Graduation Speech 2013
Thank you Distinguished Guests Graduands Family Members and Supporters of our Graduands Members of staff Members of the Media Ladies and gentlemen Welcome and a pleasant good afternoon to everyone gathered here and to those viewing this event via a live stream on the internet. Today we celebrate the academic accomplishments of men and women who have toiled for many years to arrive at this moment in time. Graduands, on behalf of the staff at SBCS and our university partners, I wish to congratulate you and your supporters (parents, guardians, friends and wellwishers) on your momentous achievement. I know you faced many challenges along your journey, however, you made it and now you have earned the right to take a moment to rest and reflect on your success. Kalpana Chawla, the first female astronaut of Indian origin once said: “The path from dreams to reality does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get onto it and the perseverance to follow it.�
Office of the Executive Director | Date Released:04/13/13
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Graduation Speech 2013 Like Ms. Chawla who started her life in a small village in India and rose to greatness by following her mantra, you also are living proof that the path from dreams to reality does exist.
The theme of today’s function is : Learn, Evolve, Lead In many ways this theme captures SBCS’ rai·son d'ê·tr. The reason why we exist is to deliver great teaching and learning in an ecosystem that is designed to ensure that our students leave us with a passion for learning and change; with the confidence to be leaders; to apply what they have been taught to make their spaces better. After all isn’t this one of the main reasons for obtaining an education, to develop personally as well as to contribute to the advancement of a great society? It is our hope that your years spent pursuing an internationally recognized award with us at SBCS have been most productive and that during this period each of you would have experienced great learning which has led to your evolution, not just as a student but as a human being, as this is fundamentally what a great education is about. Today we celebrate the accomplishments of over 490 of our graduands and in February of this year, Heriot Watt university, one of our longstanding academic partners hosted a graduation function for over 110 graduands of our Edinburgh Business School MBA and MSC programmes. Combined, these represent over 600 graduands this year alone – a remarkable achievement for our institution which also dreams of greatness. We feel justifiably proud of our success, and if quantity was the only metric used to determine success then yes, you would say that we have been amazingly successful, however, it is not. We believe, it is the quality of our graduates which truly defines our success. Graduands you have in your hands the power to make a difference, to help mold your Office of the Executive Director | Date Released:04/13/13
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Graduation Speech 2013 society into one that we can all be proud of. This will only happen if you take charge, if you become a leader, not solely in the political sense, but in the way in which you work and play. My message to you is a simple one, aspire to be the best that you can be, but never forget that you belong to the body of man and that individual unbridled ambition must always be tempered with sincere altruism, for as one of mankind’s holy books state : What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Where you sit invariably determines where you stand, and it is my hope that our graduands will stand for all that is right and just. As the great Greek philosopher Socrates said many thousands of years ago, “The unexamined life is not worth living. “ Of course with questioning comes resistance,
and the journey of one who
questions and challenges the status quo is fraught with danger, as a brave new world frightens many, however, in order for us to make our respective countries and societies better we need our newly minted graduands to be leaders, to not accept mediocrity and to strive with all their might to positively influence all those who are within their sphere of influence, not by employing harsh and repressive methods but by being a leader, by being the change that they seek. You see, leadership is a heavy crown, and while many aspire to it, few are willing to abide by the rules that accompany it. I wish to each and every one of you the happiness of a productive life, the respect of your fellow human beings, and the love of your family. Members of staff, please accept my heartfelt thanks for playing a truly pivotal role in transforming our region’s human capital into its most valuable natural resource. SBCS deeply values the partnerships we have forged with the Universities of: Greenwich, Sunderland, London, Heriot Watt and Leicester. I would like to take this opportunity to convey my sincere thanks to all our UK academic partners, for without them none of this would have been possible. SBCS, in collaboration with our Office of the Executive Director | Date Released:04/13/13
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Graduation Speech 2013 distinguished academic partners, offers the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region a unique educational experience, one that serves to inspire our students to work towards improving not just their lives but also the lives of those around them. Graduands, soon you will be graduates and alumni of SBCS as well as the prestigious university you chose to pursue your higher education studies. You will join thousands of other alumni of SBCS, and I would like to officially welcome you as a new member of the SBCS Alumni Association and to mark your entry into this association, we will be presenting each of you today with an SBCS Alumni Card, a first for us, another stage in our evolution and of our narrative. Graduands, today is your day to pause, to rest and reflect on your accomplishments, but only for a moment, for your narrative (your story) has only just begun. Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your kind attention.
Office of the Executive Director | Date Released:04/13/13
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