At the AASA Thanksgiving Dinner 2024 held last June 15, 2024 at CTC 413/414, graduating AB Sociology major, Randell John D. Pallesco was chosen to deliver the Thank You response on behalf of the 19 AASA Scholars Class of 2024. Randell spoke gently but intently and not a few tears were shed after his speech. Some AASA benefactors approached Randell after to congratulate him for such a heartwarming message.
Randell John D. Pallesco
AB Sociology, Cum laude
I’ve been thinking a lot about Dr. Maya Angelou’s conception of love. According to her: “love liberates” — she went on to say:
“I am grateful to be/have been loved, and to be loved now, and to be able to love, because that liberates — love liberates”
– Dr. Maya Angelou
I’ve been thinking a lot about how love becomes this transformative power when we think of it as liberating — mapagpalaya. Kung gayon, na ang pagmamahal ay mapagpalaya, paano tayo lahat napalaya nito? Gusto ko isipin na pinagbuklod-buklod tayo ditong lahat ng pagmamahal. Sa mga magtatapos na scholar, sa mga masisipag na kawani ng AASA, sa mga butihing ate, kuya, tito, tita, pati ang mga lolo’t lola nating scholar alumni benefactors — pinagsama-sama tayo ditong lahat ng pagmamahal. In simple terms, we are celebrating not only the batch of scholars graduating, but the love that embraces all of us here which will now go out into the world and take on new forms, through the work of what would soon to be employed scholars *fingers crossed mae-employ soon*.
As graduation nears, I can’t help but think how liberating being loved as a scholar is — an Atenean AASA Scholar. In so many ways, we were loved into being liberated by our generous benefactors. Time permits me to only mention some.
Isang konkretong pagmamahal ay ang gusto kong tawagin bilang “initial love” — which is being admitted into THE Ateneo. Kung sasabihin ko sa 10 year old self ko na sa Ateneo kami mag-aaral, my younger self would ask: “Ha? Ateneo. Saan yun?” Growing up in a small fishing town in Occidental Mindoro, mabibilang lang po ng mga daliri sa isa kong kamay kung gano kadami / kaunti ang nabiyayaan na mag-aral sa Ateneo — Well, taga samin si Edgar Jopson, but inasmuch as I am proud of what he stands for, he still belongs to the landed elite of the town — if not one of the most prominent one. NEVER have I heard of an atenean scholar. Until Ate Hya Bendaña showed up on my tv screen and sparked my hopes into being. Pwede pala mangarap nang ganun kataas. I, a son of a fisherman, I can also do that. If they can then I can — well I can try! Ipinangutang pa ho ni Mama yung pamasahe ko for the ACET. Medyo nahirapan pa siya kaya 3:00 AM na ako nakarating sa Maynila, eh 8:00 AM yung ACET so lumulutang-lutang pa ko habang naga-ACET. But I took a lot of support and hope with me, so I went on.
One faithful evening, I received that blessing of initial love from Ateneo. Nakapasa ako. At nabigyan ng Scholarship!!! The air of our house was filled with both joy and apprehension. Kakayanin ba natin? Paano na? But that initial love that OAA gave our family sustained the joy and comforted our apprehensions. KAYA YAN!
True enough, kinaya naman! But to be honest, and I think I speak for all the scholars here, there are still moments when we ask ourselves “bakit ako nandito?” Especially if you’re the type to dwell on that missing point, when you score a 99 in your exam. I remember just last week, I was in OAA all sad and discouraged… sabi ko “Ate Lidel, I won’t be a magna anymore… .03 na lang sana and I would have made the cut,” “pero laude pa rin right? THAT’S MORE THAN GREAT!” I was shocked with her response, and overall overwhelmed by the kind of love OAA and AASA give to their scholars.
We scholars are sometimes too hard on ourselves. It’s not that we think papasok kami sa office and iniisip namin na baka sabihin ni Sir JoEd or Ma’am Jolly na “BWAHAHA I was waiting for you to fail all this time.” No. It’s we expecting better from ourselves, after all, to be an Atenean AASA Scholar is a rare opportunity. It is something we cherish and hold a high regard for. We also know that not all of those who deserve it, get it, and there’s a lot out there who deserve it!
It is because of this that we extend our gratitude to the AASA, OAA, and Ateneo for the sustained love. Liberating love that frees us from apprehensions about whether we’d go hungry, for there’s that ever gracious food stubs, or where we would habitate in Manila, because some of us were granted that dorm scholarship, and even a device on which we can work, for there was a laptop made available and delivered to our very doorstep.
We extend our gratitude for the liberating love that constantly tells us: “you are enough” “you don’t need to be perfect to be loved” – the liberating love that proudly says – “we have loved you since the day we took you in, and we want to see you flourish in so many ways than you could ever imagine.” Likewise, in so many ways, all the individual scholar here is love manifest. That’s what sustained us for the 4 years or more that we spent studying in THE Ateneo.
On top of that, I would move mountains for the love our dear benefactors showed us. You know it really hit me when Sir Heaven Torres, in our graduation preparation with OAA, said: “Contribute; because only YOU can understand the true value of an Atenean education.” I am grateful to everyone who made our education possible — to those who contributed what they can, in the fullness of their heart, and those who understood the true value of an Ateneo education.
Frankly, I’m amazed by how much love you can fit in your heart that allows you to liberate in this manner, since half of my stay in college, I spent in Mindoro. The only time I went onsite prior my junior year was during the open house, tapos yung lalaki pa sa harap ko umuubo na, and there were already looming plans of quarantine and lockdowns.
So minsan napapaisip ako, who are these generous people that are so willing to reach out to me in love? But somehow, in those two years of online classes, we still felt we were taken care of. Even if you don’t personally know me, you loved me. Even if you didn’t meet the people you were helping, you loved them. Love — liberates. In your way, you said: I love you if you’re in Mindoro, I love you if you’re in Zamboanga, I love you if you’re in Bohol. I love you. For that love, and in speaking on behalf of the scholars, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
That’s what I mean by the liberating power of that love given to us. Now, to which direction is this love pushing us or urging us to go? I say to do the same thing! To pick up your piggy banks and see it not in its material sense, but its capacity to change a life — to be a liberating force of love to others and the world; and in our own little contributions, to go where we are needed the most, and to liberate. Be that force of change, and to learn and take inspiration from that very same love shown to us by those who made all of this possible. Congratulations to those of us here who are graduating. Saludo ako sa tatag at sipag na pinakita niyo.
I would like to end with this quote from Prof. Sigfredo Calabig of PUP: “(nawa ay) maging mga palay kayo na gustong abutin ang langit at kapag husto na ay yuyuko sa pinanggalingan.”
Muli, maraming salamat po.
