July 28, 2017, by kzzhg
Graduation Speech by Linur Chubaev
Professor Sir David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor, University of Nottingham; Professor Graham Kendall, CEO, Provost of University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, Pro-Vice Chancellor of University of Nottingham Nick Miles esteemed members of the faculty, distinguished guests, fellow graduates.
Good afternoon.
My name is Linur Chubaev, I am coming from Uzbekistan. I am an economics student and I am graduating in a few hours.
A graduation ceremony is a big day in the life of every student; they celebrate their hard work and efforts put into building a brighter future for themselves and societies around them. However, there are people who were standing alongside us all these years and, in my opinion, they deserve respect and acknowledgement for their uneasy task, which initially might seem not very important. Dear professors, faculty members, supporting staff, and all others who have shared their emotions, invested their time and efforts, and made sure that our stay here is pleasant, you are the best. Days spent in the classrooms and your offices assisting us with our assignments and dissertations; nights spent replying our emails checking the exam papers; Smiling and helping us at the faculty offices and forgiving us for being few minutes late when submitting an assignment or optional module forms; Helping us with our accommodation and visa (although we had so many problems and complaints, visa office staff did their best to make sure immigration doesn’t trouble us); and many many more, I am afraid I won’t have enough time to mention everything that you did.
This being said, I would love to thank you all from the bottom of my heart on the behalf of all students and I am sure we will always be grateful for this.Fellow graduates, let’s give them all a round of applause.
Now, I would like to talk about our time here…
Remember your first day?
Yeah, I’m sure you do.. because I will never forget mine, when I got lost on campus with two suitcases and rucksack on my shoulders walking under the afternoon sun (I shall add MALAYSIAN afternoon sun) for two hours looking for Perhentian hall.. fortunately enough, I have found some master students who have helped me to get to the new halls. Then, the semester has started and my first midterms, and at those days I thought: this place will either break me or help me to grow. And, I believe, or want to believe, that the latter is the case. And I am sure we all have grown and become a better version of ourselves.
And, we will remember the years spent in this amazing place and we will miss it and cherish it, always.
Our Diversity among students (85 Nationalities); Diversity among staff, where we have lectures and professionals from all over the world.
This experience has helped us to learn so much about different cultures, traditions and languages. for instance, now I know how to say some phrases in Spanish, Malay, Mandarin, Arabic, Urdu, and Hindi. Despite the fact that most of them are swearings haha. I was fascinated by how friendly, accepting, and hospitable people in UNMC are. Anyone could feel the harmony in which students are living in.. International cultural night, events organised by cultural societies, and just casual talks with your fellas from other countries, discussing various cultures, how they are alike and how we all are actually close to one another. This is truly beautiful!
The excellence of education and teaching has helped me to find my passion and realise my potential. Before coming here I had no idea about behavioural economics, and I would never imagine myself writing my dissertation thesis on such specific and controversial topic as, Can Academic Procrastination Positively Affect Student’s Results? … and guess what? I proved it! This all has helped me to decided to do Masters in Behavioural Economics in the near future.
Our extracurriculars… Well, we all have tried various things for the first time, when came here… I have learnt things that I would never even try if I wouldn’t have come to UNMC. From playing rugby to learning latin dances.
They say everything we face and everyone we meet in this life shapes us in one way or another. Our families and friends, they all influence the development of our personalities, and the university is not an exception. And, we, graduates, standing all here today, can proudly say that university did shape us in the best possible way.
Some day we all will become professionals and experts in our respective fields and achieve greater heights. I would like to wish for us all to always be optimistic, creative and determined despite sticks and stones along the way. Don’t be scared to do something that you love, at least give it a shot.
And, Keep in mind – “The best way to predict the future is to create it” – Abraham Lincoln.
The last but not the least…
Class of 2017, congratulations, we made it.
Thank you.
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