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Hi, my name is Christian Verzosa, and I'm here to talk to you about being human. The interesting thing about my story is that it took place and had everything to do with my confirmation.

Basically, I learned to accept myself for who am, flaws and all. I learned that even though I may sometimes feel like I'm in the minority in my oppinions and philosophy, there is always someone to relate to.

My story started when we were signing up my siblings for sunday school. Everybody in my family thought that I was finished. I mean, I was already finished with my high school sunday class, what else did I need to do? Well, when we came to sign up, we were told that I had to be confirmed.

No one in my household knew what to do about it. My dad was confirmed at a private school, and my mom was confirmed in the phillipines. We decided to go through with it anyway, of course, but you know what they say about murphey's law.

Midway through the year, I was behind on practically everything. My deacon put out a test that we were required to pass in order to be confirmed, but honestly, I couldn't remember the answers to anything.

To make things worse, I felt like I was being forced. I never chose to Catholic, I was born into it. I wasn't even a good catholic, so to speak. I mean, Im generally a nice guy, but if you were to ask me my oppinions on some issues, like gay marriage or the validity of other religions, you would sworn I was anything but Christian. Why should I be confirmed if I couldn't even conform? Why would I choose to be a part of the church where it was my oppinion ve everyone else's? I had no way to answer that.

My parents tried there best to help, and in the long run they did. They tried to conince me that this was just something I had to get over with. They thought the best way for my to be confirmed is to just grin and bear. But confimartion is bigger than that, isn't it. It's bigger than just grinning and bearing it. If I wasn't going to be catholic, then what would I be. Most of the other churches I had even bigger problems with. I wanted to become a part of the church, but if I was going to do it, I was going to choose to do it.

Finally, my parents decided to give me a choice. They told me that I could be confirmed next year with my sister if this year was a bit of a problem. For a while I actually considered it. Then came my Grandmother, though I bet you God was speaking through her.

We never told my Grandma about my problems with the catholic church. She's the most religious person in my family, and would throw a fit if she knew I was having problems. But even then, without her even knowing about my problems, she conviced me to go through with confirmation. The words she said, "To be a catholic means to be the best person you can be."

That's when it hit me. I knew I was a catholic because, as flawed and forgetful as I am, I was still a good person. I gave my all when it came to the test, and I gave my all in being confirmed. I accepted that I was far from perfect. I was only human. Just like you. We're forgetful, ignorant, flawed. We all have faults, and thats the way god intended it. But that doesn't stop us from being Christian. Heck, its in my name, Christian, as in Christ-like! And to be like christ doesn't mean to be able to turn water into wine or give sight to the blind. Were not superheros. God doesn't expect us to be perfect, but he calls us to be. He calls us to holiness, which means to be the best version of ourselves.

In the end, I was confirmed. I mean, if I wasn't, I wouldn't be here right now. Anyways, this speech goes out to everybody here who isn't perfect. If you guys are having trouble with confirmation, just remember that it doesn't take a perfect persong to be a good guy.