{"id":2048,"date":"2015-03-10T02:38:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T02:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web02.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters2\/archives\/2048"},"modified":"2015-05-24T07:13:09","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T07:13:09","slug":"a-speech-to-the-graduating-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/archives\/2048","title":{"rendered":"A speech to the graduating classes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good morning teachers and fellow schoolmates,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s my pleasure to have the opportunity to have a few last words with all of you who are going to leave the school and embark on your separate paths soon. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Indeed I share the happiness of each of you, and I most certainly also share your antipathy towards long-<\/span>w<\/span>inded lectures, so I\u2019ll try my best to keep what I\u2019m going to say from being too didactic and clich\u00e9d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span>\u2019<\/span>m fully aware that many of you may already have great plans ahead of you, and great dreams you are determined to pursue, but I<\/span>\u2019<\/span>d also like to draw attention to those who haven\u2019t yet figured out the way of life they<\/span>\u2019<\/span>re going to live. Time is the essential element that we\u2019ve got to make use of — with it we prevail, without i<\/span>t<\/span> we fail.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Time is ever-running. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The arm of the clock can be stopped when we will it to, but the clock of nature never does stop. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Nor can time be reversible. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Let one minute pass, and bygones are literally bygones. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Even if we really pulled off devising a machine able to bring us back to the past, I doubt very much we can relive every past moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure anyone of you here has heard of the Rolling Stones or, specifically the song \u2018Time Waits For No One\u2019. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In the song a verse goes \u2018Time can tear down a building or destroy a woman\u2019s face\u2019. And yes, the course of time has definitely diluted the fame of the Stones, one of the foremost bands in the 70s<\/span>.\u00a0 B<\/span>ut that\u2019s not the point. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The point is, we never notice how fast and easily time can glide by, through the edge of our fingers. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>How often is it when we wake up and find ourselves nothing more compared to ou<\/span>r<\/span> \u2018yesterday-self<\/span>\u2019<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>William Shakespeare hits the bitter truth, probably for himself, in Richard II, \u2018I wasted time, and now doth time waste me<\/span>.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still more Shakespeare, \u2018On the great c<\/span>l<\/span>ock of time<\/span>,<\/span> there is but one word, Present\u2019. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Procrastination is the thief of time, and so it goes. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>On the incessant, unstoppable passage of time we should have resolute in continuing our journey. We should also be courageous to face our situation, however hard it is too accept. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Never dwell on ideas too long — act them out, and that\u2019s the only way we\u2019ll be able to turn time into our friend. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Bill Gates st<\/span>u<\/span>ck to his goal, and within years he oriented his Microsoft empire. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We may not have ambitions as such, and that only makes our day easier. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>You\u2019ll be sorry when time has turn<\/span>ed<\/span> to your back as a foe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I may be d<\/span>o<\/span>ing to<\/span>o<\/span> much preaching, as I\u2019m just about to say, \u2018have no fear\u2019. But yes, have no fear, for <\/span>i<\/span>f you make good use of it, the years ahead of you is going to be your greatest asset. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>So seize the moment, seize the day and, never let yourself regret.<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span>Now we get to the main course, the <\/span>crux<\/span>of the matter. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>How do we seize every moment? <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The answer may well be in your mind. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>True, by making plans, after all that mental preparation, resolute, courage and all. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>A plan is very powerful too, if you haven\u2019t realized. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>It can help you differentiate the feasible and unfeasible, the important and the not-so-urgent.<\/span>\u00a0Long-term goals can be grand but th<\/span>o<\/span>se designed to be reached in a short period of time should be pragmatic. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Otherwise<\/span>,<\/span> when your mighty plan gets thwarted, you tend to either procrastinate or dodge the reality, which both condone the <\/span>cree<\/span>ping away of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That is, once we make a practical blueprint of the things we mean to do, we should stick to it and never shy away from it. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>For on each segment of the road you waste a second, when you reach the situation you\u2019ll find<\/span>,<\/span> you\u2019ve missed the train.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again. Not that we are to become slaves of the sprinting time, time is a friend of ours, and through it awaits no one, it\u2019s the indispensable ingredient to success.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So what now? \u2018The best time to plant an oak tree is 25 years ago. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Second best time is today.\u2019 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Let\u2019s hit the trail today<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>L<\/span>aunch our plans and, seize every single moment when we are still keeping each of our sweet breaths. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>No point to covet it anymore once we\u2019ve become ghosts, that is.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope you find my sharing more than unhelpful, and may I congratulate you once again on the accomplishments that you\u2019ve had and the journey made so far. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning teachers and fellow schoolmates<\/span><\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

It\u2019s my pleasure to have the opportunity to have a few last words with all of you who are going to leave the school and embark on your separate paths soon.<\/span><\/span>Indeed I share the happiness of each of you, and I most certainly also share your antipathy toward.........<\/span><\/p>Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","language-en","classlevel-others","schoolyear-36"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2225,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048\/revisions\/2225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}