Management and Staff of Kavanagasau College;
Invited Guests;
Parents;
Teachers; and
Students.
Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to all of you.
I feel honored and privileged to be the Chief Guest at the Annual Awards Day of this excellent institution and I have great admiration for the emphasis Kavanagasau College places on life-long learning and development, positive engagement with the community, developing leadership skills; qualities that will positively impact your communities, your country and the world at large.
Ladies and Gentlemen
May I take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation to the Principal Mr Yogendra Mani for the invitation to this morning’s event. I was impressed with the way Mr Mani had describe today’s programme — a session to inspire and motivate all the students to work hard and achieve success in their lives. This could only be achieved if you have a great team that made things happen; fun loving; overachievers; motivators; different and from diverse backgrounds but gelled brilliantly as a team; innovators.
Provided you build on these strengths from here on, I am confident that your future in the real world is secure! Many business leaders strive to build such qualities with mixed success. I hope that in the future I can claim to have been the Chief Guest at the graduation of the future Jack Welch, Warren Buffett, Meg Whitman, Lakshmi Mittal or a future Head of State!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen
Graduation is a time of celebration and triumph and marks the end of one phase and beginning of the next phase. It is a very proud moment for the graduates, parents and teachers who have all played their part in the end result. The students have worked hard with focus, determination and discipline. The teachers have done their utmost to help you students by encouraging and motivating you to perform at optimum and achieve the end result. Your parents have made many sacrifices in the last few years and provided you with the enabling environment at home, financial, and moral support, to help you through this phase.
Parents, these students started as children and are leaving as adults; they will be in totally different environments with new friends, they will be subject to new peer pressures and therefore you will have to accept that your children will not be under one roof with you and may end up a few thousand miles away from home. This will require emotional adjustment for both you parent and the child. I believe it is of utmost importance that when your child leaves home that you accept that amongst many success stories they may face challenges—some within their control and some outside their control. When they are in such a situation they must feel comfortable to speak to either parent openly and in a timely manner. Your children are entering a new phase in their lives and your management styles may have to change. Trust your child, quite often we underestimate their ability to deal with issues and create a relationship and an environment of dialogue regardless of the issue.
For you students, parents may not always be right in what they say to you—but believe me, whatever every parent says or does is because they genuinely believe that it is in your best interests. Try and keep out of trouble; however if you are faced with a challenge, remember—parents love you unconditionally, and will help you through the ups and downs, and the sooner you share the issues with them, remedial measures are less expensive, less painful and solutions come faster.
You must realize that when you leave home your parents are faced with managing a major change in their lives—you must also change your style of parent management to avoid adding to what is a very stressful life they lead in this day and age. In some cases parents make huge sacrifices—it is inevitable that they have high expectations of the end result.
To the graduating students—this is your day and I congratulate you on your achievement—well done. May I ask you all to put your hands together to applaud the success of our graduates. You are fortunate that you are graduating from an institution that has prepared you exceptionally well. Seth Godin outlines in his book Stop Stealing Dreams and I quote: “You are entering a new chapter in your life in an exciting world, full of challenges, opportunities amplified by the Web and the connection revolution, human beings are no longer rewarded most for being compliant cogs. Instead, our chaotic world is open to the work of passionate individuals, intent on carving their own paths. That is the new job of the school. Not to hand a map to those willing to follow it, but to inculcate leadership and restlessness into a new generation,” unquote.
Kavanagasau College has prepared you not just on the academic front, but to play your part in helping your communities improve their quality of life. This is a quality that you must build on—the developing world is littered with major environmental, ecological disasters, security issues due to increasing numbers of the population living below the poverty line, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer! This is due to corruption, poor governance and leadership. Your country needs your input and you must at every stage of your life play your part in turning this unacceptable situation for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is not enough to simply try and get by in life—that does not move the world forward—you must strive to excel in everything you do—excellence in every task, large or small. The decisions you make starting today, will determine what you become. Your academic journey is not over yet and you must be clear on the end result and how you wish to get there. You will face many challenges but this is what the “real world” is all about and the next phase in your life is a great training ground for your future success.
I once came across an article on education that highlighted three essential interrelated elements to intrinsic motivation: Play, Passion and Purpose. Whether and to what extent, parents, teachers and employers, encourage these qualities makes an enormous difference in the lives of young innovators. You must think big, dream based on not what is, BUT on what might be. You will have amazing networking opportunities in your next phase—you will meet new people with different cultures, values, attitudes and knowledge. It is easy to remain in the comfort zone in terms of the friends circle but the best lessons in life are learnt through reaching out. Play your part in sports, cultural or other activities that enables you expand your network. We have witnessed a number of cases where it is easy for university students perhaps to give health and well-being issues less of a priority—have fun and it is important that you do, but look after your health through exercise; eat healthy as this will help shape your future. Balance is the key to future success.
Do not be afraid to be fearless. We all must have goals and we will have fears about achieving them but it is how we handle those fears that determine whether or not and how quickly we get there. Not every project or task we undertake can be successful—when it is not successful, learn from the mistakes made, and take the necessary remedial measures on the next project.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The word “team” is extremely important in this day and age. A number of major organizations have failed due to lack of teamwork despite having the finest brains in their establishment. Human creativity has increasingly become a group process. You must improve your skills on working with teams as human friction makes the sparks in the corporate world. We now live in a tough world, low hanging fruit is diminishing and significant success can be achieved if we connect our imaginations.
With those words, I wish the students of Kavanagasau College all the very best in your future endeavors and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
Vinaka Vakalevu. Thank You.
View PDF: Minister’s Speech – Kavanagasau College