look beyond just their personal wants and desires and try to be messiahs of change in their own little ways.
Now ladies and gentlemen, I am only seventeen years old. My experience is limited to my humble student council. My charisma only grants me a small, charming audience. I don’t know much about government policy or politics. But I will tell you what I do know. I know that things cannot remain the way they are. I know that there has to be a change. I know that I AM A LEADER and that I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, just like Quinto, and just like every single person in this hall. I know that if we all decide right now to be the messiahs and leaders our country needs, we can break down these walls and on the other side we will find a Philippines that is the envy of the whole world. But we have to make this choice together. We must recognize the leader and messiah that is in each one of us and pay the price for change! Will we continue to just sit by and wait for some savior to pick us up off the ground and save us from our problems? Or will we harness the messiah that lies in each of us to spark a powerful mindset and start a revolution that will bring us out of this darkness and give birth to a new nation?
The choice is ours, my fellow leaders. Let us choose well. The fate of our country is in our hands. Thank you and good evening.
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| Valdes (center) with the second and third place winners of the Volvo Elocution Contest |
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John Valdes (right) gives AHS Principal Fr. RB Hizon, SJ (center) and APFor Fr. Eli Lumbo, SJ (left) the prize money he won from Volvo. The fund will be used for leadership development projects in the AHS.
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