Graduation Speech

I thought to post this speech I gave at our graduation in Sept, because I feel it really sums up my experience over the past year.

A big thank you to everyone who has gathered here to today join us as we celebrate our graduation. I also wish to thank all my colleagues who have entrusted me to represent them and their many thoughts here before you today on our graduation. As I look around the room I cannot help but smile at the friendly faces that surround me. It’s hard to imagine a little over a year ago we all just arrived in Kassel, confused, scared, anxious, nervous; not really knowing what we had signed up for and what this masters programme in Labour Policies and Globalization was really about. But I think we all just embraced this unknown and got to know the many friendly faces in the room. I recall my first week in Kassel, when I was more than excited about the program, and wrote some of my friends back home:

I thought to write you and tell you how things are going here in Germany with my Masters Programme. I think this is a great fit for my interests and background. On many levels I feel I am in my element. Overall, I am very much impressed by the programme. My class is the most inter-culturally diverse group I have ever been a part of; we are a group of 16 from 14 different countries representing 5 different continents. Moreover, what’s really amazing about the program is that we are all what I could consider true activists, definitely not your typical scholar group, most of my classmates have 5-10years experience working in either a trade union, or as part of a social movement.

Since I wrote this email back in September I think this feeling of being in one’s element has not died but has continued to grow stronger over the course of this year.

As a proud supporter and believer in non-formal education, I must say that this program has been much more than a formal run of the mill academic masters programme. As apart from the learning in our various classes, and seminars, I have found we have all learned a profound amount of from each other. The learning that has taken place “outside the classroom” has been phenomenal. Whether it was a discussion about how to overcome capitalism, and build the alternative ( a regular topic of our group) or about gender roles in Ghana and Tanzania, or the full participation of women in the Danish labour market or to the organizing domestic workers, I think you get the point. The list could go on and on...

For all the rich learning we have gained from each other, I would like to take this moment and thank each and every one of you for being you, for opening yourself up to the group and to this overall experience. Many of us have had the opportunity to work very closely together on various group projects, presentations, papers and even three pairs of us decided to take on the challenging task of writing a thesis together. Without qualities like patience, open mindedness, support, encouragement and good communication none of such activities would be possible. I believe I can speak on the behalf of most of us in the room, when I say that the special and dear friends we have made in this program have surpassed all expectations. In many ways, I believe we really are the dream team.

Now as much as occasions like a graduation tend to connote a sense of termination, and conclusion, I would like to say that this is not goodbye, but see you soon, see you later; as I am certain we will meet again, perhaps that might be as we have discussed before in Accra, Ghana for Bernard’s wedding, or for some other international conference in any corner of the world or this time next year at the next Summer School.

What gets me even more excited is when I think of the future and what we will all be doing. I am certain that we will take our new skills and knowledge and use it to continue to fight for the rights of the working class in our home communities. I see many of us continuing to be the movers and shakers that brought us here in the first place, I see future ministers of labour, chairpersons of trade union confederations, major political leaders, policy analysts, progressive economic advisers, gender experts, etc. Whatever it is that we do, I hope none of us will lose the passion and enthusiasm I have witnessed over this past year. Thinking back on all the heated debates and discussions, I know we are all ready to wholeheartedly take on big projects and plans. Knowledge is power and I strongly believe that through the learning and increased awareness we have gained we are now better equipped as the dedicated trade unionists and activists we represent. I think the program should be very proud of this achievement. The world is ours to embrace and it’s now up to us to do something with our new refined understanding of how the world works and to demand a more just and fair world.

Finally, I would like to thank all the professors, instructors, coordinators and support staff that have made this experience all possible. We all appreciate all the hard work, dedication and commitment to the program you have all given it. In particular, we would like to thank the program coordinators, specifically Christof Dieterle and Mirjam Klassen, as well as Lars and Sabine. They were all highly supportive over the past year. As well we should also send a special thanks to Christoph Scherrer, who I think we have taken the most classes with, we have seen firsthand how much time and support he has given to making the program such a success. Finally of course, a big thank you to all the other many professors and instructors we have had the privilege from learning from this past year. I am certain many of us will be returning home with a new set of glasses so to speak, as we now see things differently, having gained in-depth understanding in a variety of new topics.

The coordinators, academic staff, funders, past alumni and other interested bodies will be happy to hear that from the student’s perspective this year was a huge success. Although like any piece of writing, we feel the program too can use some revising and improvements. We hope the program will learn and build upon the experiences of LPG5 this past year, taking into consideration both the positive and negative aspects. I challenge the program to take our comments, suggestions and feedback seriously. There is always room for improvement and with any improvement we think this program can only become better. And just I could like to say to my colleagues here at graduation, I send these thoughts to the program- the sky’s the limit!

In closing, I would like to end this speech with an inspiring quote by Arundhati Roy. I have chosen this short quote because I feel it reflects my experience with all of you here and where we are all going...

“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”