Valedictory Address

“Valedictory Address” (21 May 1998): 1-3. (UA Case 68, Box 2)

I would like to express my gratitude to my friends and fellow UNB graduates for the honour to speak for them at this celebration of achievement. I recognize that I am obligated to deliver more than a simple overview of our years at the University of New Brunswick. This time is also as an opportunity to look ahead to the careers that are emerging from the education gained here, and to remind ourselves of our obligations as graduates.

Our mission statement asserts that “The University of New Brunswick … with its diverse programs and varied activities, strives to serve New Brunswick, the Atlantic Region and the Nation through the provision of broadly educated graduates.” This university, respected nationally for its engineering, forestry, computer science, and science programs, has now fulfilled the first part of this goal by offering us the opportunity to develop our skills for the enrichment of this region and the nation of which we form a distinctive part. Computer scientists, scientists, engineers and foresters are all builders, innovators. We are the graduates of the most progressive and challenging fields, the realms of knowledge that have been changing our world, and will continue to change our world for years to come.

Our education here has been more than technical, however. With university life comes a new perspective on our own lives and the role we play in society. The first day I arrived at UNB four years ago I had the privilege to move into Neville House, an all-male residence just down the hill from here. My new home turned out to be an intriguing amalgam of cultures, languages, and personalities. The experiences I gained were as much a part of my education as assignments and classes; being greeted at the door by a guy named Psycho, hearing French spoken the New Brunswick way, and realizing that there were almost as many Newfoundlanders here as there were back home. We realized how easy it was to sleep through classes when your parents aren’t there to pull you out of bed. We met those strange creatures called townies, and then realized that they weren’t that bad after all. They taught us where the good restaurants were, and we taught them how to cook Kraft Dinner. Not exactly a fair trade, I realize.

In our last couple of years here, we have all grown closer. The work got tougher but more engaging, the nights got longer, and UNB became the main theme in our lives. It won’t be an easy transition, moving away from here, leaving the student life behind and trying to put our experiences gained here to practice. Let’s not leave too much behind, and hope that we can take some of UNB along with us to help us succeed in the future.

I know many of us here today are embarking on new careers, while others will continue to study, perhaps undertaking higher research degrees. Many will work here in New Brunswick, and a fair number will be drawn to Canadian centres of growth like Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary. Some will venture to the United States and overseas in search of higher education and technical experiences that are not as readily available in this region of Canada. Some may be swept along paths they could never have predicted. We must not forget, however, as graduates of this university, we have established roots here that cannot be denied or forgotten. We have achieved the goals that we have, because those who preceded us had the conviction to better this region, to establish solid institutions for higher learning, to build the economy that allows us many of us to thrive here. Let us not leave our roots to wither, but instead let us strive to continue this building process, by someday reinvesting our efforts in the people of this region, so that other here may experience that which we are celebrating today.