After its postponement due to a citywide class suspension the week prior, Xavier School held this year’s pep rally, Invictus, at the high school gym on August 31, 2018. The event recognized the school’s various sports teams, lauding its players who exemplify athletic excellence and academic competence.
The Xavier community was treated to a program hosted by Nathan Co, Matthew Rodrigo, and former De Lasalle Lady Spiker, Michele Gumabao. The event proper consisted of a Dance X performance, batch cheers, and the introduction of the House System, a project by the Student Council Executive Board. .
The program also featured Blue Eagles center Isaac Go, who addressed his fellow Xaverians and student athletes. The Ateneo big man discussed his love for basketball, his personal trials on and off the court, and his eventual victory over the Green Archers in the UAAP Season 80 Finals.
Here are his full remarks:
“Saying to never give up is one of the most cliche lines in the history of the earth. I will be the first one to admit it. Everyone has probably heard that line from either there parents, friends, relatives, coaches, teachers and even on tv and social media. Trust me, I cannot count the times that I have heard that line. I am probably already sick of it. However, I will be the first one to say that even if it is that cliche, it is correct and my story is an example.
What people tend to see is the end result. As I stand here before everyone, what you see is the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice by everyone who has supported me. As much as I feel that I have accomplished a lot, there were many times that I almost quit.
I remember I first time that I went to tryouts was Grade 2. I did not make the team till Grade 5. I did not get to play till Grade 6. So I spent 4 years just trying to get in. Most would think that 4 years is a long time to be just trying to get in. I mean, I would train for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. This does not even include other extra practices, weights, and the time other people have put in to help me train. To be honest, there were a lot of times where I went home wanting to quit. I felt that I was wasting my time because I felt I was not getting better and that I could have used that time doing something better. There was basically two reasons why I did not end up quitting. The first one was that I would have had to change sports if I did. My parents started to see the benefits of having a sport on us. They wanted me to be continually active. I did not want to waste the time and resources that I already have put into basketball. The second reason was that I could not bring myself to quit. I had a sense of pride inside myself that would not allow me to quit. As much as I struggled, failed and died a few times, I just could not give up. As much as I wanted too, there was a lot holding me back and I am thankfully that they held me back.
Eventually, all those years of hard work and patience paid off. I got the chance to represent the country in different levels. I got the chance to play with the youth program twice in the Under-16 FIBA Asia tournament and the Under-18 SEABA tournament. I got to go to the Adidas Nations Global Camp held in LA. I even got to be a part of the 23 for 23 national team pool and the 40th William Jones Cup in Taiwan. I also got recruited to play in one of the most prestigious basketball programs in the country, Ateneo de Manila University.
We are often given the idea that giving up represents something big such as a sport, a job, a dream but giving up could also be in the small things. I know a lot of people have that next time mentality. I’ll do it tomorrow. I won’t do my readings today. In a basketball game, there are about 80 possessions in a game. It is very easy to take 1 of those possessions off. In terms of math, 1 possession out of 80 is very insignificant. If it is something small, it is easy to brush it off aside, but I can tell you this. If this was the mindset of the team and I, we would not have made the finals that year. Season 79, it was game 2 of the semi-finals vs FEU. We were up 1 point with about 10 seconds to go. Thirdy attacks the basket, slips and looses the ball. FEU gets possession and is running it towards the other basket. We could have said, it is just one possession, we’re all tired, we can just score again. These type of mentalities can and will lead to failure. Without thinking, we all ran back and tried to stop the attack. A lot of us had played more than 25 minutes at that point. We could have given in to the fatigue, but we did not. We all sprinted back and manage to delay FEU’s attack long enough that the clock expired and we won the game. You could say that it was a special case. It is only in basketball that you you could apply this. In reality, you can do so in life. There are those small battles everyday. Should I give up studying tonight? Should I follow my diet today? Have I fulfilled my responsibilities of the days? These small battles everyday seem insignificant, but they build who you are and will eventually affect you and your character.
When you overcome one trial, life will throw another one. It is a fact of life. After overcoming the FEU trial, we had Lasalle to deal with. In season 80, after going thru the first 13 games with relative ease, we lost two straight to Lasalle and FEU. It was tough. We did not meet much resistance and then we hit a brick wall. It was easy again to give up. People were saying how do you bounce back after this chain of events. One nice thing about these trials in life is that it helps you become better. We seek to become the best form of ourselves and it is only thru trials that we grow. Magis means to go beyond, to become the best version of yourself. Without trials, we can never go beyond because there is no barrier to break through and nothing to push us to break through it. This is what the school stands for. I do not mean to go out and make trouble. What i am saying is that don’t be mad or frustrated when you encounter trials because it will help you become stronger and help you reach your fullest potential.”
Following Go’s speech, Student Council President James Gordon led both athletes and students in taking their respective oaths for the season. The program ended with Fr. Xavier Olin, SJ blessing the student athletes, and Lance Alandy-Dy lighting the ceremonial flame. The day was capped off with exhibition games played, which saw the varsity teams going head-to-head with members of the high school faculty.
The same-day-edit video, created by the XS Media Team, may be viewed here:
https://web.facebook.com/XavierSchoolMediaTeam/videos/540439733073588/
