IF YOU CAN
DREAM IT ....
I recently
attended the graduation ceremony
for the University of Auckland’s Arts students. After the ceremony,
I stood outside the old Town Hall on a beautiful sunny autumn afternoon,
and
gazed across Aotea Square at the sea of brightly coloured academic gowns
and the beaming faces of proud graduates and even prouder parents.
Watching the hundreds of young and not so young people clutching their parchment
tightly in their hands as they laughed and joked with their families and friends,
I wondered about the stories of hardship that lay behind many of these degrees.
Quite a number were older. They clearly hadn’t gone straight from high
school to university. Many were surrounded by their partners and children.
What sacrifices had these family members made so that one of them could better
themselves? I thought about partners who for much of the time had been solo
parents and about children who had seen little of the parent who was away at
university attending lectures, writing essays and studying for exams.
How many, I wondered, had endured years of financial hardship? Families, of
course, would have found it particularly hard to make ends meet but even single
students probably worked part-time. For many the battle is not yet over as
they go into the workforce with massive student loans hung round their necks.
A number of graduates would have completed their degrees part-time. How long
had it taken and how hard was it to keep motivated as they completed their
courses one by one? Some would have found academic work hard. They might have
struggled with basic literacy skills, or had to overcome a specific learning
difficulty. Some would have had to learn study skills all over again because
they’d been away from school for years, while others would be learning
how to study for the first time.
Others would have come from a culture, family or peer group that didn’t
value a university education. Instead of getting support, they might have been
criticised. Instead of being encouraged, they might have been scorned. Others,
of course would have had tremendous support from the families. They’d
have spent years worrying that many people were making sacrifices so they could
achieve. What pressure did they have to work under?
But none of these challenges stopped any of the graduates gathered in the
square on that day. A university education had been their dream, and they did
what they had to do to make that dream a reality. That day was their day of
triumph.
Seeing the graduates is like looking in a mirror. You can’t help looking
at them without asking yourself: And what about me? Do I still have the courage
to dream? Do I have the determination to overcome the obstacles that lie between
my dream and me? Do I have the perseverance to go the distance? Am I prepared
to give up something today, that I might enjoy a moment of triumph tomorrow?
Watching the graduates pose for photos under a brilliant blue sky, hold excited
children in their arms and bask in the gaze of adoring parents and partners,
I thought: Good on you, mate. I admire the courage you had to begin your long
and arduous journey, and the determination and perseverance it took to bring
you to this moment of triumph. You’re an inspiration to us all.
You’re a reminder that the only things stopping us are the limitations
we impose on ourselves. You are living proof that if you dare to dream, you
can accomplish what others think is impossible.
As Walt Disney once said: “If you can dream it, you can do it. Always
remember this whole thing was started by a mouse.”
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