Wisdom based on the truth is Priceless

“La Verdad”, the Spanish for “the truth” – based on these two words, an institution that aims to provide free, yet quality education to poor but deserving students was established on the year 1999. Its first branch stands at Apalit, Pampanga, and is giving hope to Pampangenos and people of nearby places. Eleven years later, the hope spread out in Metro Manila when an outlet was erected at Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City. With God’s help, international branches are also being established in depressed, foreign countries like Papua New Guinea, Ghana Africa, and Liberia.

The name may sound prestigious, but it really reflects the aims and the hearts of its benefactors – Bro. Eli Soriano and Bro. Daniel Razon.  The current situation of the country, as National Youth Council estimated that there is around four million out-of-school youth throughout the country, knocked the hearts of these two men. But their concern for children and youths that they didn’t personally know sprouts from the love of service and fear of God, essentially.

The Benefactors

Ironically, the main person who hopes to decrease the number of out-of-school youths in the country is himself an undergraduate. Bro. Eli, as a kid had low self-esteem and was full of inferiority complex. Though he disliked school because of his great shyness, his love of knowledge and inborn intelligence cannot be hidden. Being the top in his class and the president of the Student Council, the young Eli gradually fought his inferiorities. But though his at the peak of his performance, he never hesitated when God called him to serve. His interest in science and other fields turned into an interest in the words of God. He left school for a sacred cause, and the rest was history.

Unlike his uncle, Kuya Daniel is a man of academic achievements. Being smart and talented at an early age, he was already an achiever when it comes to public speaking. Like Bro. Eli, he also has an interest in science and medicine so he dreamed of becoming a doctor. But following his uncle’s footsteps, he too turned his back on his personal aspirations and took up Mass Communications and Broadcasting to help his uncle in propagating the words of God. He got his degree with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications, a Major in Broadcasting at the Philippine’s Centro Escolar University, the year 1987. From then on, he worked in different radio stations and even on giant television networks in the country. As the church’s undertakings expand and as the endeavor to reach all the people via broadcasting increased, persecutors became more determined to hinder evangelization.  This moved Bro. Eli and Bro. Daniel to have the church’s own TV Network – the UNTV 37 Currently, Bro. Daniel is the Chairman and CEO of this network known for its public services like free legal consultation, free medical assistance, transient home, free bus ride, and many more.

Stand for the truth

And from that public service advocacy sprung the La Verdad Christian School and La Verdad Christian College. Unfortunate children and youths became fortunate by receiving a no-cost education – free tuition fees, free meals, free uniforms, and free transportation allowance and dormitory for the more needy students. But being free doesn’t mean low quality. As a master in broadcasting, Kuya Daniel aims to produce competent and excellent media people, which reflects the high standard of education being practiced inside La Verdad. And as a preacher of God, Bro. Eli molds the scholars of becoming advocates of truth. Hence the school’s tagline – “Wisdom based on truth is priceless.”

Bro. Eli Soriano, an undergraduate; and Kuya Daniel Razon, a broadcast professional – together these two men of different academic achievements, but share the same passion for helping others, are doing their very best to produce young citizens that will stand for THE TRUTH….stand for LA VERDAD.

It’s not the grades that matter; it’s the learning

One of the pressures of being a student is meeting the expectations of the people around him. Family, schoolmates, and faculties often contribute to the worry-some world of a student. Studies show that the second cause of death among youth is suicide. The majority of these suicides are committed by college students.

A recent study on college-age suicide from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the University of Maryland, and other institutions suggest that the greatest factor is a feeling of being unloved or detached from friends and family. The root? – not meeting their expectations.

Majority of students who want to have a better life and to please their families are striving hard to have high grades. That’s one way they believe would make their loved ones happy. It is a good source of motivation, but the problem is when they can no longer meet the expectation, they feel so down and frustrated. And their escape – suicide!

But do grades really matter? I know some great achievers who were school dropped-out. Among which are MAC’s Steve Jobs, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Politician-diplomat-author-inventor Benjamin Franklin, electrical power usage pioneer Thomas Edison, British physicist and chemist Michael Faraday, microscope-maker Anton van Leeuwenhoek and too many others to mention. Is it so surprising that they are rich and successful? I don’t think so.

Intelligence and success are not merely measured by the digits written in your report cards.

Some people who were good in school were not good in life. Although there are some famous people who were also famous in their school days, no studies or facts suggest that the school’s top performers will automatically become successful. It still depends on a person’s wit and techniques.

I am not suggesting that students should take their studies for granted. Good grades are also one of the stepping stones toward a good career. It is also a way to repay their parents or their sponsors. But what this paper is trying to do is to appeal to the students that having bad grades is not the end of their world. It is never a reason to be frustrated, to give up their dreams, nor to feel useless and hopeless. What use are the good grades if you are only book-smart? Terminologies and theories will fade in memory. What good are the medals, awards, and praises when in the real world you can’t use them to survive?

Students must study hard, that’s still my stand. But if they fail to meet the high expectations, there’s no reason to end their lives. They must remember: it’s not the grades that matter; it’s the learning.