Page 9 - JULY 2021 NEWSLETTER

RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY RESILIENCE

ASTRI SALWA USMAN

The Most Outstanding Student
Good day parents, teachers and fellow graduands. I am delighted
to be standing before you today on this most prestigious of days,
a day a lot of us have looked forward to with excitement, and
others have, ironically, simply dreaded the idea of it.
Nonetheless, it is a very important day for all of us.

It’s been a fruitful and endearing journey to get here and as I
stand here on this podium with the great honour of representing
the class of 2020-2021, I would like to thank everyone whose
support we enjoyed along the way and whose kindness has
brought us the success we celebrate today.

I would like to thank the Board of Directors of The Regent
College for providing us with resources and teachers to
maximize our learning experience and making our stay at The
Regent College comfortable and memorable. Thank you, Mrs A,
for establishing envisioning and actualizing The Regent College;
a state of the art institute for education.

I’d also like to thank our kind Principal, Mrs Ebiai, who has
been like a mother to us all. Thank you for extending our
deadlines when it seemed like we would break down anytime
from the amount of pressure we faced. We will never forget how
much you have put in to make our learning experience less
stressful while ensuring academic excellence.
To our amazing teachers, thank you for being our support as we
went through this phase of our lives and inspiring us to overcome
the challenges we faced while learning; encouraging us to go
beyond our known capabilities, and although we frowned and
lamented, you knew we would be smiling when we reap the "You pushed us to our limits and
benefits of our labour and for that, you stayed firm. You pushed made doing work a norm to
us to our limits and made doing work a norm to make it a habit
when the right time comes. At the same time, you were all ever- make it a habit when the right
present for us to lay our complaints to, affording us some ease time comes. At the same time,
and making yourselves a pivotal part of our college experience you were all ever-present for us
and I’m sure everyone can agree to that, and for that, we say
thank you! to lay our complaints to,
affording us some ease and
I should admit, too, that you were right; our hard work did pay
off, and we’ll continue to work hard as the years pass by. making yourselves a pivotal part
Through opportunities provided by the Leadership programme, we of our college experience and I’m
learned skills to strive in difficult circumstances and the need to
always remain motivated for us to be the very best we can be. sure everyone can agree to that,
Similarly, the extracurricular activities organized for us showed and for that, we say thank you!"
us that there is another side to life that involves the less
privileged. This has helped us develop more compassion for
people and contribute our quota in improving the lives of such To my fellow students turned friends, words can’t describe
people in our various communities, thereby helping to shape the how happy I am to have spent these months with a special
world and steer in a better direction. bunch like you, you made every moment worth it, moments I
would look back at with tears of happiness clouding my lenses
To the support staff thank you for being there to cater to our in the future. Even though we all screamed we couldn’t wait
needs and making our stay at The Regent College the most for it to be over, I can’t help but feel a sense of melancholy as
comfortable it could be. To the admin staff, thank you for this journey draws to a close. I’ll always keep the memories we
coordinating all the affairs in the college to ensure that our shared close to my heart.
academic session ran smoothly. Thank you for coordinating our
graduation and withstanding the stress that was associated with Parting as they say is such sweet sorrow, and this is no
it. exception. As we part today I would like you to remember
something. Zay Zigler once said, “there is no elevator to
And to our loving parents, we thank you for all the hard work success, you have to take the stairs”. This is a summary of
you put in to ensure that we have the privilege to attend such a our experience here and it is something we would keep facing.
highly-esteemed college that has equipped us with the necessary So remember to always work hard because at the end of the
skills and more we would implement in getting through the day, it would earn you success and happiness. Remember to be
compassionate and kind too. Do not lose these values which
university.
you have picked up during your time at the college. This is not
the end of the book but merely the end of the chapter, a
chapter filled with verses that have prepared us for the next
tougher chapter. I believe we all have the capacity to make
ourselves proud, and I can barely wait to see what the future
holds for all of us. But until then, farewell to you all until we
meet again.