Peter Doherty delivered the following speech at a graduation ceremony at Charles Sturt University in December 2014.
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The first thing to say to new graduates is: congratulations! Special congratulations to the academic stars who aced all the exams and finished at the top of the list. And congratulations to those who partied a lot, had a great time and still managed to make it through. Both groups will have learned valuable, though perhaps different, skills. Congratulations also to the families, parents and significant others who supported you through these years. Sometimes you could no doubt be trying, but all is forgiven! It’s time to celebrate!
Most of the graduation addresses I’ve given have been in the USA, where this occasion is known as “Commencement”. There’s a ceremony like this, and the band plays Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance, which most Australians of my generation know as the most jingoistic of all English songs, “Land of hope and glory”. Once, I was totally upstaged when two of us gave “Commencement” talks one after the other. I spoke first then the black American singer/poet Maya Angelou stood up and, instead of talking, sang. It was fantastic!
Commencement is a good word though, because that’s what graduation is, a beginning. You’ve hopefully learned some skills and you are leaving the undergraduate world with a valued certificate that has taken a deal of effort to achieve. That is an ending, but it’s not the end in any sense. What counts now is how you use what you’ve learned. Where do you go from here? Some will have learned very practical skills that can be applied immediately.
Others might be moving to postgraduate courses in medicine or other aspects of the caring professions. Those paths can be very straightforward and give a life of great satisfaction. Others will be thinking of many different options and some will gravitate to areas where they had never contemplated working. I graduated in veterinary science and had no thought of being involved in basic biomedical research, but that’s where I ended up.
More at You can make a difference: Nobel Laureate’s advice to graduates
