Hamad Adbuljabbar A. Alessa

“Good day ladies & gentlemen!

Faculty and staff of AIDE, parents, family and friends, fellow graduates.

Today, we are gathered for one of the most significant moment in our lives “Our Graduation Day” My name is Hamad Alessa, born and raised in Saudi Arabia, a working student across the miles. I am a traveler, and love to explore and learn new things such as culture, lifestyle, and tourist spots. I love the Philippines and I consider it as my second home, with the help and support of my wonderful life partner Marivic.

She encouraged me to study for my degree here in the Philippines as I used to spend my holiday here about 2-3x a year. Her great idea made me decide to do so. God directed our path to the Asian Institute for Distance Education which gave me the opportunity to fulfill my dreams to be a Bachelor’s Degree holder. My time wasn’t wasted coming back and forth to this lovely country, Philippines. I believed that working and at the same time studying is not easy. As I worked in the bank, my job stressed me most of the time, with a lot of paper work, never ending tasks needed to be submitted on time. A lot of demands put on my shoulder, tough schedules, time differences from my country of origin and here, these were big challenges for me.

However, as they say “a winner never quits and a quitter never wins”, despite the hard times I experienced, I managed to submit my modules even though not always on time but always within the deadline. The faculty and staff of AIDE were so flexible and accommodating of my hectic schedules. During my examination day, I need to wake up at 3:00 am in my country time just to take the exam at 10:00 am Philippine time. Again, life is never easy and it is full of challenges, but I learned that all we need is to be determined, strong enough and most of all have faith in God that in Him nothing is impossible for us to fulfill our dreams in life. Life’s journey shouldn’t stop in one moment in time. Aim high and dream big.

As we are now finishing the line and heading to success, I hope that my story inspires you my fellow graduates, and to all the students who are here right now… The bible said in Proverbs 2: 10-11 “For wisdom will come into heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guide you”

Lastly, AIDE, thank you so much for all your support, love and care that you gave us. We the graduating students now wouldn’t be here today without you… I would like to congratulate each and every one of us for whatever challenges we faced, we did not give up. In fact we remained stronger than before.

Your trust on me to stand in front of you and hear my messages overwhelmed me and made me proud of myself. Your act of kindness made an incredible difference in my life…

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!”