The Monster in my Dream
Does anyone have a 500-peso bill in the audience?
Let me share with you my story of a 500-peso bill. Last month, I found 500 pesos on my way going up here. I was quite early for my 7AM class. While picking it up, my hands were shaking for it was my first time finding such amount. The bill was carefully folded into four. I went straight to the DU office to surrender it but the office was still closed.
Then, I found myself lying on that very spot. My mind was preoccupied with many things. With 500? My lunch would be extra delicious, extra hours of computer games, or pandog for my friends. I was imagining.
Well, I eat 180 pesos worth of lunch, and treat my friends. “The money isn’t mine, anyway,” I convince myself.
On my way home, I see a lotto outlet. I still have 30 pesos left from the money I found. Using random six number combination, I bet. How do I know? My father always asks me to bet. The next day, I woke up 89 MILLION RICHER! I abandon my studies, leave home, and live by myself. I buy a condominium and a car. I live life like there’s no tomorrow. Bar hopping every night, changing girlfriends like changing clothes, and forgetting my family and friends like they never exist become a lifestyle. At age 20, I become a monster.
But one very early morning, drunk and drugged, I drive so fast, and a truck crashes onto my car. Boom!!!
I fell asleep. It was just a bad dream. My bad dream is an example that money could be the root of evil. And evil could defeat the core values of a tamaraw.
Fortitude! Excellence! Uprightness!
How do we live the core values of a tamaraw? I know how. Resist any forms of evil! Resisting to take something I don’t own, or manifesting honesty during exams by not cheating takes courage. And that’s FORTITUDE. How to excel? As a scholar, I will study hard and maintain my scholarship. That’s EXCELLENCE. The idea of being honest is not rocket science. Upholding what is stipulated in the Student Handbook, that’s UPRIGHTNESS. I strongly believe that the Handbook will train me to be a better person.
Yes, living on my own to some people is a form of courage. But I’m not the monster in my dream. Certainly, having an expensive car and a nice house can be a measurement of excellence. But I’m not the monster in my dream. And living life while spending millions of money I won from gambling without oppressing others is probably a manifestation of uprightness. But I’m not the monster in my dream.
Ladies and gentlemen, THIS IS MY PLEDGE. I won’t abandon my studies. I won’t leave my parents nor treat my friends like they don’t exist. I won’t waste my parents’ sacrifices by wasting their money. I won’t use drugs. I won’t cheat on my girlfriend. And I won’t keep something I don’t own. This is how I live the core values of a tamaraw.
Comments