Brigadier Speech 2025

Sir Andreas Widmer, our distinguished commencement speaker; Fr. David Pantaleon, Superior of the Jesuits of the Miami Region of the Caribbean Province; Fr. Guillermo M. García-Tuñón, S.J., President of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School; Mr. José Roca, principal; Jesuit Fathers; members of the Belen Board of Directors, Members of the Belen Board of Advisors; administration; faculty; staff; alumni; families; friends; and, most importantly, the class of 2025.

Good evening. It is truly a privilege and honor to speak to you all today.

When I began writing what I would say today, my mind immediately tried to think of a really inspiring quote to start things off. When placed in this position, you look to the words of great historical figures or your favorite movie characters, looking for the perfect combination of words that encapsulates the idea you want to get across. It was here where I got stuck. I wanted to say so many things, but couldn’t really find a good way to compress them into a few words. Eventually, I realized that Belen can’t be reduced to the greats of our past. What truly embodies Belen is the years of memories that it brought us.

Looking back at our 4 years in high school, there were so many things to recall.

Now, as the person given the honor to speak on behalf of my classmates tonight, these were key moments that all come together to help define our high school experience. But despite all that, I circled back to the idea of the individual experience. Belen means something different to every single person in this theater. For me, it was early mornings. Showing up to school before the sun was up, walking across the empty campus, with only the maintenance staff to greet me. For another person, it may mean: hot afternoons practicing on the field, long study sessions in the library, or hours of rehearsing in the theater.

With this in mind, the one word that came to me in all of this was: struggle. With 1357 students enrolled in this school and 220 people working as faculty and staff, it’s incredible to recognize how countless memories and experiences have brought us here. Our lives have been filled with great memories, but in all honesty, there have also been lots of memories that weren’t great; rather, they were difficult experiences. At times, it became a real struggle for many of us to stay afloat. So many things surround us, aiming to bring us down.

There’s a certain beauty to this struggle, however. The simple fact that we undergo unending obstacles in life is what defines us. We need to take the good with the bad and understand that doing so is the very thing that makes us human. And in that “good” category, we find Belen.

This institution was built on struggle. Having been forcefully expelled from Cuba by an oppressive dictatorship, a small group of Jesuit priests and young men arrived in Miami ready to rebuild their school from the ground up. Knowing this, It's no surprise that a place like Belen is made to help us as growing young men look at this struggle face on.

We’ve been given an outstanding education from teachers who are passionate about what they do. We’ve enjoyed a beautiful campus thanks to the work of the maintenance staff and the dining hall team. And we’ve developed our skills in athletics, learning from coaches who create champions. The obstacles life presents to us, no matter how impossible they seem, were conquered thanks to Belen.

Every person who hears what I’m saying right now can think and point out the difficult moments in their life, where things seemed like nothing but sorrow and pain. But with a community like Belen, you almost begin to appreciate all those difficulties. After all, these moments created Ivy-bound scholars, state-champion athletes, and compassionate young men. The Class of 2025 has seen it all, and whether you endured it in silence or voiced it out to your peers, there was always someone there to help you.

This is why 198 of us sit here today, recognizing everything that has led up to this moment. Belen is more than a brotherhood. Belen is more than a second home. Belen is the place that has given us hope for a better tomorrow.

The significance of this ceremony ultimately traces back to a common denominator. What I'm referring to is, of course, our faith. No matter how many years you spent studying here, God’s influence was continuous. We followed Ignatian ideals of seeing God in all things, and at the end of the day, all these struggles I’ve mentioned have been overcome thanks to Christ and His unending love for us. Simply put, none of us would be sitting here today had it not been for Jesus’ sacrifice to us so many years ago, because Belen probably wouldn’t even exist.

The last, and one of the most important, things to mention is the impact of our parents. They have continually been there, supporting us during our struggles and being proud of us when we succeeded. To my mom and dad, you’re the reason I’m up here speaking. Your love for me has never waivered, and the words I’m saying right now will

never express my love for both of you. No matter the struggle, I’ll always be there for you.

A lot of us are excited to go out into the world and see what our future holds for us. But the fact of the matter is that the struggle never ends. Moral indifference, war, and disconnection from others have never been more evident. There will be moments where you may lose hope or find difficulty seeing the good in society. But I urge you all to look at that struggle and face it head-on with faith in Jesus Christ. Achieve your lifelong goals, land your dream job, or buy that car you’ve always wanted. Belen has prepared us perfectly for this type of success.

But at the same time, give back to Belen. And I don’t mean just giving a recurring annual donation of 20 dollars and 25 cents. What I mean is: represent this school with your honor, and be a man for others.

God bless you all

God bless Belen Jesuit

And God bless the Class of 2025

Thank you.

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Click here to see the 2025 Graduation photo album. Click here to watch the ceremony. Click here to see the program book.