The Minister of Education,
The honorable superintendent of the Monrovia Consolidated School System,
Government officials here present,
Principal,
Members of the National Teachers Association,
Members of the 4th estate,
Distinguished graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen
I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the G.W. Gibson family for inviting me to speak today. I am totally thrilled to be here to join you in celebrating this wonderful day which marks a milestone in your lives. Firstly, let me say to this honorable 2012 graduating class, please accept my warmest congratulations.
I must say to you today, “YOU HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT AND YOU HAVE RUN A GOOD RACE”. Your crown is the Diploma you are about to receive.
You must feel proud of yourselves and be proud to be products of this noble institution.This institution has given you adequate academic, moral, and spiritual knowledge to work with when you get into the world.
I know you must be excited to get your hands on your diplomas and run into the world to attend you festivities you have planned for this special day. But as cartoonist Garry Trudeau said and I quote:
“Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing or graduating students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated or advised.
That’s where I come in as keynote speaker and it is within this light that I have decided to speak to you on the topic:” Who Am I upon Graduation”.
Graduation is one of those steps in life that defines a coming of age-the ending of one era of life, as a student or the one being shown the ropes, and moving onto a new stage in which you are a leader, a doer and an achiever in the wider world. I’m sure many of you have firm plans and have a good idea of what you may want to do next, dreaming and having lots of hope to get you there and some of you are just amazed that you got to this graduation point. Well, the coming times will be exciting, or they will be difficult, but it will depend on you and your determination to determine who you are and who you want to be after you have left this graduation hall today.
There is a famous Chinese quote that says:” A Million mile journey begins with a single step”.
Your matriculation from high school today indicates that you have the taken first step of your million mile journey, and I say hats-off to you for a task well accomplished.
If you look in the audience today, you see you parents, family members, friends and other important people in your lives who have taken up their busy schedules to come and give you your flowers for a successful completion of what I will refer to as phase one. This is not the end of your academic pursuit; rather, it is the decision you have made to determine who you are to become in the larger society. As I look at your faces today, I see doctors, ministers, scientists, politicians, technocrats, business men and women as well as visionaries. But as you walk out of these walls today, have this question at the back of your minds: who am I upon graduation?
Today is an indication that yours and your parents’ efforts have not gone in vain; but what you do with your lives after this graduation ceremony will define these efforts.
Are you going to be like a person whose first step is the end of his journey? Or are you going to be like a person whose first step is the furtherance of his journey which will lead him to a better life, a life that will be a benefit to his family, his country and the world at large. To achieve this life, you must strongly consider the furtherance of your academic life. The choice of who you want to become in life is up to you. Remember there are two separate roads in life. The easy but bad road which leads to destruction and the good but difficult road rich lead to an honorable life. I say to you today, take the latter. Do not be like a driver who has embarked on a journey but fails to complete it because of a breakdown, a breakdown which could have been avoided if he had inspected his car earlier. Remember always, do not follow where the road may lead you, instead, go where there is no road and leave a trail that others may follow.
As you go from here, I want you to contemplate on positive ways to further your education in order to become better citizens. A developed nation derives from an educated people, so know that your country needs you. Your graduation today doesn’t mean you have acquired all you need academically, it is just the beginning. As our beloved country progresses, there is a need for more educated citizens. This, in turn will improve Liberia. Be serious and steadfast in life. Further your education and be an asset to your country. It is indeed very sad to see that for several long years, foreigners have occupied prominent positions in our country, while indigenous Liberians are striving. This must stop, and to do that we must adequately prepare ourselves. You are the future nation builders. The heights which desirous and honest men have reached today were not obtained overnight. It took them diligence, persistence and determination. These are the virtues that will define who you are upon graduation.
Life doesn’t usually follow the plans you lay out for yourself. You will experience the highs and lows of life, the difficult and the easy and unfortunately, there may sometimes be times of too many difficulties and just not enough smooth sailing. Your true success will be defined by how you handle both of these times.
You have taken a key step towards your successful future and also the betterment of your family and your communities. You have worked hard, spending months learning new things. Our complex and technical world today requires education and skills that were not needed in the past. Ultimately, your well educated generation will benefit all of us in the future.
You are now armed with one of the most important tool needed to forge your path ahead. It’s not the diploma itself that counts; it’s about what you’ve learned along the way and what you do with the education you’ve acquired in your journey to graduation today. Your future and what you are to become upon graduation is in your hands and no one else. Seize the opportunity. The important thing is you have already taken the initial step needed to build a more promising future. Every class u have attended, every test, every quiz, every assignment and every grade mark you have earned, they have all been preparing you to adapt to change and challenges you are going to meet. I know that sometimes it was tough, but bear in mind that it will get tougher when you get into the world out there. Nothing is going to be handed to you, you have to earn it and know that it will mean a lot to you because u earned it.
To the parents, family members, and friends of those graduating and earning certifications, I say to you congratulations, and you should know that your support through this process made an enormous impact on the lives of these young and energetic graduates. I’m sure you are very proud of them as they close this portion of their lives and prepare for the next step into a new world.
What you do with what you have acquired over the years will now determine and define who you want and ought to be in the future that lays ahead of you.
Before I take my seat, let me make this very clear to you; do not sit, look for opportunities that will help you further your academic pursuit. When path becomes very difficult for you, be focused, be determined and don’t be carried away. Be cognizant of the fact that the decisions you make after you leave here will fulfill what you are to become upon this graduation.
Once again to the graduating class, please accept my congratulations. I wish you well in your future endeavors and the best of luck. May Jehovah bless us all.
I thank you.
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