My Valedictorian Speech

Good morning and thank you to family, friends, faculty and colleagues for joining us in our grad celebrations today.

I feel deeply honoured to be chosen as valedictorian by INTI. Never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine that I would be standing before all of you delivering my speech today. Six years ago, I was far from being where I am today. I was a below average IT student in a well-known college. How much below average, you ask? Well I failed paper 23 times in 2 years. It took me 6 resit attempts just to pass a Physics paper. At that time, I thought I had gained nothing from these miserable 2 years. During the last semester, we were offered an elective subject “Business Organization and Management”. I instantly fell deeply in love with a subject for the first time in my entire life. From then onwards, I was more than determined to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Business. My father was struggling to make end meets. I had no choice but to work for 2 years. But at the same time I still hung on to my dream of obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Business. Luckily, my family’s financial dilemma improved. I finally managed to convince my father to send me back to college. At first, he was very skeptical and I remember someone telling him that he should not waste anymore money on his daughter. This “someone” felt that I was not worthy of an education, that I should be forced out of college should I ever fail again. These painful and heart breaking words stayed fossilized in my mind. Surprisingly, those were the words that inspired me, motivated me to work harder and persevere through thick and thin over the last 3.5 years.

Dear fellow graduates, let’s take a lesson from this. Never let anyone hold back your dreams. Never give up on goals. I may have failed over and over in the past, but one thing I do know is that: I am not a failure. I know this because failure only helps jolt us forward to become better, stronger, smarter and mature.

During these 3.5 years, I believe that each of us have learnt numerous valuable lessons. As for me, I have made one important observation of life. When I first enrolled into University Foundation Programme in 2003, I had a strong belief that "As long as I worked hard and smart, I could be very successful and able to obtain excellent results"

Through trial and error, it turned out I was only partially right. For example, our Intelligence, Diligence and Determination are our own strengths. Opportunities, you have to be blessed to have them. Where opportunities are concerned, I have had more than my share of luck. In fact, all of us here today, we’re like “lucky” lot. We had a host of opportunities.

First, we are lucky because many of us have family support. My father is 63 and he is still toiling. Working under the scorching sun, day in and out at the construction site just to see me through college. I am certain all of us here, have a story to tell. But today, our families are here and they’re all come a long way to celebrate our success. I would like to thank them for their invaluable support, sacrifice and for believing in us. They deserve to be out on a pedestal.

Next, we are lucky that University of Hertfordshire has facilitated the affiliation, which has enabled all of us to obtain a highly recognized British Bachelor's Degree without having to leave Malaysia. We are lucky that INTI has provided ample facilities and a conducive environment for us students. The administration at the School of Business and Law are impressive. They have solved numerous of our problems even we felt there was no middle path. To them, our heartfelt thanks.

At this juncture, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our lecturers. Why? These were the lecturers who stuck out their necks out for us. Sometimes when we obtained assignment marks which were lower than expected, we would complain quietly about the lecturers for having such high standards. Or worse we would gossip about them behind their backs. Immature isn’t it? I am well-aware that I have driven them insane. I believe that I was one of the most difficult students they had ever met in their teaching career. But, I learnt that lecturers have their own dilemmas and difficulties too. Amidst their own problems, they have to tolerate students who can be difficult at times. Whenever we need help, without a doubt they would out to us. We are indeed lucky to have them. Our future success is stems from your hard work. We would not have done it without you. You have always been there to help us, to guide us, to inspire us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

My fellow classmates, together we have gone through twists and turns, made leaps and bounds over the last 3.5 years. Thank you all for your support, for respecting who I am, for accepting my weaknesses and most importantly, for being my friend. I will always cherish the memories we shared together.

The years have flown too fast that we barely remember how we survived through tons of assignment and last minute cramming in of notes before the final exam. Dear graduates, if you don't remember how you did it, at least what you have gained. Appreciate this moment and give yourself a pat on the back for achieving so much.

This is the end of the journey that has enriched us all. Together we take path towards greater heights. As we go our separate ways, we each have different destinations. Nobody knows what the future holds, but it will be more than delightful to meet again. I would like to wish you all the best in your future undertakings. Whichever path you are taking, follow your dreams and do not give up. Stay true to yourself and count your blessings.

I leave you now with a quote from the late Thomas Edison “Many of life’s failure are those people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”.

Thank you and congratulations!