“Be the change you want to see in Guyana”
─ Min. Hughes charges Mae’s class of 2019
DPI, Guyana, Saturday, September 14, 2019
Describing them as “the next generation of proud capable Guyanese”, Hon. Minister Catherine Hughes today urged the 2019 graduating class of Mae’s Secondary to be the change-makers that will help transform Guyana.
Delivering the feature address at the Graduation ceremony on Friday evening, the Public Telecommunications Minister noted that Guyana has been bestowed with even more natural resources “than we knew we had.”
“Guyana has this awesome opportunity to truly transcend and transform itself into one of the finest nations in the world, but we cannot do it without you.”
Minister Hughes spoke of the advantages of the technologies that are available now, and the “tremendous equalizing force” that it brings, regardless of the circumstances of individuals.
“The ability to create anything and everything is there if you have an entrepreneurial spirit and to sell it to a global market, and that is only limited to your dreams and your aspirations, the ability to be the best you can be, not only in Guyana and South America but in this big huge world,” she said.
Urging the students to take advantage of all the opportunities available to them the minister called on them to “consider where you were born… in a space with just the right size, just the right number of people that still needs to have so much done, that allows each of you to become the true innovators, the true movers and shakers of the new Guyana that will rise in the tomorrows to come.”
Referring to Guyana’s emerging petroleum industry, Minister Hughes encouraged the graduates to consider further studies in petroleum engineering, app development and other fields of technology that Guyana soon needs.
“We are all depending on you, history is watching you today,” she remarked.
Valedictorian Damian Seeraj acknowledged those who helped him and urged his colleagues not to become complacent. “This is just the beginning of the journey and as such we should not simply lay back and be satisfied with what we have accomplished. We should continue to strive for higher heights in whatever we pursue…high school may be over but another chapter of your life has begun.”
Damian Seeraj graduated top of the class at Mae’s Secondary, securing 13 Grade ones at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). Seeraj said he was motivated to do well after he scored only 47% at the end of his first term in secondary school.