The habit of excellence

By Dr. Clement C. Camposano

(Commencement Speech of Dr. Camposano during the graduation rites of UP High School-Iloilo on July 15, 2023)

To our graduates, their proud parents, members of the high school faculty led by their Principal, Prof. Edella Braga, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Alice Ferrer, the Chair of the Division of Professional Education, Prof. Pepito Fernandez, a member of my executive team, Vice Chancellor Bimbo Ibabao, other officials of the UP Visayas, members of the alumni, particularly my good friends in IamUPHi, friends of the University, guests…

A pleasant afternoon to all of you.

Here at UP Visayas, students and members of the faculty alike never hesitate to use the word “excellence” when describing what UP education is all about. Excellence is said to be a defining characteristic of UP, both as an educational institution and an academic community.

I do wonder, of course, if students and faculty members actually understand this word the same way. Our recent (or is it continuing?) dispute over the subject of Latin Honors suggests for me that this apparent unity of opinion is somewhat of an illusion.

So what, exactly, is excellence? Please allow me to use this opportunity to infuse some clarity into the subject.

To be excellent is commonly understood to be extremely or eminently good at something. So one can have excellence in music or the other arts, in math, in the sciences, or in athletics.

Here in the University, two Filipino words are often used to capture this meaning of excellence — husay at galing.

The Greek Classical understanding of excellence, however, is more expansive and more complex. Aristotle, and indeed the Greek philosophical tradition, thought of excellence as synonymous with virtue. Indeed, they had but one word for both: Arete.

Excellence is said to be of two kinds, one intellectual and the other, moral. Both were so closely linked that one required the other. The virtuous person therefore bears the conjoined excellence of the intellect and of character.

Intellectual excellence was acquired through the steady accumulation of knowledge and experience over time, through instruction, while moral excellence — evidenced by such virtues as courage, temperance, and justice — the result of good habits and dispositions, of good customs and practices.

American historian Will Durant, clarifying for his readers Aristotle’s notion of moral excellence, wrote that, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”.

Human beings are creatures of habit. Which means that excellence results, not from singular moments of inspiration or flashes of genius, or a surge of passion, but from prolonged and arduous cultivation. Thus, Aristotle concludes his discussion:

“It makes no small difference, then, whether we form habits of one kind or another from our very youth; it makes a very great difference, or rather all the difference”.

Good education, the kind that produces proper human beings, does not only require competent teachers and effective instruction. If excellence is born of repetition and practice, of habituation, then good education, which is education for excellence, requires a total environment conducive to imbibing good mental, social, and physical habits.

Of what could this total environment consist? Allow me to offer a brief description. I have in mind the following:

A regimen that prunes the excesses and imprudence of youth, a thousand persistent corrections, diligent and meticulous routine, meaningful processes, a physical environment that disciplines both the body and the mind, regular and rigorous mental exercises, opportunities for reflection, intellectual contestation, and compelling and beautiful examples.

I speak here of a prolonged process of formation and cultivation, where students not so much gain an understanding of excellence as an ideal, as they begin to embody it. They learn excellence by having it inscribed in their bodies in the form of habits and dispositions.

The exemplary professionals, luminaries in the various fields, and leaders that have emerged from this University were products not only of its formal curriculum but also, and more significantly, of the general environment it provided for its students.

They are bearers of that dual excellence of intellect and character I spoke of earlier. In innumerable ways they have made offerings of themselves, giving the best years of their lives in the service of our people. The very best among them have made it their mission to make the world a less unequal place. The absolutely best have given their very lives so others may live in dignity.

This is clearly nurture, not nature. Good genes can only carry you so far. This is education under the shadow of the Oblation.

Dear graduates:

I share these thoughts so you can make better sense of your travails and tribulations, of your many painful experiences.

So you may rise above, and look beyond, your learned obsession with high grades and honors.

You need to if you must journey on.

You need to if you must continue on this difficult road.

You need to if you wish to someday join the ranks of the truly excellent.

Maayong hapon. Thank you.