Graduation Ceremony 17
Wednesday 2 December 2015 at 1630hrs – Jesuits Church Valletta
Graduation Oration
Dr Rebecca Dalli Gonzi
Welcome All
Graduands,
I believe in you
I believe in the efforts you made to graduate today.
I believe in the gift of knowledge you have received and the freedom you have to express it.
I believe you have made it.
Let this day be a day unlike many others.
Give yourselves the time to stop and think of the significance of being here, of being given a key.
A key to lead in your firm, in your department, in your home, in society, as a parent, as a leader, or
simply as yourself.
What is the significance of your presence here today?
You are future leaders in your field.
You have the power to redesign the blueprint of your life to light a way through impossibility,
opposition, conflict and disbelief.
You have been inspired with wisdom, knowledge, professionalism, truth, might and beauty.
Be proud of it and breathe in the sense of your being.
Never let the negative take over. Anything that goes against your innermost desire is only there to stop
your true path. Do not embrace it.
Be firm in your love of knowledge, beauty and intellect. You truly are achievers and understand the
implication of this.
Managing is different to leading.
If you wish to manage, all you need to do is issue orders and wait for others to bow their heads and
obey. If you wish to lead you need others to share your vision, live and breathe your dreams.
You stand here today because you have been given the key to lead others into a better future. You have
the potential to be leaders so grasp it.
I know I will find many of you in positions of authority, future parents, pushing for change. I am proud of
what you will achieve in your future since I know that you are intrinsically good.
We, as tutors, have believed in you, as you have believed in us. Otherwise you would not be here today,
fulfilling one of your dreams along this journey called life.
Do appreciate the time we dedicated to you.
The emails answered at all odd hours, the battles fought on your behalf.
We would not have stood up for you, if we did not believe in you.
So, see through us, who we are and what we represent. See through hours of hard work, see through
our faults or lack of communication.
Use this to emerge as stronger persons capable of looking past human weakness and looking towards
implementing successful stories, making history and sharing futures.
Let us be quick to recognise success and slow to accept regress.
Understand that by allowing your future colleagues to succeed, you succeed along with them. Enjoy the
fulfilment of others’ accomplishments not because of an altruistic sense of being but through a sense of
shared ownership.
If one person succeeds, you may have enabled this through your thoughts, your words, the actions you
did not take to stop them from getting there.
Think of the vacuum you filled in creating a better world.
Re-consider student representation through different political views. Do not allow yourselves to be
carried away by a world which does not truly represent you.
‘If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.’
(Mark 3: 24)
This quote reminds me of you as one strong student body rather than a divided one, which could be
unbreakable if it stands as one entity.
Policy advisor Simon Anholt devised an unusual scale to enable administrations, institutions and
governments to think outwardly:
The Good Country Index. Which country does the most good for the world?
He puts it right: ‘Humanity is capable of extraordinary progress if it really acts together” (Simon Anholt)
Be inclusive, not exclusive. We live in a world where the larger entity feels the need to diminish smaller
entities. Why is this so?
Who has taught us that this is the only mechanism that will lead us to success?
What about shared ownership?
What about sharing success, sharing failure, sharing our humanity without disguising our weakness? We
can all achieve without undermining each other. Let us all start, today.
Allow this joy or pride you feel in yourself to be translated into positive energy, energy that will build a
better future.
I now turn to you, parents, guardians, partners, spouses,
Be proud of these future scholars here today.
Speak inspiration through their lives.
Never underestimate the power of their achievement and where they intend to go with that.
Be a foundation stone not a source that ties them to your roots.
Set them free.
Be confident in the route they wish to take and be confident that they will choose what is best for them.
Work together to find new ways of doing things, of exploring life, relationships, new journeys and new
milestones.
And guide them to become who they wish to be rather than the fabrication of your own designs and
intentions.
We tend to forget they live their own life. So, today, may you truly see the potential that lies within their
being.
Enjoy the beauty of their creative minds.
They are our future.
Creativity gives life to being.
Being gives life to creativity.
Love creates beauty.
For those today having a loved one missing to share this joy, know that you are carrying part of their
creation within you.
They are an intrinsic part of your accomplishment.
Believe it and you will see the fruit of what they passed on to you work through you. It will be fulfilled in
your lifetime.
To all of you here today
Do not be afraid to change your future.
If you can see it, then believe it.
Do not be afraid to assist those closest to you to embrace change.
Sometimes this is a way of sharing who you really are and who you strive to be.
Just be.
I wish you all, on behalf of those present here with me, a successful future.
I have a vision of what the future will be like and I am confident of seeing dreams fulfilled.
Ultimately you have to believe in yourself and your own dream. Go for it.
Thank you
Dr R. Dalli Gonzi