Bina Bangsa Commencement Address 2015

Bina Bangsa Commencement Address 2015 Thank you for that kind introduction and thank you for inviting me to speak today. I'm very pleased to be here to join you in celebrating this wonderful occasion. It’s a great honor for me to be here as the speaker for the 10th Commencement Rites at Bina Bangsa School. First of all, congratulations to all of you. You should be very, very proud of yourselves for accomplishing this goal. Well done. To the families of those graduating and earning certifications, congratulations to you and you should know that your support through this process made an enormous impact. I'm sure you're very proud of your graduates as they close this portion of their lives and prepare for their next steps. This is not the first time for me to speak on a graduation day. First was when I graduated from SMA Negeri 1 Tegal as one of the best graduate, representing my friends. Second, I was awarded as the best graduate when I finished my MBA program in Prasetiya Mulya Business School. The third, when I finished my doctoral program in Universitas Indonesia as the best graduate and was awarded MURI record as the fastest doctoral achievement in the field of Strategic Management. But today is very special, because I am not speaking as the graduate, but being invited to deliver the commencement address for one of the best International high school in Indonesia, where my daughter Gabriella Christy Turino, is one of the graduate amongst you. Dear Graduates, Today is really your big day. I know you have been struggling very hard to study since few months ago when you prepared the prelims, IGCSE, AS and finally the A level exam. Hours have been spent, sitting on your studying chair, working on your PYPs and trying to memorize all you can memorize. You have also skipped your chilling time with friends and families and only making dialogue with books and papers. And today, everything is paid off, that you finally graduated. I still remember clearly, 28 years ago, when I graduated from High School. I thought that was the happiest day of my life. No more uniform, no more detention for being late to school, and no more studying as hard as I had in high school. I thought life would be much easier after high school. And I was proven wrong. When I entered university, I realized that the best moment of a student’s life was my days in high school. I missed the moments I spent with my friends; even I missed the moments I interacted with my high school teachers. I never thought in my life that the true friendship was the friendship we built during our time in high school. I believe many of you share the same thoughts as me. You will miss the friendship you have had so far. You will miss the moment you chilled with your friends every weekend, even you will miss the moments you argue with your friends and teachers in the classroom. Those moments will never come back. So in this joyous day, look at your graduating friends. Shake their hands and hug them and say thanks for being our friends passing through the best moment in our life. Trust me, you will all miss it for the rest of your life. Dear Graduates, Now look to your parents respectively. They are the most meritorious people in our lives. Maybe they reprimand us or are upset to see you chiling all the time, playing with your gadgets and very lazy to study. But look at their eyes now. In this room they're the proudest people for the achievements that you made today. But I know, from the bottom of their hearts, as I also feel as a parent, that they are afraid that this moment too will last. There will be no more time to spend with the kids as frequent as before, there will be no more hug and kisses as frequent as before, as you will continue your study in distant universities. They are afraid, as I am, that they will not be anymore the most important person for their children. So lets take this dramatic moment to express our great appreciation to our parents. Thank you Mum and Dad. Lets also take this opportunity to thank you to our teachers, those who have been guiding us almost every single day in our life in school. As teachers, there is no more happiness than receiving a great and sincere appreciation from their students. Dear Graduates, Many of you might think that graduation is just a party or celebration. Yes, it’s true that today is the celebration of your achievement. Graduation is one of those steps in life that defines a coming of age - the ending of one era of life, as a high school student and moving on to a new stage in which you are a junior college or university student. I'm sure all of you have firm plans and have a good idea of what you want to do next. Well the next phase in your life will be exciting, but they will be all dependent on you and your determination. Graduation is just the bridge to continue our study in higher level of education. Human being is essentially a creature learner. So when humans stop learning, they die, mentally and psychologically. More than that, I have a very strong faith in Education as the only way to have a better life. It’s true also that some of the most successful people on earth dropped out of university. Bill Gates is a good example. He is even famous as “the most successful dropped out in the world”. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, also dropped out of university. But please note carefully, that those two people decided to drop out from Harvard University once they had their business growing, Microsoft Corporation and Apple. If they dropped out just for the shake of being too lazy to continue their study, I can guarantee that they will be no body at all. Three to four years study in University will have a significant effect on the rest of your life. So keep fighting for it and never give up. Prove to your parents, your teachers and even your country that you are the one to be proud of. Ultimately, your well-educated generation will benefit us all in the future. Let me leave you with this thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.” You're now armed with one of the most important tools needed to forge your path ahead. It's not the diploma itself that counts - it's about what you've learned along the way and what you do with the education you've gotten in your journey to graduation today. Your future is in your hands - no one else's. Seize this opportunity. Once again, congratulations. Ijinkanlah saya menutup Commencement Address saya dengan berbicara dengan para orang tua winisuda dengan bahasa Ibu saya, Bahasa Indonesia. Bapak dan Ibu Winisuda yang berbahagia, Saya juga yakin bahwa Bapak dan Ibu saat ini adalah orang-orang yang paling galau. Perasaan bahagia, optimisme, sekaligus kekawatiran dan kebingungan bercampur aduk menjadi satu. Terutama buat para orang tua yang anaknya hendak melanjutkan studi di tempat yang jauh dari kita. Rasa kekawatiran, takut kehilangan semakin hari semakin terasa. Kita tahu pasti, sekali anak kita pergi studi di universitas di luar negeri, mereka tidak akan kembali lagi persis seperti ketika mereka pergi. Proses pendewasaan akan terjadi. Mereka akan punya dunia mereka sendiri. Mereka bukan lagi si kecil yang selalu tertawa riang ketika kita peluk dan cium pipi dan keningnya. Yang lebih berat lagi adalah kita akan kehilangan juga otoritas kita sebagai orang yang paling mereka butuhkan dalam kehidupan mereka sehari-hari. Beberapa rekan bisnis saya yang sudah pernah punya pengalaman menyekolahkan anak di luar negeri, berkali-kali mengingatkan saya bahwa “Harris, saatnya akan tiba”. Dan kini saat itu sudah semakin dekat. Gaby ku tidak akan pernah menjadi Gaby yang kemarin. Dia akan menjadi sosok yang berbeda sejalan dengan kedewasaan hidupnya. Bagi saya dan istri saya, ini adalah saat-saat paling sulit yang pernah kami alami. Dan mungkin juga bagi Bapak dan Ibu sekalian. Tetapi sebagai manusia dewasa, kita tahu bahwa ritual ini adalah ritual biasa, yang selalu berulang terjadi dari generasi ke generasi. Masih terbayang dalam ingatan saya ketika Ibu saya menangis tersedu-sedu meninggalkan saya di kota Salatiga tempat saya melanjutkan studi di universitas. Saat itu saya juga ikut terisak, walau sejujurnya saya belum mengerti benar arti dari air mata itu. Antusiasme sebagai “orang dewasa baru” di lingkungan yang baru lebih mendominasi perasaan saya saat itu. Dan kini saatnya akan tiba bagi kita, melepas anak-anak kita untuk studi di tempat yang mungkin jauh sekali dari tempat tinggal kita. Saya sendiri akan berusaha untuk tidak meneteskan air mata ketika waktunya tiba, walau saya tahu, itu bukan hal yang mudah. Demi masa depan anak-anak kita, ini bukanlah pilihan, tetapi sebuah keniscayaan yang pasti terjadi dalam kehidupan manusia. Khairil Gibran, pujangga Libanon, yang lahir pada tahun 1883, dalam cuplikan puisinya tentang anak berkata: Anak-anakmu bukanlah anak-anakmu Mereka adalah anak-anak kehidupan yang rindu akan dirinya sendiri Mereka terlahir melalui engkau tapi bukan darimu Meskipun mereka ada bersamamu tapi mereka bukan milikmu Engkau bisa menjadi seperti mereka, tapi jangan coba menjadikan mereka sepertimu Karena hidup tidak berjalan mundur dan tidak pula berada di masa lalu Engkau adalah busur-busur tempat anak-anakmu menjadi anak-anak panah yang hidup dan diluncurkan Sang pemanah telah membidik arah keabadian, dan ia meregangkanmu dengan kekuatannya sehingga anak-anak panah itu dapat meluncur dengan cepat dan jauh Jadikanlah tarikan tangan sang pemanah itu sebagai kegembiraan Sebab ketika ia mencintai anak-anak panah yang terbang, maka ia juga mencintai busur yang telah diluncurkannya dengan sepenuh kekuatan. Terima kasih. Dr. Harris Turino Jakarta, 12 Juni 2015