2018 Remarks from the Graduates: Rhianne Patricia Plantilla Garcia

<img src="images/articles/2018/Rhianne01.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="400" align="left" hspace="10" vspace="10" />To our dear guest speaker, Dr, Diljit Singh, Dean, Professor Kathleen Lourdes B. Obille, College Secretary, Professor Benedict S. Olgado, UP SLIS Faculty and Staff, guests, friends, families, and parents, a wonderful afternoon to you all. To my fellow graduates, sa wakas we are finally here.

I am truly grateful and honored to the UP SLIS community for giving me this opportunity to present the Class of 2018 and speak here in front of all of you. I still remember the night I decided to write Bachelor of Library and Information Science as my first choice in the application form for UPCAT. When I was younger, I knew that I wanted to be a doctor and that I could care less what my pre-med course would be. I just knew that someday I would be wearing that white coat and I would treat and care for those who are in need. So someone from my family suggested to my father this course and then he told me ito na lang, puwede daw siya for law and medicine. May board pa daw. At first, I was impressed since that was the first time I heard of board exam for librarians, I asked ano sinasagot doon, cataloging? Mga libro dapat memorize from A-Z? and I also found the Information Science very interesting. Months passed, and I found out that I passed the UPCAT under this very course.

My start in college began with the implementation of the calendar shift. This was the period where we, as incoming freshmen, had a four-month transition from high school to college. During those times when I see my friends or relatives they would ask me where I would be attending college and what course I would be taking, the usual stuff. Whenever I answer their questions their usual reactions were wow galing naman, UP followed by so paano yun magiging librarian ka lang? I would always just smile and try to brush it off, but after sometime, I got tired of hearing those words and their responses. From then on, whenever they asked me I would just whisper the library part and put emphasis on the information science. With that I felt coming into UP and taking this specific course a little bit disheartened and also kind of confused. I always asked myself mababang profession ba ito?

I LOVE BOOKS As I entered UP, there has also been a constant question of why I wrote Bachelor of Library and Information Science as my first choice; as much as I hate to admit it, my reason before was because I love books. In my honest opinion, I think this is one of the most clichd answer there is when asked why one took LIS. However, through the years as we took on many majors and subjects related to this course, we realize that there is so much more than just I love books. In this profession, it is not only about how to fix or organize books, but it is also about cataloging, indexing, abstracting, management, coding, and so many more.

Theres more to it than meets the eye. So, I would like to answer what freshman Rhianne has been wondering, to that I say: hindi ito mababang propesyon. Isa itong napaka progresibo at kagalang-galang na propesyon. LIS can make us choose and take different specializations and tracks. Such as librarianship, information technology, archives and records management, health information, legal information, informatics, digital humanities, and data science. Just by mentioning these tracks, it can be seen how diverse and versatile our course is. No one should be ashamed nor disheartened because of taking this course and being in this profession. With the professors, subjects, and support we have, finally, we can say loud and proud, we graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Library and Information Science and Master of Library and Information Science.

INVICTUS<img src="images/articles/2018/Rhianne02.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="400" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="10" /> Every year, the graduating batch chooses a theme that starts with the letter i. This years theme, for the Class of 2018, is Invictus. For those of you who may not know what Invictus means, it is a Latin adjective that means unconquered, unsubdued, invincible. Not only that, as heard awhile ago, it is also a poem by William Ernest Henley that can showcase how despite the hardships, challenges, situations, and circumstances we face, if we continue to keep fighting and face all that has been given to us, then at the end we will be unafraid, unconquered, and be the masters of our fates and the captains of our souls. With the message of the poem and the meaning of the word, Invictus is the perfect theme that fits this batch.

We have been challenged by the nature of our profession, from people who belittled our course or the stereotyped image of a librarian being masungit and always wanting everyone to just be quiet; in spite of this, we still continue to stand proud and defend the LIS profession. We resisted them unafraid and faced them with we do best as information professionals by giving them the correct and proper information and showing them what our course is really about. We are also dedicated and persistent in making others see the true value of librarianship and information in society and how much passion we have into molding it and making it better.

Through our stay here in UP, may it have taken four, five, six, seven, or even more than ten years; we have found a home in the LIS community. Coming from different backgrounds and pasts, may it be transferring from a different university or shifting from another degree, UP SLIS welcomed us wholeheartedly and with open arms. They shaped and assisted us in becoming better versions of ourselves. They taught us to think critically and look at all possible information available until we make a stand or decide for ourselves. We have faced so many challenges and difficult tasks, yet, here we are; with our guests, friends, families, and parents in our very own College Recognition. From the quatros we turned to tres, the INCs we completed, the many singkos we bounced back from, the late night cramming of a paper due tomorrow, the projects and readings we stayed up late for, the midterms and finals we studied hard for, finding that one bug that will not make your code work, finally understanding chi-squared test of independence, realizing theres a difference with CPD and CDP, understanding (or trying to understand) Derridas work, understanding the art of cataloging, having an idea of what user context is, balancing our studies with work, life, friends and families, finding out Ranganathans full name and comprehending his five laws, making our annotated bibliographies and long RRLs, presenting our theses, and finally passing our bound theses to the UP SLIS Admin, to today. Our recognition. We can really say, we did it, we are invincible. We deserve to celebrate what we have achieved today and be proud of ourselves.

RECOGNITION This is also a moment for us to appreciate those who have supported and encouraged us in reaching our goals and achievements. On behalf of the Class of 2018, we would like to thank the UP SLIS Faculty and Staff who aided us in accomplishing where we are today. Thank you as well to our theses advisers who have continuously assisted us and were very patient enough to wait, edit, and go through our drafts to be able to pass our bound copies and graduate. To our friends, relatives, family, and parents, thank you for being our main fans and supporters in reaching our dreams. I would also like to thank Sir Bono, my parents, lola, lolo and sisters for giving me their never ending support during my stay here in college. Thank you SLIS SC, FLIPP, Quiella, Rielle, Aldrin, Gem, and Frances, without you guys I know I would not have survived and had fun in this course, and to Patrick, thank you for being one of the sweetest surprises I had in my four year stay here in UP. Again, thank you to everyone, without each one of you, we would not be where we are today.

CONCLUSION As this chapter of our lives is about to end and a new one is about to begin, let us continue to strive for honor and excellence in this field or wherever our paths may lead us. Let us not forget the experiences, may it be successes or failures, we encountered in our journey. Use those successes and failures as catalysts to push ourselves and reach our goals and dreams. As what was said in William Ernest Henleys poem: I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. It is all up to you on how you will be able to reach those. Congratulations to us UP SLIS Class of 2018! Thank you.

Published: 2022-03-07 15:44:12