Queen's College's class of 2016 performs "These Are The Special Times" during their graduation ceremony. (Photos: Wellington Chea)
Queen's College (QC) graduates were urged to be leaders in their generation whatever they decide to do in life by Nassau Guardian General Manager Brent Dean at their graduation ceremony.
"You are of the best and brightest of this next generation in our country. If you do not step forward to guide our Bahamas to a better future, lesser people will. And when the worst of us lead, hardship follows for us all," said Dean.
Dean, a QC alumnus, did not shy away from tough topics and spoke to the 137 graduating seniors about the headline-making news -- high unemployment rate; record murders, and an overall poor level of education -- but he urged the graduates to not join the chorus of complainers, and to never surrender to cynicism.
"Be leaders in your generation. Keep that ambition always. Whether you become doctors, teachers, animators, singers, beauticians or whatever -- lead. Contribute to the effort of making your community better."
Dean spoke to a graduating class that had a record number of 62 students who had entered 12th grade holding five or more Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) subjects with "A" to "C" grade passes, five of which began their final year of high school with 10 subjects all with "A" grades.
And a class in which head boy Ethan Knowles who graduated with a cumulative 4.18 grade point average (GPA) and salutatorian Anju Bimal (4.10) were the recipients of United World Scholarships.
The Nassau Guardian GM also cautioned the teenagers about making the right choices as they transition into young men and women.
"In adult life there is often no one there to save you when you mess up. There is no do-over. Apologies don't make everything right. You, and only you bear the consequences of your choices -- consequences that sometimes separate you from your goals forever," said Dean.
He told the class of 2016 that for many of them when they leave their parents house this summer to attend university, that it would probably be the last time they ever live with them full-time. And that they won't have parents wondering whom they message late at night, or curfews; that they would get to make their own rules. With that said he told the graduates that they would have to face their own consequences as well.
The GM told of difficult scenarios he had to deal with during his days as a reporter -- covering traffic fatalities after people had driven drunk; and of coming to the realization that not all "jonesers" came from disadvantaged backgrounds.
"There is one [joneser] I know who went to private school just like you -- who came from a good background just like you. Now a drug addict, I see him wandering the streets day and night -- gaunt, body broken... a young man barely still alive. When we were your age I never thought he would be where he is today. I didn't think we who came from good homes and who went to good schools could be like 'them'. I was wrong."
Their consequences dictated how their lives turned out.
Nassau Guardian General Manager Brent Dean, a Queen's College alumnus, addresses the class of 2016 during their graduation service. He encouraged them to be leaders and to make the right choices in life.
Dean, who rose to the GM position at age 33, spoke to the graduating class of working six days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day to ensure a decent paper hit the streets. He told them that as they pursue studies towards their career of choice, that if they choose something they hate, that they would not put in the hours, wont' make it to the top, and won't create anything they would be proud of. He encouraged them to choose the life they want to live.
"Parents, family and friends can give advice -- listen to that guidance, but you must choose," cautioned Dean. "They won't be there as you drive to work saying 'I hate this job' or 'I hate my life' -- day after day, year after year."
He encouraged them to find their thing.
"It's great that your dad wants you to be a lawyer. It's great that your mom wants you to be an accountant, but if you don't add that well, or reading long text makes you fall asleep, being an accountant or lawyer isn't for you. I have friends who flunked out of university chasing their parents' dreams. Some of them are living lives they don't enjoy."
Dean told the graduates it would take courage to chart their own path.
He spoke to them of returning home from university, and obtaining employment at a hotel that he said was a great company and at which his father was an executive, but Dean said he didn't like what he was doing and he quit without telling his father -- without a plan and no job lined up. But if he hadn't taken that step he said he would not have the success he's had in the media industry, if he had stayed doing the safe thing.
"I had to find my own way, When you try to find your way it may be difficult and lonely -- don't be afraid. Success can come in any field if your natural talents meet hard work, discipline and tenacity."
Dean, a member of QC's class of 1999, told the class of 2016 that four of the people he graduated with are dead. He said long life is not granted to everyone, but told the students that in the time they have -- be it long or short, that they should set goals and pursue them with all they have, and to strive for what makes them happy. He also cautioned them about being dreamers as he said dreamers accomplish little to nothing in life. And that they ramble on and on, but never step up and act.
"Be a doer. Act, and get things done," said Dean.
Despite a stern and sobering message imparted to the graduates, Dean reminded them that they were entering the most fun phase of their life and that they would travel, fall into their deepest loves, and dream of solving the world's problems.
He told them that life would only get tougher as they get older, but that he still has memories of 19 years ago when he sat in the same place they were at during their graduation service, and became known as a QC graduate after matriculating 15 years -- having entered ELC (Early Learning Centre) in 1984 and departed with his then A-level exams. Like the current graduates he told them QC is in his blood.
Shavaughn Moss, Guardian Lifestyles Editor
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