Valedictory Address

Valedictory Address (29 May 2008): 1-3. (UA Case 68, Box 3).

Your Honour, Mr. Chancellor, Members of the Board of Governors, Mr. President, guests, ladies and gentlemen, and graduates.

I'd like to begin by telling you what an honour it is for me to be standing up here in front of you as your valedictorian.

The University of New Brunswick has been very good to me over my past five years, and it is truly exciting to be allowed to say goodbye by standing on a stage, with the Aitken Centre sound system and a captive audience.

Today I have the privilege of being surrounded by graduates of the faculty of arts, nursing and Renaissance College. Only the name of one of those faculties actually outlines a specific career path. No, Renaissance College, it's not you. But in planning what I would say to you today, I didn't focus on our differences (and believe me, there are differences) but instead on what binds us together.

You may be thinking that there is little that binds you to the person next to you, unless they're sitting on your robe. In many ways we thrive on our independence and university liberates us in a way that high school never could.

We can rent an apartment, take out loans, take out more loans, get credit cards, pull all nighters, eat food we were forbidden to when we were younger and wear improper clothing. Case in point, the undisputed fact that a pub crawl t-shirt is adequate clothing to get from campus to downtown no matter the time of year.

We do things for ourselves, by ourselves. But despite the increase in freedoms that have defined our university careers, our increase in independence is nothing compared to our increased awareness of a world outside of our own.

I'd like to try a bit of an experiment. Graduates, I'd like you to close your eyes. Now I want you to think, has someone helped you to achieve the goal of sitting in this room today?

Over the past three, four, five, or more years, has someone been there at the exact right moment to revitalize you, challenge you, pick you up when you needed it most, or provided some sort of support that you needed to continue through the pursuit of higher education.
If you can think of at least one person, or people, who made a real difference to you, keep your eyes closed and raise your hand. Now leave your hands up, open your eyes and look around. That is how many of us are here because of the support of others.

We are here, graduating from university, a feat that I know helps us to become better people. Thus, we have become better people because of the support of others. Now if there's a specific person in your mind, I want you to think if you've ever told that person what they did for you.

There are people I've barely spoken to who have altered my life in such significant ways that I know that, without them, I would not be speaking in front of you today. Because I remember what they did for me, I know the power that a single individual has to influence the life of another person.

But it's not just about the support you've been given, it's about the support that you have given out. I know that the people in this room have performed what to them are insignificant deeds in passing that made a difference in the lives of other students at this university. Don't think so?

Let's take one example: Orientation Week. Or, for the many new students to UNB, it might be considered: l-don't'-think-l want-to-do-this-week, or why-does-my-hall-proctor-have-a-mullet-week, or what-do-you-mean-the-south-gym-is-at-the-top-of-the-hill week.
Many of the people sitting in this room were orientation leaders in some form. You were peer mentors, campus tour guides, recruitment volunteers, tutors, redshirts, HOC, the list goes on. What is frequently seen by the leaders as a great week to start off the year is paramount to the new students arriving. And what may have been thought of by you as the most insignificant gesture may have dramatically influenced someone's life.

A friend of mine, Drew, was an orientation leader at his university. On the first day of Orientation Week, all of the new students were lined up with their parents to register. Drew was raising awareness for Shinerama, our fight against Cystic Fibrosis, and was handing out candy and stickers to the new arrivals. He stopped alongside a boy standing nervously with his parents in front of a girl with her parents. He handed a lollipop to the guy, pointed to the girl standing in line in front of him, who was a complete stranger, and said "why don't you give this pretty girl the lollipop?"

Like all first year students, the boy blushed, looked at his shoes, and begrudgingly gave the girl the candy. My friend, and orientation leader, then turned to the girl's parents and said "she's barely left the house, and already she's taking candy from strangers". That girl approached my friend Drew, four years later, as she was about to graduate. She explained that she was from out of town, and that day in line, she was this close to asking her parents to let her go home.
She said she didn't think she'd fit in. She said that Drew's comment got such a laugh that it provided an opportunity to break the ice, open up and realize that she was going to have a great time. Finally, she told him that she and the boy had been dating for four years. An episode that Drew had forgotten had affected this girl's life more than he'd ever known.

Why am I telling these stories? Why I am I talking about people who matter to you?

Because, students of nursing, Renaissance College and arts, I think that human connection and compassion are the attributes that we need to put at the forefront of our lives. And I think that our time at university has demonstrated that we are good at it. Social events are one way we demonstrate human connections and are all great memories.
But what about our other accomplishments? Our varsity athletes working hard to excel both physically and mentally, mature students who have chosen to return to university while supporting busy families at home, our residence system bonding together in hard times. What about the orientation programs I mentioned earlier that included peer mentoring, HOC, Redshirts and Townhouse leaders?
These students volunteered their time, usually leaving summer jobs early to come back to UNB to help welcome new students. Renaissance College students have taken part in incredible internship programs that see them volunteering in developing nations.

And finally, what about the staggering amount of money that has been fundraised on this campus for our various causes? UNB, we should be proud of our successes and our involvement in philanthropy. We have participated in events that have seen us get up early and stay out late, working closely with the community to contribute to causes that we see as important.

Our education at UNB is invaluable in the way that it has opened our eyes to issues around the world. In personal experience, my education has had me asking more questions than I could find answers. It has humbled me in the realization of how much effort it takes to become truly knowledgeable and has reminded me that learning is a life-long process; not one that can be accomplished in a few short years.
What it has done, however, is that it has shaped me to the person I am today. The classroom has helped me to form the opinions and beliefs that I carry with me beyond the hill. The process of leaving this tight-knit university community is both incredibly heart breaking and unbelievably exciting.

I think that if we can do one thing to repay the people who helped us to get here today, it's to be those people for others in the future. One person at a time, if we can provide a bit of support imagine the impact the people in this room could have.

If graduation means that we leave the microcosm of a university community for the world at large, then surely we can increase our impact to staggering levels. It is not our final destination that is important, but how we carry ourselves along the journey that will let us reminisce at the end of our lives with the same sense of pride we have today.

"As I get older, I get smaller. I see other parts of the world I didn't see before. Other points of view. I see outside myself more."
- Neil Young