Convocation – October 2012

Parents; family and friends; distinguished guests; esteemed faculty – and graduands…

Out of fifty-two weeks a year, this is the one I look forward to most. This is a week in which hard work, investment and effort come to fruition. Because this is the week – this is the day – that you graduate.

I’m delighted to add my welcome and congratulations to that of my colleagues, and of your family and friends.

And I’m honoured to welcome all of those family members, friends and supporters to our campus this morning.

We’re here to honour and congratulate you, graduates, because you richly deserve it.

You have met the high standards of this institution, which for the past twenty years, has been ranked as Canada’s most-innovative university, and very often as its best overall.

In fact, graduates, you are the long-anticipated next chapter in a story that this university has been writing since its founding in 1957.

It’s important to note well, that every individual on this campus, from your professors to the technicians in plant operations who keep this place running - - every one of them is a co-author of that story we write.

Faculty have been exploring new areas of knowledge to ensure that you have access to the latest information in your field.

Staff members, advisors, and counselors have been making sure that you have the support you need.

Your massive investment of effort, energy, skill and resources – combined with the support you have received from so many others – has made today possible.

And as you move forward in life, whether you settle in uptown Waterloo or on the other side of the world, you will find that the reputation of this institution will serve you well.

Today’s celebration is the evidence of how much you have learned, graduates. And if you don’t mind one final lesson, there are three thoughts I would like to leave you with today.

First, take pride in your university.

For most of you, this is the beginning of your full-time working lives. But for all of you, this is a new beginning in your relationship with the University of Waterloo.

This university continues to combine the best in the humanities, science, and technology, in a way that is relevant to the lives of Canadians in a rapidly changing world.

Your alma mater is one of Canada’s finest universities, and its reputation extends around the world.

Second, be proud of your achievements.

The years of your life that you have invested in this place – filled with joys, stresses, successes and setbacks – have been, no doubt, both challenging and enriching.

And we hope and trust that those years have helped you prepare for what lies ahead.

Because the completion and achievement of your degree is not the end of the journey. Far from it.

As a young graduate student, I was surprised and intrigued by the modesty and eagerness of my thesis supervisor. In our first meetings together, he kept saying he wanted to “learn” from me.

“Learn what?” I thought to myself.

But he explained it to me. He said he was never certain that he knew enough. He was never sure he had all the facts or had considered all the important perspectives.

I encourage you to adopt that spirit of curiosity for yourselves, and to see every experience and every person you meet as a source of new knowledge, and an opportunity to learn.

It will both keep you humble, and make you wise.

As philosopher and poet George Santayana wrote, “The wisest mind has something yet to learn.”

Third, graduates, and finally, know that we are proud of you.

It’s so easy to forget, in all the celebration, just how immense your achievement truly is.

You and your families have achieved what every person wishes, for themselves and their children: a high-quality education.

Some of you are the first members of your family to earn a university degree. Remember, that certificate bears not only your first name, but your last name, also; and that is a source of immense pride for your parents and loved ones.

On behalf of your professors, and of university administration and staff, let me tell you that we, too, take immense pride in the accomplishment you celebrate today, and in all of your accomplishments to follow.

When you look back on your time here at the University of Waterloo, our hope is that you will say “my future started here”.

May that future be as happy and hopeful as we are today.

Thank you, and congratulations.