Here we are at the Graduation ceremony after 2 years of Entrepreneurial MBA program at ASEBUSS. Having gone through challenging times, a pandemic that changed everything, we are meeting today to celebrate our success.
A lot has happened since 2020, but today, we are standing before you to receive recognition for our hard work and determination. The sacrifice of hours, days, weekends were assumed. Maybe some of the people around us didn’t understand why, but, in the end I ask: who has won? A quote says it all: If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you!
I am sure that we would not have been here if it hadn’t been for you all: teachers, school administrators, our managers, our partners, children, parents and close friends.
There’s a proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child”. You all are our village.
In almost 2 years like no others before, it took extraordinary, collective effort to pull it through, and we wouldn’t have made it without you. So, on behalf of all my colleagues a big THANK YOU!
Please let’s give them a round of applause
Dear managers, families and friends, what you recognize here today is a group of people who have chosen to dedicate 2 years of their lives to invest in their own growth. It is a path that not everyone would take and a choice that took us away from our comfort zone, into the fear zone, through the learning zone, to be in the growth zone. Each and every one of us have put aside their careers, families, and friends to reach this finish line.
Education is a lifelong journey whose destination expands as you travel. I am sure that some of us will meet again in our future journeys.
Dear graduates, please give yourselves a moment of self-recognition for what you have accomplished!
Please give us a round of applause
The difference between developed countries and less developed countries, the difference between civilization, as a way of life, and the struggle to acquire it, is given by the level of education. Education moves the individual and the world, towards change and evolution.
A Romanian proverb says, “a human learns for as long as he lives”. Of course, it refers more to life lessons, but I find for it, an extended meaning. If you want to grow, if you want to be better than yesterday, you must constantly learn. Otherwise, you reach an ending point where you will not even know how much, much more, you could have been.
Then, there is also the chance. The chance to be given the opportunity or the chance to provoke the opportunity. One day a train stops at the station, and you must decide quickly whether to jump in or not, maybe without knowing all the details: who else is on the train, how far you will travel, where exactly you will arrive.
We, the Entrepreneurial MBA group, got into the train and had the opportunity to go through 2 years of experiences that grew us as people and professionals, extended our horizons and opened new perspectives. Galileo Galilei said: You cannot teach anything to anyone. You can only help people discover who they really are.
I am sure we all remember what our teacher Lavinia Rasca taught us: There is no luck per se! Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.
It was a unique, applied experience, that I think at least all top managers should go through. The future belongs to those with vision, and vision is based on know-how, a know-how that certainly exceeds what you already know and certainly exceeds your comfort zone.
We are grateful to have met such great teachers and models, we are grateful for our teachers and colleagues from Kennesaw State University. Again, thank you!
I am closing my speech with a beautiful line:
I am still learning. Michelangelo at age 87
Enjoy your evening! Celebrate success!
