TCFS February 2007 students branching out
Wednesday 5 December 2007
Valedictory Ceremony for TCFS February 2007 intake in Wilson Hall, the University of Melbourne.
‘We are like branches of a tree, reaching new heights but at the same time growing apart from each other. However, trace all the branches back and we will all meet at this one trunk, right here at Trinity.’
This was the striking analogy that valedictory speaker Nishanie Kasunthika Aruna Badathuruge, from Dubai, shared with her fellow TCFS students from the February 2007 intake at their Valedictory Ceremony on 5 December.
Guest speaker, Professor Susan Elliott, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching, Learning and Equity), also told the students that their academic results were only one of their achievements for the year.
‘You have moved out of home, away from family and friends, learned new life skills, made new friends, and studied at a high level in a second language. Now it is time to bask in the pleasure of your achievements,’ she said.
Academics and students prior to the ceremony.
‘However, Foundation Studies is well named as this is not the end of your studies, but rather the bedrock on which to build your future. I urge you to follow your passions and strengths, to ‘Dream Large’ at the University of Melbourne, and to steadily raise your expectations and aspirations for each new step you take.’
The other valedictory speaker, Tan Min-On, from Malaysia, spoke of his decision to decline an offer of enrolment at the University of Chicago and continue with Foundation Studies. ‘I looked around at Trinity, at the lecturers, the staff, the people, my friends, my family and then I realised, that it is for the better. By choosing to stay, I completed a pre-university education and gained much more self-confidence in my abilities. I believe I am stronger and my ambitions and dreams have only grown’, he said.
‘Trinity has prepared me to take on the world – what about you?’ he asked his classmates, adding, ‘I have not gained an education but rather learned how to learn.’
Parents chat with the Dean of International Programs, Dr Barbara Cargill, following the Valedictory lunch in the Dining Hall.
As is customary, the Valedictory Ceremony was followed by refreshments on the Trinity lawns, providing an opportunity for farewells and photographs aplenty. A new addition this year, however, was a lunch in the Dining Hall for parents preceding the ceremony.
The Warden, Associate Professor Andrew McGowan, also welcomed all valedicting students as alumni of the College, urging them to maintain their contact with Trinity wherever they may be in the world.