Vico Sotto’s Speech Reminds That Goodness And Excellence Work Hand In Hand
Mayor Vico Sotto shares a lesson of hope, how goodness and excellence must always work hand in hand, and the challenges that our graduating kids will face in the real world
As many of our kids are from the Gen Z and Gen Alpha group, we’re all probably witnessing a critical chapter in their lives. Some are just entering college, and others are graduating, getting ready to face the real world on their own. Yet, the internal battle will still be there. We may have protected them, oversaw and navigated social situations for them, and embedded values, but the true test is the real world. During his speech during the graduation in the UPD College of Engineering, Vico Sotto “pulled no punches” on how these values and one’s idealism will be tested.
“Success must not come at the cost of conscience,” he points out.
Teaching our kids to have ambition but not be too ambitious
We all want our kids to have dreams and ambitions. But it’s easy for them to lose themselves to it, too. When a system just seems “too broken” to do it the right way, it’s easy to get tempted to want to “shortcut” or “expedite” the process. Even if it’s morally wrong. At one point, it’s as Vico shares, “Madaling makain ng sistema. Mabilis macha-challenge ang idealismo niyo.”
However, he comforts in saying, “Pero sana hindi ito mawala.“
While we can easily call ourselves our children’s biggest cheerleaders, we also see it as an injustice to hide the possible repercussions and failures of their dreams and ambitions. We’ll tell them that it’s not “lucrative” or “stable” enough to turn into a career. We’ll insist on another career path that we feel is financially stable. And while we say these things because we don’t want to see them starve, it’s this philosophy that drives them away and makes them look for validation elsewhere. They do so in hopes of making us approve of it.
Because no matter the age, our kids will always seek our approval.
As technology grows and time passes, we’ve now seen how success has become such a morally grey construct. On one end, it’ll achieve what it was meant to do. But at the same time, it’ll sacrifice something or worse, someone. We then ask ourselves, “Is it better to be morally just or successful?” But Vico’s speech makes it loud and clear: it must be both. Not one or the other.
“Hindi sapat na magaling ka. Dapat mabuting tao ka.”
The Balancing Act of Goodness & Success Will Not Be Easy
As many of our Gen Z kids move on to the real world while the Gen Alpha begin their chapter in college, moral dilemmas will be more frequent. While we’ve often told them to protect their peace, we also have to ask ourselves, “Is that peace worth protecting if it’s built on lies?” The stress we imagine they’ll go through if they do disrupt it may be loud and heartbreaking, but sometimes, a system truly needs to be reworked. Unfortunately, the only way for anyone to rework it is if there’s a fresh eye to look at it.
Not all kids have the same starting line. Some start closer. Others farther. As their parents, we have to remind ourselves that they’re no longer the little kids who clung onto our skirts and pants when they were afraid. They’re now, as Vico well describes it, “catalysts of change.”
And if they lose their way, it will fall onto us to remind them to keep their integrity and that goodness and success work always hand in hand.
More inspiring speeches?
Robert Downey Jr. Praises Wife Susan in His Oscar Speech
What Families Can Learn From Roger Federer’s Viral Commencement Speech at Dartmouth
Anne Hathaway on International Women’s Day: Invest in Women
