Valedictory Address

“Valedictory Address” (23 May 2002): 1-5. (UA Case 68, Box 2).

Your honour, Mr. Chancellor, Madam President, Members of the Board, Honoured Guests, Fellow Graduates, Family and Friends.

We are gathered here this afternoon not only to mark the completion of a very important chapter, but more importantly to begin a new one, in the novel that defines our lives.

Some might say that today marks the beginning of our emergence into the real world. They might argue that we have lived in a type of “make believe” world, completely oblivious to life outside it.

The reality is we lived in a real world where we dealt with hardships and faced problems just like everyone else. Our 3,4,5 or even 6 or 7 years in this academic environment have been spent learning how to overcome many obstacles.

We know only too well the hard work and late nights we spent writing papers and studying for exams – not to mention the hours and days we spent at jobs trying to make enough money to cover tuition costs and living expenses. The reality also is that although we may be moving to a different world – or chapter – it is nevertheless the same world we were in yesterday.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said that “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” All of us came to this university with a variety of different goals and dreams and are leaving here today having accomplished one major step towards this dream.

Throughout our years here, we have grown and matured. The challenges we faced, both inside and outside the classroom, and the way in which we met those challenges have helped to define us as individuals and will most definitely serve us in our future endeavors.

And it is this strength and resolve that we mustered to meet these challenges along with the endless support from family and friends, which has brought all of us together here today. We should all be proud of one another for having achieved these great feats.

A few weeks ago, when I watched the Spiderman movie one line stuck with me, and it’s relevance being more far-reaching than first seemed: “With every great power comes great responsibility. This is my power; this is my curse.”

Being graduates of science and applied science fields, we are in a position to impact a large number of people and greatly influence the future. But with this power also comes a responsibility. We must ensure that the work we perform in the future is responsible and just – so that we are in fact not exploited and we do not ourselves exploit. As graduates of this university, I am positive that the valuable knowledge and skills we have acquired will guide us well in using our great powers.

As we leave here today, there are a lot of things we will miss and remember fondly. I can still remember the first day of classes – for me, it was in Saint John and I will never forget it. I can also remember the large workload requiring staying up all night – I will definitely never forget that.

We will all remember the good times we had with our friends, the great parties, and in general the awesome memories that were created each and every day. But most importantly, we will remember our friendships, hopefully friendships that will last a lifetime. The friendships we developed were undoubtedly one of the most important things that kept us going in the difficult times – and ones we will want to sustain throughout our lives, wherever we go and whatever we do.

But also leaving here today, we have gained a lot of knowledge. We have gained a lot of strength. And we have gained a lot of experience. Throughout all of our interactions amongst ourselves and with our professors, we have become better people and most importantly, individuals.

As we sit here today, dressed in identical gowns and caps, it is somewhat difficult to differentiate our individualities. Our dress may be similar, but inside ourselves, we have all acquired some special knowledge, some life lesson that we hold dear to our hearts. And it is what we do with these lessons that really defines who we are.

Some of us will take our lessons to the workforce and others of us will take our lessons to pursue further studies. One does not have to be a top researcher or CEO to obtain the finer rewards in life, (although we often wish we were). If you are content with what you do then that is all that matters. At the end of the day, it is your personal achievement that really defines your ultimate success.

This past academic year has been like no other. It started off with one of the worse acts of violence against humanity in our generation, and we have seen violence continue throughout the year. The world is changing dramatically and rapidly, a pace that we have not really been accustomed to.

However, we will face many more obstacles and hindrances as we make our ways into the future. What we need to do is examine the way in which we have overcome everything to reach this goal and use this knowledge in the rest of our endeavors so as to conquer these challenges with the utmost confidence. As long as we give it our best, this is the most anyone can ever ask for.

As Albert Einstein once said, “The example of great and pure individuals is the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts.” Let us take our valuable lessons learned and share our knowledge with humanity so as to become those great and pure individuals.