User:M K Lashin

Graduation Speech

Members of the board of trustees, faculty, graduates & guests, welcome. 5 years ago, I would've never imagined I'd be standing at this point giving off my farewell speech on behalf of the whole graduating class.

I'm sure your parents like mine, talked to you about how beautiful college days were. We'd hear stories to prove their point and we'd think … "Did they have the workload we do? Did they struggle to attend their social commitments off campus? How many hours did they work as students?" Now that I'm a graduate, I can tell you that was a biased thinking. All this whining was totally irrelevant! We'd forget that the long hours of work is what created our own social zone. I look back at the years & I realize that I was around my second family: my friends. They're what made my life worthwhile. They were the ones who held my hands at times, competed with me at others & granted me a lifetime of happy memories & loads of fun! Friends at MIU are like no other, & that’s a fact. After I had finished my graduation project I had absolutely no clue what I'd do, how I'd go on without my 'college' life. After all, it was the best thing that ever happened to me! I really found myself in between those amazing people & it was what defined my personality. I'd wake up in the morning looking forward to my day, knowing that whatever stress I had experienced yesterday is definitely going to be gone today, and what ever fears I've got for tomorrow will vanish because we were always in it together, we're like one family.

As I'm the one who's giving off the speech today, I'd like to pass on a small experience of mine. I was never really capable of talking about this story to close ones nonetheless in front of all of you! But I realized it was important. It was important to get the courage to stand up & pass on what vision I perceived and most importantly the lessons I've learned. A few years back, I joined an MIU Study Abroad program. It was a real privilege to travel and learn about a new culture, to experience a new life, and be totally independent for the very first time. Everyone knew I'd do great, after all I was one of who they call "top students", but to everyone's shock I let them down and let myself down, maybe for the very first time in my life. At the time, it was the worst feeling ever, but actually what got me out of my misery was this university, my second home. They were these amazing professors, our caring teaching assistants, those absolutely loyal friends and of course, my utterly great parents, whom I can't thank enough for being by my side throughout the long journey. I would've never ever done it without you all.

What made me tell you this today was a quote I read a few weeks back, by Avinash Dixit: "If you're going to fail, you might as well fail at a difficult task. Failure causes others to downgrade their expectations of you in the future." I failed. I failed at a difficult task but I didn't let it pull me down and it didn't make others lower their expectations of me and here I'm today; a happy and a very ambitious graduate!

By and large, for me, I can't help but think, is this it? Have I seen it all? Were those the best days to live? Could I be any happier? As for you all, do you believe that as of this day you are an official graduate? Do you know what you're going to do next? Will you always stay in touch? Will we get to be the best of friends for life? Personally I still have no answers but I can assure you this, and as Tom Brokaw says "You are educated & your degree is your ticket. You may think of it as the access to a good life but let me tell you an alternative, think of it as your way in to change the world."

Thank you and c o n g r a t u l a t i o n s to all of us!