A student’s life within the university campus becomes one of the most memorable periods of his or her life. When he enters the university, he is anxious about the peers he will be surrounded with, anxious about teachers, anxious about leaving his home and staying in an unknown place, and anxious about whether he has chosen the right career. Eventually, as he moves through the years, he becomes anxious about whether he will get a good job. As much as it is a period of fun, it is also a period of uncertainty.
Therefore, the culmination of all these years at the convocation ceremony makes it memorable for every student. I personally remember my convocation ceremony when I passed out of B J Medical College, Pune University as a doctor. I remember seeing a huge sea of people where nobody knew the others, but just being there at the convocation ceremony brought so much satisfaction. For me, it meant that I had become a doctor that day.
Likewise, I have witnessed convocation ceremonies at Symbiosis International University for the last 20 years. I have taken special interest in inviting a Chief Guest of very high eminence. The reason is not that they are political figures or high-ranking officials from public or corporate fields, but the fact that they are motivational speakers because I believe that the convocation lecture is the last lecture for any student on a university campus. The student always remembers the last lecture. Therefore, this year when Hon’ble Justice Dr Dhananjay Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India consented to address the students at the 20th Convocation Ceremony, we knew that we could not have found anyone better!
He is an elegant and eloquent speaker known for his fearless judgments. For the first time, I saw a gathering of 12000 students and parents listen to the speaker with pin drop silence. Amidst his inspiring words, the ones that caught my attention the most were, “No case is too small for a judge or a lawyer, no case is too routine for a doctor, and no bridge is too small to be built for an engineer,” thus telling us to respect our profession and be true to it.
These kinds of analogies given by motivational speakers become etched in the students’ minds and become their life’s mantra. His message that we should dedicate our life to a social cause and how we should be conscious about devoting our time to family and friends. The students go back richer with advice from stalwarts and knowledge that will help them make good choices in the future and for the country. While many of us attend convocation ceremonies to meet up with friends whom we have not met in a long time or meet our teachers or just to visit our campus and relive that experience, there is a much greater significance to a convocation ceremony as it is the beginning of a new life. You have the power to make it a life that is full of hope, a life of fulfilment, a life where you can make a difference in someone else’s life through your social contributions, a life where you can give security to your parents who have done so much for you.
Indeed a convocation ceremony is like a second birth…a social birth when you leave the portals of the university, become independent and move into the society for the betterment of yourself and the community at large!