Graduation is a moment filled with a frenzy of reactions; to some it’s a leap to a new step, to others the end of a strenuous journey filled with many hardships. For the IBDP class of 2025, the 23rd of May was not just a usual graduation day; it was a mark of great strength and a reminiscence of the exceptional life moments shared over a period of more than four years. It marked a major turning point in the lives of the 134 students who were brimming with anticipation to experience life beyond high school. After all the years of toiling, being tempest-tossed, one has never been more glad to finish. I mean, how else can a high school journey culminate in style? Seeing the graduates in immaculate gowns tinted with opulence was an ideal stamp of achievement and peroration of the high school experience.
For parents, seeing their sons and daughters adorned in the crown of excellence was exhilarating. One might argue that the parents also graduated with their children as they could see younger versions of themselves defying setbacks, hardship, and bearing hope for a better future. This day evoked a sense of immense pride and happiness, a firm indication that their investment and support for their children was and will continue to be fruitful. Likewise, the teachers felt the pride of seeing the young, naive students they met four years ago turn into grown, mature global citizens, having been moulded by the relentless sessions of mentorship and learning that sometimes brought out so much more than what the syllabus prescribed. The entire occasion was filled with a hubbub of emotions from all stakeholders. But the graduation ceremony was just one milestone; there are thousands more to come, and this group is well aware that their journey to greatness has just begun. Ultimately, when the time is right, the group will produce the next Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Barack Obama of their own generation.
The resilience, courage, and self-discipline lives on in the hearts of every single one of the graduates, not just as memories but as growth highlights, a depiction of the intensity of the journey and how this group of leaders made it through. In the year 2021, when the world’s greatest pandemic took a toll on so much of learning and other academic activities, the group came, saw, and conquered. When they joined the academy, they might have looked a bit confused, but they were certainly a group of their own kind – their yearning to always be on top of things drove them to the unknown with confidence. At this moment, they go out to the outside world, having been equipped with the best kind of knowledge there is. The future is unknown, scary, and obviously filled with challenges, but having spent so much time preparing for it, they fear not, for they know they can and will conquer as is their norm.
Robert Collier once said, “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” Consistency is the heart of every successful story, thus, we believe that all the 134 graduates will embrace this as they continue on their journey to the next level of education.
Onward to greatness!!!!!!
Veni Vidi Vici
By Gideon Oskuk and Henry Odero
