Valedictory Address

“Valedictory Address” (May 1996): 1-4. (UA Case 68, Box 2)

Your Honour, Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, other distinguished members of the platform party, faculty, family, friends and fellow graduates…

Life is full of challenges. Challenge offers opportunity, the opportunity to pursue and to triumph.

My friends, triumph is what we have done. Some time ago, we accepted the challenge of pursuing a university degree. With our own goals in mind, we completed this task, and today we share this common achievement, as UNB graduates.

Today, we celebrate our success. Fortunately, our efforts were accompanied by support from our friends, families and faculties, and for this we are grateful.

For many of us the progress will not stop here. For UNB has provided us with many tools to use, on the journey we are about to undertake.

The knowledge, skills and experiences from our times here, will surely assist us in meeting future challenges throughout our lives.

The challenge most of us will face, immediately upon graduation, is that of finding work.

I haven’t any secrets for finding a job, but I will share some advice that a successful friend once told me, and that is: “If we remain optimistic and self-confident, we will find success.”

To these words I would add, that we should all search for opportunities…especially in the technology area. We live in a technology-rich environment where many opportunities are staring us in the face, and these are limited only by our imaginations. The implementation of technology within all domains of industry, science and business, has significantly influences our lives, and will continue to, as possibilities for improvements are discovered.
All professions worldwide are experiences changes due to the implementation of technology, and we are the people, the soon-to-be professionals, who can take hold of this resource, and make things happen, to benefit both ourselves and society.

Society also challenges us with many areas for improvement. We are tomorrow’s engineers and scientists, in a rapidly changing technological world, we are the next era of decisions makers for business and for government and we are tomorrow’s stewards of the environment and the world’s natural resources.

Fortunately, many of us live, and were educated, in this wonderful country, and in a society which is conscious of our duty to preserve the environment, to live, and to work, in unity, with other cultures and countries; A society that recognizes our responsibility, as a member of the world community, To contribute globally to the betterment of humankind.

Today, our lives as students become but treasured memories.
For many of us, these memories represent the most care-free times in our lives, times of new experiences and of growth, coupled with strong friendships.

To borrow a quotation from Merle Shain:

“It is in our memories that we find ourselves,
And the parts of ourselves that make us what we are today.
And is it in our love of the past,
That we find commitment to the present,
-and our hope for the future.”

-Merle Shain

My friends, I encourage you to cherish the memories which you take with you today, for these treasures will always be a great reminder of the good times we’ve shared together. My greatest challenge in life now awaits us. That of change. Many of us will turn a new leaf in our book of life, Soar to new places and continue to live new experiences. The comfort of the university environment will no longer physically be with us. But as alumni, UNB will always be with us; in our memories, in our lives and in our hearts.

Our achievements, have prepared us for great responsibilities tomorrow.

Fellow graduates, I believe happiness and success will come to us
if we live life to the fullest and do what we each want to do.
We must never be afraid to set goals and to pursue them with determination and perseverance. We must be confident in what we do, and in our capacity to do it, and we must approach all challenges, with optimism.

The challenges which we now face, represent opportunities for both personal growth, and success.

It is up to each and every one of us to take with us, everything we have learned from our times here, at UNB, and to use it to determine our own destiny, to meet the challenges in an ever-changing world and to contribute to the well-being of the world environment and to that of humankind.

Congratulations fellow graduates and Good luck !!