John gabriel pelias speech topics

by Stephanie S. Cabigao, UP MPRO

On April 17, 2011, under the scorching heat, I and 3,281 other graduates listened keenly to the words of our UP Diliman class valedictorian John Gabriel Pelias.

We were all in awe of what the 19-year old Mathematics major — who made UP history with a general weighted average (GWA) of 1.016, breaking a mark set in 1948 — had to say.

Even six years later, as I sat eagerly for a short talk with him, I could vividly remember him saying, “You graduated not from any university but from a university named after the nation.

Use your talents to contribute to the country.”

As a fellow iskolar ng bayan who chose to stay and serve the University, I wanted to know what made him decide to do the same. Today, John Gabriel Pelias is a professor at the University of the Philippines Institute of Mathematics in Diliman, where he also took his master’s degree.

Why Math?

“I’m fond of Math.

Ever since I was young I lik