“Embracing the Giants, Surprising the Giants”
Thank you and good afternoon. I’d like to start by saying that I’m usually in the audience, listening to the speaker, and not the other way around. But today, it is a delightful surprise to find myself here, sharing this moment with you. To the senior students of my alma matter, the College of Arts and Sciences of Silliman University, to our dean and Interim Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Mae Brigitt Bernadel L. Villordon, to our pastor, to the professors, staff, and especially to the parents and guardians—congratulations. Today, we’re here to celebrate you.
I’ve been asked to speak about what it means to keep going after graduation, to remain steadfast in the face of fear—our life’s giants. Each of us has our own unique giants, whether it’s the final exam of a tough semester, heartbreak, or the uncertainty that often fuels these challenges. In uncertain times, speaking about facing these giants and choosing faith over fear can feel like a herculean task, especially for one millennial like me. But as a queer Bisaya boy from the small island province of Bohol, I’ve learned a thing or two about these giants.
So, let’s give it a shot, and allow me to share a few reasons that kept me moving forward, reasons that sometimes offer a little less stress—if you are lucky—and a lot more joy. It’s the power of surprising yourself and how unexpected moments can guide you to success in ways you might not even realize. This path can be lighter, and personally, easier on the soul.
As you move forward, you’ll have expectations, goals, and larger than life dreams. And alongside these come fears. That’s natural. But sometimes, the real rewards come when you’re not watching. So here are four reasons why embracing the unexpected, or embracing the giants, can be helpful.
Reason no. 1 – Learning Beyond Expectations
Let me start with a story: After graduating with a degree in Creative Writing, I faced the fear of finding my place. My journey led me to a variety of roles—I became a communications specialist for a multinational food company, a features writer for a community paper, a volunteer social media manager for an environmental group, an HR associate for a utilities company, an information systems analyst, and then a statistical specialist for a government agency.
I’ve worn many hats, to the point where a friend once joked, I should pursue a degree in theology for divine intervention to settle me in one place. Kidding aside, I didn’t rely on divine intervention. I trusted my instincts. If something didn’t feel right, it probably wasn’t.
Eventually, I found myself working as a museum researcher for the Dumaguete branch of the National Museum of the Philippines (which is the old Dumaguete City Hall across Quezon Park, in case you haven’t been there). It feels like everything is falling into the right place—I am in a city I always call my second home, and my interests and advocacies align with the agency’s mission to value, protect, and promote our nation’s distinct culture and heritage, especially our environment, and our wealth of literary and visual arts.
Changing career directions isn’t easy though. Some call it a privilege. But the morsel of wisdom here, I think, is to have the discernment to know what’s good for you in the now and what’s good for you in the future.
By knowing what’s important to you, deep in your very core, you steady the compass in your heart that leads you to where you should be.
To you, senior students, don’t shy away from learning new things. Don’t wait until you feel ready to lead or take on something big. You may be surprised by your capabilities and discover strengths you didn’t know you had.
Reason no. 2 – Collaboration and Humility
I took my writing seriously when I started as a features writer for The Weekly Sillimanian, and then eventually becoming a features editor in my last two years in college. My very first assignment was an interview with Kamikazee, a Filipino rock band that was massively popular in the mid-2000s, and one that would open the Hibalag Booth Festival in 2006. After interviewing them at their hotel along with two senior writers, I thought I had done a decent job. I finished my article. That was until our editor-in-chief bluntly told me, “Mura mani’g sinulatan og high school.” (“This sounds like something a high schooler would write.”) It was something I did not expect to hear in my sophomore year as a creative writing student. It was another life’s giant: to stumble at something you think you are decently good at.
But it was also a wake-up call, and I had a choice: give up or seek help. I chose humility and willed myself to be better. I turned to my fellow newbie writers, and we rewrote the article together, and when we re-submitted it, the response from our editor and our readers was positive. If not for that singular decision, I may have stopped writing right then and there, and then moved to my second preferred course—which was psychology. See, many hats.
To you, senior students, remember that collaboration and humility go hand in hand. No one has to succeed alone, and sometimes others will help you bring out your best. To quote the British writer Hilary Mantel, “The question is not who influences you, but which people give you courage.”
Luckily, I found these people. I found my tribe, and they have become my life-long confidantes. I hope you find all them, too, in and out of Silliman campus.
Reason no. 3 – Persisting in the Face of Rejection
As a person who happens to write, rejection is something I know all too well. When it comes to getting published, I receive more rejection letters than acceptance letters. In fact, my writing email has a folder for “Acceptances” and another one for “Rejections,” and you can probably guess which folder takes up more gigabyte space. But I kept revising, I kept submitting. I wrote on my off days, during lunch breaks, whenever I could. Over time, my work began to appear in local and international journals, anthologies, magazines, and online publications.
To all of you, as you embark on your own paths, there will be setbacks and curve balls and rejections, but remember, persistence and being adaptable are your best allies. These two can sometimes remedy your life’s uncertainty. As we should know by now, it takes time to get better. It takes time to build the armor and arsenal you need to face a giant.
Reason no. 4 – Surpassing Your Own Expectations
Last year, in 2023, I received a call from an editor saying I was in the running for Poet of the Year in the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards of the Philippines Graphic magazine, for my poems that were published in July 2022. It was a surprise.
The Philippines Graphic is a 97-year-old publication, one of the few and oldest magazines still circulating in the country. It now has a separate literary supplement dedicated to both prose and poetry. Getting published there back in July 2022 was a blessing to me, because the last time I got my work printed in the mag was in 2012—over a decade ago.
Seeing your work in print means you are now longlisted and eventually shortlisted for the literary prize. Out of hundreds of works published each year, I now had a chance to win. And ultimately, at the ceremony, my name was announced as Poet of the Year.
This year, without the smallest of expectations, the same thing happened—twice in a row. The judges during the awards ceremony last May told me this never happened before. It was indeed an unexpected recognition for years of hard work that often felt unnoticed.
It is a given that literature may not get the same attention as the Olympics, beauty pageants, or the recently concluded US elections, but I bask in the thought that there are people who take pride in the things I love doing. They are my parents, my partner, and my friends.
So to all of you here today, sometimes, you’ll find success just by putting in the work, whether or not anyone’s watching. Allow yourself to surpass your own expectations. You may not see it now, but the impact of your work can resonate far beyond what you imagine. No giant can ever deny you of that accomplishment. And I tell you, success is always sweeter when you least expect it.
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Those are my four reasons. There could be more but let’s settle with these. For now, savor this very minute. Today you are blessed to have a Thanksgiving and Dedication Service in your honor.
When I was about to finish my first undergraduate degree in 2009, I didn’t have this. We students had the usual Baccalaureate Service and graduation ceremony, but there was no event to recognize efforts in the final stretch of our college life. Today is your warm hug and the pat on the back you rightfully deserve.
Back then, I was also the lone creative writing senior student from the English Department, which meant my path sometimes felt lonely and, in some ways, quieter than I would have liked. But all of you have each other today. You are part of a supportive, vibrant community, and I hope you feel the strength that comes from knowing you are not alone.
So, look around you—at your peers, mentors, family, and friends. These people believe in you. Regardless of the worried tone in their voice, the harsh comments, the unflattering grades, your life’s countless giants, they are your allies. They cheer for you every step of the way even if you do not hear their applause.
As you are about to start the next chapter, I have only one wish: that you keep surprising yourselves. Surprise the giants in your life with an embrace. Do the things you love, but don’t be afraid to try new things as well. Life has a way of unfolding when you stay open to it, and success will come to you in ways you may never expect.
Before I end this, allow me to share something that surprised me while preparing this speech—something that serendipitously fits our message of facing life’s giants. This is one of the two poems that recently granted me the second Poet of the Year title. I called this work, “2023.”
2023
F. Jordan Carnice
Never too sure if this
is still the right way.
The world maintains its tilt
a couple degrees off its axis
and the roads shudder
at our destinations.
From where I stand
I see rain shooting from the ground
like glass weeds, volatile and feverish.
Rainbows bursting out of trees.
And the fires, they spring
from mouths perpetually
laughing by default.
How do they do that?
I wish I’ve learned to be
more gazelle than gazelles,
quicker to escape. To be giraffe,
head crowned and up high
with grace in a land plundered.
Though I’ve learned to look
at the mirror, its reflection
too opaque to have meaning,
and to believe everyone is gifted
with sincerity. In swamps
across Calcetta, the bullfrogs
dedicate their chorus to the listener,
a Marco Polo for the truly living.
I’ve got apologies still in search
of oxygen and the warm palm
of reassurance, everything is going
to be okay. I am thinking of ways
to keep the lights on without burning,
to keep the throat quenched without
drowning. What fire do I need
to survive this? This fear is my right.
If I knew where to begin,
then why bother?
Daghang salamat, and let’s embrace the giants.
This speech was delivered by F. Jordan Carnice during the Silliman University College of Arts And Sciences Thanksgiving and Dedication Service for Senior Students on November 13, 2024 at the Silliman Church.
About the Speaker
Jordan Carnice is a writer and visual artist born and raised in Tagbilaran City, Bohol. He holds a degree in creative writing from Silliman University and another degree in Information Technology from STI. He currently resides in Dumaguete City where he works as a researcher for the National Museum of the Philippines-Dumaguete. His writings have been published in local and international publications such as the Manoa Journal, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, among many others. He is a recipient of fellowships from several national writing workshops and has served as a panelist twice in the Taboan Writers Festival. He authored two poetry chapbooks—Weights & Cushions (2018) and How to Make an Accident (2019). He was hailed as Poet of the Year in the Nick Joaquin Literary Awards, consecutively in 2023 and 2024, which is a first in the history of the prize-giving body.
