And they're off - the Graduation Day
It’s not the end, it’s just the beginning
The twilight of 6th June, 2015 marked the graduation day for the 2015 batch of the engineering stream which was held at the college Quadrangle. The most eye-catching segment of this occasion was that as many as 1364 students, clad in their traditional black robes, were privileged to receive their degrees from the chief guest, the great grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi, Ms. Sonali Kulkarni.
The function commenced with an academic procession of the dignitaries walking on to the stage in the traditional academic robes.
The principal, Dr. R. Rudramoorthy welcomed the gathering and introduced the chief guest. He proudly welcomed the most powerful businesswoman of India, Ms. Sonali Kulkarni as the chief guest. The principal then welcomed the Managing Trustee, Shri. L. Gopalakrishnan. He also welcomed the 560 staff and 393 supporting staff; and of course the 1364 qualified graduands and their parents. The principal also furnished some crucial facts about the college stating about the publication of research papers of the students (in nearly 300 international journals) and about the college offering student exchange programs.
He was proud that nearly 1364 students have successfully completed their degrees and wished them all good luck for their future endeavors.
The chief guest was then honored with a shawl. Shri L. Gopalakrishnan, the Managing Trustee and Chairman of the Governing Council declared the award ceremony open.
It was followed by an eye-opening speech by the Chief Guest, Ms. Sonali Kulkarni, President and CEO of FANUC, India. Ms. Sonali was blown away at the outstanding introduction read about her and said that she has always been an admirer of PSG Tech and also congratulated all the graduands. Stating that engineering or medicine were the only acceptable careers during the period of her graduation, Ms. Sonali, who has been named the Robot Queen of India, expressed that today the students are open to abundant opportunities and a degree doesn’t even stand as a requirement for a person to be successful; and that only skill and passion pins down success. Though the world has changed, Ms. Sonali, rightly said that the principles to succeed are still the same. When it comes to reading, Ms. Sonali Kulkarni put forth that today’s youth either stay away from reading or read Chetan Bhagat. She motivated the students by claiming that reading opens the windows to the world around us. She further encouraged the students to be courageous and to be adjustable in all walks of life. Inspiring the graduands through succinct stories, the Chief Guest, a very simple and soft spoken lady, concluded her speech by giving a piece of advice- never spend more than what we earn.
A memento was presented to the Chief Guest by the Managing Trustee, Shri L. Gopalakrishanan as a token of affection and gratitude. Soon after, the Chief Guest, Managing Trustee and the Principal initiated the presentation of degrees to the qualified students. The first rank holders of each department were honored with gold medals, including S. R. Bhamini, a student of textile technology who received the Cognizant Best Outgoing Student award. Following this, the HOD’s of each department along with the principal and Chief Guest distributed the degrees to the students of all departments. After the award of degrees the graduates took the pledge which was read out by the Principal and announced them as graduates of the 2015 batch. The function was dissolved by the principal and ended with the national anthem.
The 1364 students who were slaving over homework assignments and rigorous exams for the last four years have finally become graduates - the joy of this accomplishment filled with tons of excitement. They worked hard, succeeded and finally celebrated.
Graduation is only a concept. In real life, we graduate every day. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of our life. If we grasp that, we’ll make the difference.
Once again, congratulations 2015 graduates; now go out and conquer the world.
