It is with great honour that I stand here today representing my colleagues at this important milestone. Congratulations to you all on this great achievement having walked the hallowed halls of this campus of the premier tertiary education institution in the Caribbean, gleaning the knowledge and experiences that we will take forward in our lives. Today marks the end of another chapter in our lives and the beginning of another; in the word of Julius Caesar ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici.’: ‘We came, we saw, we conquered.’
We came to this place that many of us would call home for years and on entering this beautiful campus, we started a journey, an adventure that could only be described as the UWI Experience. From the plethora of information and myriad of experiences of Orientation Week, we knew that we had made a great choice by choosing the Mona Campus. Then we started classes and immediately we knew that this was no longer secondary school or CAPE. Our school days became filled with lectures, practicals, lab sessions and the occasional class debates which added to our learning experience. We were told on entry that we were here to ‘read for a degree’ and that is exactly what we did. The libraries became our second home and the libraries’ staff our family. Many days and nights would be spent there doing research, accessing documents and just finding a quiet environment to study. The quote of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow became known to many of us after our first year here. “Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the night.” We would learn from our mistakes in first year and go on to make the rest of our academic journey a successful one.Yet while we pursued our academic goals, there was more that would mould us as Pelicans. Our skills and talents were shown whether in acting, singing or directing at the Philip Sherlock Centre, our sporting abilities displayed at the Mona Bowl, the event planning skills in transforming venue for pageants, shows and parties and our outreach projects focusing on helping our society. Our time spent within the various clubs and societies on campus would help develop our leadership and communication skills as well as make us team players. There were many debates between the nationals from the many islands of our region, informing us about each other’s culture with each trying to outdo the other. Still, the more we would highlight our differences, the more we would see and embrace the similarities of our Caribbean identity. All of this would help to mould what the UWI has outlined in its strategic plan: the ideal UWI graduate.
On such a momentous occasion, it would be remiss of me not to recognize those who helped and guided us on this journey. We were fortunate to have some of the best minds in the Caribbean and by extension the world, to pilot our academic pursuits, challenging us to think creatively and critically and pushing us to achieve excellence. We are thankful to our lecturers and tutors for their work in aiding us to achieve today’s accomplishment. Your invaluable efforts will go on with us in our work wherever we are. To our families and friends, we thank you for the love, support and tolerance especially in our trying times. We are grateful for your integral role in this journey to our academic success.
And so we have come to the end of another chapter of journey and will begin a new one today. We must now become the change we need in our countries, our region and our world. We must now pursue our dreams, no longer waiting for a job to be provided but providing our own jobs, creating innovative businesses and becoming the leaders of our region for today.
As we move on let us not forget the memories and friends made here. We now have a network that extends throughout the region and beyond. We are now ambassadors of the university and bear the proud title of Alumni of the University of the West Indies. As Pelicans I urge us to wear it proudly, display it and show why the UWI is the premier tertiary education institution in the Caribbean. We must also proudly give back to her; join the UWI Alumni Association and support the efforts to improve the university by giving of our time, talent and treasure.
In closing we have done what Caesar did; we came to this campus with a dream, we saw the excitement and the challenges of university life and we conquered it, with today as a testament of our achievements. I wish us all success in our future endeavours and may we proudly stand as representatives of the "Light Rising from the West." I thank you!
Shavar D.M. Maloney B.A. (Hons) Media & Communication UWI Class of 2013
