Graduation Address

Delivered by Hon. Karen L. Delancy
June 28th, 2010
COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

In the words of the late Mother Theresa:  I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle, I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.

Graduates, Parents, Faculty, distinguished Guests, good evening.

It is, a pleasure as well as an honor to be here this evening at Community Christian Academy. I am indeed extremely happy to be attending this special occasion; the first Graduation Exercise for this Noble Institution. It is like the breaking of dawn – a path breaking event. It involves the moulding and shaping of lives, honing of vision, development of character and personality.  I quote Arie Pencovici) Graduation is a Process, “Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life, if you can grasp that, you will make a difference”

“I would like to congratulate all of you, and to remind you that this is something memorable, meaningful, an essential message that can be passed along and one that you can carry with you throughout your lives. To the Parents; you still remain the greatest source of learning and inspiration to your children, and they determine the essential lessons based on their own values. That is why I strongly believe that the most effective words still come from Moms and Dads.

I am particularly happy to note that the school is laying a lot of stress on character and personality development and have all helped encouraged participation in extracurricular activities such as sports, music, drama etc. The mandatory soft skills and computer applications as well as the field exposure and other special areas, have helped in moulding and building you up.

I congratulate the Principal and his dedicated team in establishing these programmes, and to have such a committed team of individuals, demonstrating that by working together in a focused and determined way shows that anything can be achieved.

You must continue to make use of the opportunities available to you to develop your other skills and aptitudes. By being involved and working or playing together, your team spirit and sense of oneness becomes stronger. What is needed today is the manpower with drive and determination, people with Vision who are committed to serve the nation, who find fulfillment in doing good for the country and others. This country awaits you the youth of today to rise and translate the dreams and visions of our nation into reality.

Our country still suffers from significant “gaps in Capacity” that we are currently unable to fill. Overcoming this will require a human resources development cooperation initiative of significant magnitude.

It is for you to change the world – Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world, though our culture has become preoccupied with external achievements, schools have come to focus on awards, grades and test scores. Our culture focuses on Monetary and material success. A win at any cost, but these will not define our children in the end. What will define them are the choices they make. The greatest chance of true and meaningful success rests on a foundation of principles and knowing they have done their level best with honest efforts.

THEME OF TODAY IS “Building up your personality and setting an example for others”

I WILL START OFF BY SAYING  Truth – It is important to build our lives on a foundation of truth to reach our fullest potential, always telling the truth should be a guide in life even when telling the truth is difficult, even if it means a professional or social loss.

Attitude - Albert Einstein once said “try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value”. This perception cannot be underestimated in today’s world, if our children are going to fulfill their potential, they need to possess and nurture the right attitude’.

You always have a choice, when faced with the inevitable; you will always have a choice, as I have learned in the imaginative context, there are two versions, a positive and a negative. If you spill your milk, you’re left with a glass which is either half empty or half full, you may not be able to alter the reality, but you can alter your attitude towards it, and this, paradoxically, alters reality.

Patience – Importance of patience, it is important to have determination and optimism and patience. If you lack patience, even when you face some small obstacle, you lose courage. There is a Tibetan saying, “Even if you have failed at something nine times, you have still given it effort nine times”. That is important. Use your brain to analyze the situation do not rush through it but think, once you decide what to do about that obstacle, then there’s a probability that you will achieve your goal.

Do Not Stop! Do Not Give Up. Continue to spread your eagle wings, because God says to all of us, you are no chicken; you are an eagle. Fly, eagle fly. God wants us to shake ourselves, spread our pinions, and then lift off and soar and rise, and rise toward the confident and the good the beautiful. Rise towards the compassionate and the gentle and the caring. Rise to become what God intends us to be. Eagles, not chickens. (By Desmond Tutu)

Graduants, I look at all of you this evening and I cannot help but see myself (thirty one years ago). Let me be very clear what I mean by that, I mean that I got up every day and tried to do my best in every possible way. If there was a test to be had, I had studied for it, if there was a paper to written, it was done. I was in the school’s choir, I played softball, I was in the reading club, the travel club and I sat as a student…If anyone had ever stopped and asked me why I did those things ….well I am not sure what I would have said. But I can tell you today, that I did them to be a good student.  Being a good student was hard work. It was harder to become number one because every day you had to compete with other classmates who were smarter and they seemed like the smartest kids in the world. So trying to be the perfect student day after day, year after year, became like always carrying a backpack filled with bricks on my back, and Oh, how I secretly longed to lay my burden down.

So today if this, sounds, in any way, familiar to you, if you have been trying to be the perfect student in one way or another, then know from today, begin with that most terrifying of all things, a clean slate. Look every day, at the choices you are making, and when you ask yourself why you are making them, find the answer: I am doing it for me, for me.  That is who and what I am, and meant to be.

Many times in your life, workplace and community you will make it all up as you go along. This will always be your struggle whether you are 16,18, 21 or 51, and I know this from experience. Before I entered politics I had a family, and a job I hosted my own television program, a radio program and a newspaper column, I was an Activist and I enjoyed all of it. I saw myself becoming successful on my own terms.  My path although meandering, was not a chance path. God had a plan for me when He guided me through community college, engaged me for 6 or so of my most vibrant and energetic years having served in various capacities in the public sector, I suspect that unknown to me I was being observed because the rest is history. I can safely conclude from the articulated expectations that perhaps I was chosen to give moral leadership and to be a model for the nation. For indeed it is not about me as an individual but what I represent. Because if your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.  Remember; God does not require us to succeed; he only requires that we try. (Mother Theresa)

In closing , let me congratulate all Graduants on their achievements, on this special occasion, I hope you will take the chance to thank those  who have supported and guided you in your journey --- your parents, teachers, loved ones, friends and your community. I wish you every success in your future studies and endeavors.

Thank you for your attention and for lending me your good ear!