There are few things that make my heart as glad as interacting with young people and seeing them reach new heights. So, you can just imagine how glad I am to be here with you this morning. In fact, when your school invited me to speak to you today, I accepted without a moment’s hesitation. And now, as I look at you, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I’m reminded of why I said yes so quickly.
Today is your graduation day, and this is a very special moment in your lives. Today, you have all reached a new height – the height of having put your SEA exams behind you and of getting ready to move on to a new school. You have all so worked hard, and I want to let you know that your parents, teachers and I are all very proud of you and of the sacrifices that you made to get here.
I think that an important thing to realize is that in a sense, life is like a series of graduations – a series of steps that we take, one at a time, to reach new heights. Our first graduation was probably when we were born out of the womb and into the world. We had to learn to live in a strange and new environment then. Some of us, when we were old enough, then graduated from staying at home with our parents every day, and entered kindergarten school. If some of you are like me, you would have gone from staying at home and ‘graduated’ straight into primary school. After you graduate from primary school today, you will move on to secondary school and graduate again in five (5) or seven (7) years’ time. Some of you might then decide to go on to University – and you will have yet another graduation at the end of it.
Each of these graduations is a step towards something bigger – a step towards reaching new heights. And each of them might bring its own excitement, and well as its own worries. When you ‘graduated’ from staying at home with your parents all day, and first started attending school, you were excited about your new environment and your new friends. But at first, you might have worried about leaving the safety of your home environment behind. As you graduate today, you are filled with excitement about going on to secondary school and about making new friends and learning new things. But you might also be a little bit worried about whether you will fit in at your new school, and whether the new classmates that you will meet will be as warm and as friendly as the friends you are leaving behind. You might find that, for each ‘graduation’ that you experience in your life, for each step that you take towards reaching new heights, you might have these conflicting feelings – a mix of things that are happy and of things that might make you a little bit sad. We adults will want to tell you – because it is true – that this is all part of growing up and of reaching new heights. That doesn’t necessarily make your experiences any better. You still have to find a way of dealing with feeling good and badly at the same time, about the same event – you have to find a way to deal with what we adults call your ‘inner conflict’.
When I was your age, I sat at my graduation ceremony from my primary school – Grant Memorial Presbyterian Primary School – and I felt that same inner conflict. I loved my school, and so I was sad to be leaving it after Standard 5. But even though one part of me felt sad, another part of me felt excited about attending my new school – St. Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando. Whenever I felt this conflict welling up inside of me, I did something that I would like to suggest to you that you can try, too. What worked for me, was talking to my parents about what I was feeling. I have learned that it is important to speak with and to listen to your parents, or to the adults in your lives whom you trust – be they your uncles or your aunts or your grandparents or your teachers. We might not be able to understand everything that they are telling us at the time, but they only want the best for us and they almost always they know what is good for us. As you go through life, working to ‘graduate’ from one experience to another – working to reach new heights – you will find, like I found, that your parents and the adults in your lives whom you trust, can help you in important ways when it comes to dealing with what you are feeling inside. You don’t need to carry your conflicting feelings inside of you, all alone. You can share them with these adults – and when you do that, you will often find it easier to deal with the feelings that you have and to make wise decisions about what to do next.
Another thing that worked for me – and something I’d also like to suggest to you that you should do, too – is that, no matter what else was going on around me at the time, I focused on learning. When I was your age, we didn’t have cell phones and tablets and the internet to distract children like me. But, believe you me, if they had been around, I am certain that I would have been distracted by them. In my time, I found distractions in pitching marbles with my friends, and in liming with them under the trees in the schoolyard, and most of all, in talking nonstop during class. I had to battle constantly with all of those distractions. But, in the end, my battles paid off. I was able to put my distractions aside and focus on learning. And wherever I ended up – in secondary school, and afterwards, in University – I paid attention to what my teachers were trying to teach me. I paid attention to learning.
Today, my husband and I go around to schools like yours and interact with students, just like you. And in the schools that we visit, I am almost always asked the question: “Did you think that one day you would become President of Trinidad and Tobago”? And my answer is always the same – a hard “no”. When I look back at my life now, I realize that it was only because I focused on learning that I was able to graduate from primary to secondary school, and then from University, and then have all sorts of wonderful opportunities opened up to me. Because I focused on learning, and I got the opportunity to become a professional; because of what I got exposed to as a professional, I became a Member of Parliament; because of what I got exposed to as a Member of Parliament, I became President of the Senate; and because of what I got exposed to as President of the Senate, I became the President of the country. At this stage of your lives, it is okay not to know exactly what you want to become as an adult. But what I can tell you is that if you, too, focus on learning, all sorts of wonderful opportunities will also open up to you: and who knows – one day you might find yourself, standing where I am standing, as President of the country, speaking to students who are graduating from this school, and telling them exactly what I am telling you, about how important it is to focus on learning.
Having said all of this, I think that perhaps the most important thing to realize is that all of the steps that you take in your life, and all of the different ‘graduations’ that you experience, will determine the person you will become when you are an adult. It’s a difficult thing to understand at your age – but the choices that you make now, as a young person, will determine the kind of life that you have when you grow up. If you choose to work hard and to focus on learning, chances are that you will always be reaching new heights. If you choose not to work hard, and not to focus on learning, chances are you will end up having a difficult life, where wonderful opportunities don’t open up to you in the way that they could have.
One of the most important choices that you can make that will determine the person you will become when you are an adult, is the choice of your friends. When I was growing up, a popular saying was “Friends will carry you; but they won’t bring you back”. It means that while friends often encourage you to do things that you know in your heart you shouldn’t be doing, those same friends will be the first to disappear when you get yourself into trouble. There are far too many stories of young people being led astray, by other young persons they thought were their friends, and ending up in all sorts of serious trouble. Some of these stories have tragic endings. So, you need to be very, very careful about the friends you choose. Your parents, and the adults in your lives whom you trust, don’t want you to end up in trouble. They want you to keep reaching new heights. It is up to you to choose who your friends are, but you need to be sure that the people whom you choose to be your friends are people who will help you to keep reaching new heights.
Reaching new heights in your life, step by step, is actually very important. Our country, and the world, really needs people who are ready, willing and able to reach new heights. Each one of you here today, has already proven that you are capable of reaching new heights. Your teachers and parents have all watched you grow in so many ways over the last few years: you have grown in your confidence, in your ability to study and learn, and in your ability to be responsible. Today is just the beginning of many steps that you will be taking in life as you ‘graduate’ to bigger and better things. There will be many more opportunities for you to reach new heights. There are many more mountains for you to climb, plenty more goals to set, and lots more dreams for you to follow.
The journey will not always be easy. There will be times when you will feel unsure, or when things don’t go the way you hoped. But remember – even the tallest mountains are climbed one step at a time. And, very importantly, remember that you are never alone. You have people in your corner – your parents, teachers, friends and siblings who believe in you and want to help you succeed. Don’t be afraid to lean on them and talk to them when you need help. As you get older you might begin to feel very grown up and you might be tempted to try to go it alone. My advice to you today is to always ask for help. As you face the unknown and the unfamiliar in secondary school and beyond, share your worries and talk about your struggles. Let your parents and teachers guide you. They have walked this path before, and they want to help you.
I also want to remind you to always focus on learning. And I want to ask you to please be very careful in choosing your friends.
Before I close, I would like to take a moment to thank your parents and your teachers for their support. Parents – your love, encouragement and faith in your children have brought them to this milestone. I know you will continue to be their cheerleaders and guides as they continue to reach new heights.
Teachers – you have also nurtured and encouraged these young minds and played a significant part in bringing them to this point. Thank you for your patience, dedication and care.
And to my dear Graduating Class of 2025 – all 24 of you – I hope you remember all I have shared with you today. I am so excited to see where your journey takes you next. I truly believe each and every one of you will reach heights far greater than you can even imagine right now. I leave you with nothing more fitting than your school motto – so perfect for today’s occasion – “Onwards and Upwards, None but the Best!”
Congratulations, and all my very best wishes to each and every one of you.
Thank you.
Full album of Her Excellency’s visit is available below:
