Genius with a heart, intelligence with a conscience

(An ad-libbed version of this speech was delivered at the 26th commencement exercises of the Lyceum Northwestern University Francisco Q Duque Medical Foundation Special Science High School on March 27.)

Lyceum-Northwestern University (LNU) Basic Education Executive Director Nestor Cesar Duque, LNU Francisco Q. Duque Medical Foundation Special Science High School (FQD) Principal Grace Mencio, FQD graduating class of 2015, parents, family and friends, FQD faculty and staff with special mention of course to faculty members who are my former teachers – my former History teacher now Department Coordinator Digna Rosario, my former Psychology and Chemistry teacher Gabriel Salayug, my former Math teacher Mary Jane Montemayor – and my batchmate, good friend now FQD faculty member Jellica Manuel, a pleasant morning. 

FQD is a great learning institution. 

I say that because it takes some growing up to be a genius with a heart and have intelligence with a clean conscience – our school motto.

Let me tell you why I think that way.

In college, as a varsity debater, I was used to tough competition. You read up on current events, geopolitics, and philosophical ideologies. You debated about them against some of the best speakers of the best universities not just in the Philippines but also abroad.

And boy, did that get into your head sometimes.

By the end of my debating career, I had relatively enormous knowledge, for my age, of the world’s struggles. I knew about international disputes between nations, legal concepts that weren’t taught in journalism class, identity politics, and the plight of minorities in various states. I spoke of the wisdom and negative consequences behind drone strikes and military intervention and of the unfortunate costs of war. Displacement of families, loss in lives, destruction of property. Things that I couldn’t possibly do anything about. 

But I knew them, memorized details, statistics, and events by heart. Because that made you a good debater – when you know what to say in case confronted with these topics in a debate tournament.

More than lip service

Then it hit me that it is not the genius in you that makes you a productive citizen of this world. It is the heart that chooses to put your knowledge into good use. It is the heart that says, “I’m not gonna stare in the face of suffering and not do anything about it apart from just knowing.” 

In college, my thesis revolved around the media theory of Narcotizing Dysfunction. It is a negative effect of media consumption wherein people have dangerous illusions of active participation simply by knowing a lot about social issues, mindlessly supposing that knowledge expansion is tantamount to political action.

As debaters, we determine problems in status quo, propose grand multi-level solutions and defend them. But we rarely engage in civic activities or help out in the proactive solutions that already exist in the community.

The truth is our intense discussions on social issues often substitute action on our part. 

In this regard, we do become puffed-up intellectual bullies, incessantly complaining about the system but not doing anything about it. 

Of course, there are outliers.

So the challenge for the genius with a heart is to serve humanity beyond the lip service.

A vision for others

Learning, educating yourselves goes beyond the 4 walls of your classroom.

I am not an academic, never have been even during my stay here in FQD. My batchmates and teachers would attest to that.

But I have always sought learning, knowing more about this world, about people, their stories, and what wisdom can be gleaned from these stories.

I love stories. In my work as a journalist with news agency Rappler, I have met and shook hands with dignitaries I look up to.

I sometimes wonder what propels people like them. Is it mere ambition? The drive to succeed?

Not to generalize, but the good-intentioned movers and shakers of society are often the people who have looked and cared beyond themselves. These are people who have a vision not just for themselves but for their community.

Early on as a kid, I read a statement that heavily influenced how I now approach social issues. It came from an autobiographical book of a politician who, having known better, I now detest. 

It is this: “People demand so much from government but give so little of themselves.”

It is always the heart for others that makes good stories but also makes this world a better place. Character always trumps skill.

Kindness to those who need it

As you move on to your next journey, let me share a few nuggets of wisdom I hope would do you good:

Never let your belief in yourself and in the powers that be go away. Never fear. Never be a coward in life, conditioned to think you only deserve the leftovers. 

You are greater than your failures. Let the mistakes and bad decisions you make shape you into a better person.

Bloom where you’re planted, as my church pastor preached. No endeavor is too small to be beneath you. Wherever this universe places you, be good while at it.

Don’t mind people who assume the worst of you. In some ways, they might be right. Be kind to them anyway.

In an age where it is becoming increasingly easy to intrude into an individual’s private affairs, there will be bullying. There will be people who will belittle what you have and what you can give to this world.

Yoko Ono, the wife of the late Beatle John Lennon, tells us to draw a halo above the head of an unpleasant person.

Picture that rude person – the friend who betrayed you, the professor who gave you a hard time in class, or even the stranger who ruined your day – with a halo above his or her head. Every person in our lives is an angel brought to us by God to push us to create better versions of ourselves. 

Be yourself

Sometimes you’re not meant to fit the mold. Embrace your rough edges and the ruggedness of your dimensions. 

It is not your job to fit in. In fact if you stand your ground, not giving in to the passing fads and being true to yourself and what you want, one day you will find a group of people whose interests and ideals align with yours.

Chart your own path.

Never let others set the agenda for you, and that is true in journalism as it is in life.

Never settle. Pursue excellence. Dare to achieve.

Never be afraid to give your all. You will be the odd one out, I tell you. Everybody wants to have things easy. It feels good to just chill out. I have moments of slacking, of course.

But sooner or later, when the high of futzing dies down, I remind myself that sometimes the best way to get ahead of the pack is to outwork everyone else.

Don’t be the guy waiting for the next easy shot. Be the guy who works hard.

Work hard, but also work smart. Know what you are willing to suffer for, and take the plunge.

Hards skills and soft skills

Live life the best you know how. 

Make the most out of every relationship and out of every experience, whether you see it ending anytime soon or not. 

Embrace sorrow when it comes, as much as you embrace fun and laughter.

It is through the tough times that you develop self-drive and grit.

Workers’ skills are often divided into two sets, the soft skills and the hard skills. 

The hard skills pertain to your competencies, what you are able to do, pretty much the things you learn from a textbook. But remember that the soft skills are what employers look for in deciding your continuity in a company and  make your contribution to society. 

Soft skills include flexibility, patience, willingness to learn, being able to work well with a team, putting relationships over ego, and mental toughness and drive as opposed to simply mental intelligence.

These skills are developed when we go through and overcome the painful, the shocking and unexpected, the life-changing experiences. Never dismiss the power of the universe screwing you over.

James, my favorite book in the Bible, tells us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience.

To paraphrase the poet Kahlil Gibran: However deep a sorrow carves out in your heart, let that depth be a space where you can contain more love and happiness when the sorrow goes away.

Final pieces of advice

Now, I’m not telling you to deliberately seek failure. Strive hard.

The remainder of your teenage years will be tumultuous. Seek your parent’s help and guidance at all times. Honor them.

Be grateful. Your complaints in life are the dreams of a million others. While you will face a ton of schoolwork in college, others don’t even have the opportunity to obtain a college degree.

Speak out. Have strong convictions. Evil flourishes, as Edmund Burke said, when good people choose to stay silent.

Know what you want. Find that which propels you.

To the parents, I ask you to support your children in their passions. It is in that which propels them where they will excel the most.

And finally, as my boss always says, draw the line between good and bad, ethical and unethical. Never cross that line.

Young people’s potential in the cyber age

As a graduate of this school, I strive and am reminded to be a genius with a heart and to have intelligence with a clean conscience. 

This also the reason why I love my job. There is a sense of public service in journalism and, in my case, online journalism.

Abandoning the pursuit to address collective needs on account of your own comfort and convenience becomes difficult to bear when the struggles of countless others are on the screen of your laptop or mobile phone. 

Not only has the Internet democratized the publication industry where any user is now a producer of content, it has pretty much transformed all other initiatives for anybody’s taking given the vast amount of information it offers.

Online efforts of aggregating data for the benefit of Filipino netizens, for example, is helping speed up the delivery of assistance and relief to where they are needed.

When I think about the amount of resources that’s just readily available for young people like yourselves to devour in this cyber age, I am intimidated at the thought of how great you can become. 

Be the types of great people who genuinely care for others.

With the right information traveling to the right people, initiatives in the virtual world have started – and will hopefully continue – to translate to real-world action. 

Congratulations FQD Batch 2015. Be geniuses with a heart. Have intelligence with a clean conscience. – Rappler.com