November 2012


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When my family first heard I was valedictorian, what did they say?

“Weyyyyy UWI taking anybody dese days boy!”

It seems therefore a privilege to have been chosen to represent my faculty on such an occasion. I remember yesterday, or so it seems, filling out my GATE form in Year One and reading, “If the student is under 18 years, this form must be signed by the Parent, Guardian or other responsible person over age 18.” University level and I had to take this thing home to my parents. Shame.

Three, or for some of us even four years later, our UWI undergraduate chapter has closed. If you were asked what was your most significant experience how would you respond? Studying, that is, the act of Facebooking, bbm’ing, tweeting, watching TV and eating, maybe with an open textbook nearby. Group work with that nameless, faceless member who turns up for the first time on the morning the assignment is due, asking, “But why you no put my name on cover page?”

Hmm… What about liming in SAC? I am of the personal belief that some students actually earn extra credit for this foundation course. SAC101.

In short, making friends, running from our pet dogs, and the truly beloved, ever popular, highly anticipated, English for Academic Purposes. One thing is for certain, UWI has not left us without memories.

The question now stands, “Where do we go from here?” To those sitting here who believe that this academic milestone is the pinnacle of achievement, you need to stop, reflect and reconsider that idea. Academics alone can never define us. What you hold in your hand is but a piece of paper, fleeting proof of time spent attending classes and handing in assignments. Hanging up on a living room wall, it will tell nothing of who we are. Rather, to go forth and leave a mark, that duty is our own.

A Bachelor of Arts in Music would have taught you how to use the pentatonic scale, no? But combine this with the humility to accept advice from those gone before you and yours will be music to the ears. My fellow graduates with a minor in Gender Studies, find within yourself the assertiveness to speak out against inequality and your contribution will make society a more just place. To my School of Education graduates, education is the greatest gift you can give to someone else, but go above and beyond your call of duty and you will not just be a teacher but an educator for life. I repeat, academics are not all.

As graduates of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, ours is truly a unique perspective. Be it Literature, Theology, History, Creative Arts or Modern Languages, the paths pursued have instilled in us an understanding of human endeavours, awoken in us an appreciation of human creativity and provoked in us a contemplation of our own humanity. We have been taught to see a world where there is no right or wrong, but only different perceptions of reality. Let then our intellectual curiosity challenge us to practice questioning and questioning, never settling on one single answer or absolute truth.

Professor Norman Girvan has said of the Caribbean, “our people, by and large, are deprived of this knowledge, of this consciousness, of this sense of who we are.”

The common response to, “Why did you choose UWI?” is, “My parents had no money to send me away, so I was stuck here.”

Think again. UWI has provided the foundation for us to become critical thinkers equipped not to deal with the North American or European realities, but with our own Caribbean reality. To my family and everyone else seated here this morning, we are ALL the best UWI, and by extension the region, has to offer. We are the future that must take our place in society and serve.

In doing so, let us not be tempted to take the path advantageous only to ourselves. A 1971 UCLA survey asked incoming freshmen what was most important to them. The top answer was to help others in difficulty. In 2001, the same survey was conducted; take a guess as to the top answer…money! However, as American philosopher, Professor Nussbaum, noted, “We must work to reconnect education to the humanities in order to give students the capacity to be true citizens of their countries and the world.”

But as we, the class of 2012, walk out of these doors ready to face the world, let us remember that what we have achieved thus far is by no means on our own merit. First and foremost, we must acknowledge God, for only through Him are all things possible. Agreed? To our lecturers… your lists of don’ts were sometimes extensive… do not reach late, do not speak while I am speaking and certainly do not hand in any assignment after the due date. Now we too have a do not for you. Do not stop doing what you do. Friends and family, we are back in the land of the living. Thank you for standing back with quiet understanding as UWI took over our lives. I would also like to give thanks to Google and Wikipe… Sorry I mean those scholarly resources like UWIlinC. Would we be here today without you?

For our futures, I hope that our worries stay small and that all our dreams reach the stars because the sky is never the limit. Congratulations to you the graduates of the faculty of Humanities and Education 2012. Enjoy this moment because as my friend said on Facebook, we may well be faced with the harsh reality that the only income guaranteed after this weekend is the graduation gown refund.