Valedictory Address

"Valedictory Address" (20 May 2010): 1-2. (UA Case 68, Box 1).

Here we are, all together again and at the end of our degrees with the last few years of our lives encapsulated in a piece of paper (hold up diploma). It feels good! What a journey it has been. We left home, we moved out on our own, and earned a wealth of wisdom along the way, and I'm not just talking about effective citizenship or therapeutic relationships. I'm not even talking about the pearls of wisdom we took from Plato's Allegory of the cave. No, no, my friends, we learned about life.

We learned how to push ourselves. If you had told me four years ago that I would soon be hunched over a desk night after night until 3 am, averaging 8 coffees a day. Well, I wouldn't have believed you. Before university, I thought that time management was just the easiest chapter in that "personal development" class we took in high school and I only used my calendar to keep track of three-day weekends. University was a time of growth.

But our educational journey was not confined to school, we also learned of friendship. Yes, we made friends here. Friends that helped us understand a class, friends that pushed us to go that extra mile to get an A, and friends that wouldn't let us give up on ourselves even when we rationalized that "worse-case scenario, we don't even need a minor." Those people were there to keep us focused and served as a constant source of stability in the hectic frenzy that was our bachelor degree.

Then there were those other friends. You know the ones I'm talking about; the ones who convinced us to "grab a quick bite to eat at the cellar," which really meant spend our nights running around with these characters instead of finishing our assignments. These were the people that made university great.

Sure, certain people wouldn't have needed extensions on certain important finals if certain other people who shall remain nameless had not tricked me into watching the entire Olympic hockey series, but it was these distractions that gave our time here its character. We all have at least one vivid memory of seriously considering hiding somewhere in the library overnight to finish an assignment, but who honestly remembers meeting their deadlines punctually? That's not how memories are made my friends.

But how can we even begin to discuss learning without remembering our professors, our guides through this great voyage that was post-secondary education. And there were a lot of them: some we liked, some we liked but liked less, some had the ability to make us think and some had the ability to make time stand completely still, but some professors were able to reach over the podium and speak to us in a way that challenged our perspectives. They made us care about things we would never have thought important before coming here and they changed who we've become.

And so here we are, finished. Accomplished students and dare I say it, adults? When I first decided to come to UNB, a friend of mine said: "why bother going to university? You can read everything you'll learn there in books you could get for free!" back then, my response was "but then I'd need to get a real job." Looking back, I realize how narrow my response had been. My time at UNB has been the most amazing life-changing experience of my life thus far. I'd like to leave you today with some inspiring words from the great Henry David Thoreau:

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hour's toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one characteristic we must possess if we are to face the future as finishers.

So one last time, I'd like to thank Google quotes. I'd like to thank the professors, the administration, the university staff, and the families that supported us over the last few years. Farewell UNB!