Distinguished guests, faculty members, fellow
graduates, ladies and gentlemen!
I am Nguyen Quynh Phuong from the Nanyang
Business School and I am honoured to be presenting my graduation speech to you
today. Yes, this is unlike the traditional medium how valedictories are usually
delivered. However, ‘valedictory’ is
simply derived from a Latin word which means ‘to bid farewell’, so shouldn’t
all of us be entitled to this privilege of formally saying goodbye to the
institution where we have spent three or four valuable years of our youth?
It would have been really sweet if NTU had been
a love at first sight for me, but the truth is that it wasn’t. Trust me, for
someone who came from SCGS and ACJC, hearing your new college anthem completely
in Mandarin at the Freshman Welcome Ceremony was not much different from having
your ears blasted by a bomb explosion. Four years ago, NTU welcomed me with a
cultural shock and I started a list named ‘love eveNTUally’ with all the good
things about NTU for which I should be thankful. Throughout these four years, I’ve
occasionally added new-found loves for NTU to make a complete list. And now, I can
proudly say that I’ve made the right choice coming to NTU.
Personally, NTU is not only a school but also a
home for me. It is the loveliest house one could ever ask for, with long (and
seemingly never ending) flights of stairs, gorgeous green gardens and beautiful
blue swimming pools. It is where I have made many good friends through
sleepless nights camping in seminar rooms rushing to meet project deadlines or
chilling in one of the balconies in the hall of residence talking and laughing
our hearts out with one another. And it is also a place which has witnessed my personal
growth through a wide range of life events and a broad spectrum of emotions
experienced.
How many of us will travel to Pioneer MRT and
take the Pioneer bus or drive all the way to Nanyang Avenue again after today?
Indeed, I guess not many will return to this little island at the West-most end
of Singapore in the near future. So look around you now, at this exact moment,
to see all the familiar faces (some of which could be one of the motivations
for you to attend classes everyday while some others might have served as your
dart throwing targets), call out all the familiar names and give one another a
friendly pat on the back, for you are now collectively known as the ‘Class of
2013’ together with all these people, whether you like them or not.
At the same time, this celebratory moment
should also be dedicated to the people who have always been there to shower us
with unconditional love and care and to support us at any stage along the way
throughout this entire journey. For you, these people could be your parents,
your family members, your teachers or your friends. For me, I don’t usually
express my feelings out and am not very good with flowery and poetic words but I
am certain that the people who have made a difference in my life throughout
these four years know very well who they are and how deeply appreciative I am
of their kindness. For everything you have done for me, thank you!
Our schooling may be over, but our education
still continues and graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of
your life. Today’s ceremony will officially open up the doors to a bigger, more
challenging yet remarkably rewarding school for all of us and I wish that we
would graduate exceptionally well from that school, just like how we did it in
NTU!
To end this speech, I would like to share with
you a famous quote by Mark Twain, “Life is short, break the rules, forgive
quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret
anything that made you smile. Twenty years from now you will be more
disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off
the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your
sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Thank you.
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