“Create your own jobs if you can’t find right career” – Valedictorian

220 students graduate from UG Berbice campus

As Guyana continues to struggle with a high unemployment rate, 220 more students have graduated from the University of Guyana (UG) Berbice Campus, and were told to use the knowledge they have acquired to create job opportunities for themselves, rather than wait around for the ideal job.
That was the encouragement Valedictorian Trishan Budhram give to the Class of 2017 when the Tain Campus hosted its 16th Convocation ceremony on Saturday, when persons received various degrees and certificates.
Of the 220 academics put out by the Berbice Campus, most were graduating from the Faculty of Education.

In his valedictory speech, the Bachelor of Social Science graduate called on his colleagues to go after their dreams despite challenges, such as not finding the ideal job.
“This is the reality! We may not find that job or that career we hoped for, but that doesn’t mean we should accept it. If we can’t find that job, create it. Make it happen. Use what we learned, and do not allow external circumstances to define who we are. Let us use our Degrees to become innovators. So, Class of 2017, let us believe that we can achieve anything.
“We came into this campus with different backgrounds and life experiences, we can now leave this campus as a collective unit ready to transform our communities into a nation we can be proud of. We are the class of 2017! No matter what faculty we come from — be it Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Agriculture or Education and Humanities — we are all members of this one university,” he asserted.
Budhram, who is currently a Manager at Environmental Solutions and a radio announcer in the ancient county, told Guyana Times that his future endeavour is to be happy with a life he created for himself. He explained that, in life, a person’s goals might change, and as such, the demand for new careers may not always be available.
However, in his feature address to the Class of 2017, Budhram said that, as the time passed, experiences at the university evolved.
“In the words of Maya Angelou: ‘If you don’t like something, change it’. There are many things here which we don’t like, and because we accepted them, current students might inherit some of these problems if they don’t seek to change them. I find that many Guyanese complain about too many things in life, and instead of finding ways to change (things), some of them resort to settling with the circumstances. I’m here to remind you that only dust settles, and we are not settled dust. We are a robust melting pot of different races, beliefs, values and backgrounds.”
Meanwhile at Saturday’s ceremony, 10 persons from the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry obtained their Bachelor of Science degrees; and in the Faculty of Education, eight persons graduated with Bachelor of Education degrees and three with Bachelor of Education Administration degrees; while 13 received Bachelor of Science in Early Education degrees.  In all, 83 persons received bachelor’s degrees from the Facility of Education.
On the other hand, the Faculty of Natural Sciences saw 39 persons being awarded certificates. The Facility of Social Science had a total of 22 persons graduating, including the best graduating student.
Additionally, there were also 16 persons who were granted certificates from the Faculty of Social Work, and a further 13 who got diplomas in Accountancy. In the field of marketing, there were only two persons who received certificates.
However, 25 persons graduated with diplomas in Public Management. The Republic Bank Award went to Budhram, while the Banks DIH Award was copped by Lisa Ladona Denny of the Facility of Education and Humanity.
The Massey Security Solutions Inc. Award was given to Jaunita Beejaimal of the Facility of Natural Science.
Meanwhile, the Director of the University of Guyana Berbice Campus Award for the Graduating Student with a Bachelor’s Degree who has attained at least a pass with credit and has made the greatest contribution in other areas of University activities was presented to Lauristan Anthony Augustus from the Faculty of Social Sciences.