Merphi's Graduation Ceremony

Last Sunday was Merphi's graduation from Sir Arthur Lewis Community College. We were all very proud that out of 700 graduating students he had been chosen to be Valedictorian and to give the closing speech at the graduation ceremony. He was nervous but very well prepared. I had felt sure that his speech would be a resounding success - and it was!

Maurice had taken Merphi down early as the graduands had to be there for 1.30. I collected Catherine at 2 pm and we drove over to the College. As we walked down through the grounds we saw the graduands waiting for things to begin.

We made our way to the area where the ceremony would take place - a car park covered with a collection of marquees that looked like something developed by NASA! Maurice was keeping seats for us, all we had to do was to find him.

This is part of the platform from which the ceremony would be conducted - very grand!

Merphi with Catherine and Maurice before the ceremony.

Maurice is holding not a red cushion but a file containing a back-up version of Merphi's speech in case he mislaid his own copy!

A pensive moment for Merphi before he takes his place for the ceremony.

The whole ceremony was broadcast live by St Lucia Television (HTV).

The 700 graduates processed into the arena, followed by the faculty staff in their gowns. Two of the Deans wore mortar boards, one of them looking as though he had been born with it glued to his head. The other, the Dean of Merphi's Division, had hers fixed to the back of her head and looked as though she'd been walking through a strong wind to get here!

A small section of the audience of 2,000. My seat was on the end of the row in the sunshine. I don't know where Catherine was at this point but you can see Maurice three seats in.

The guest speaker was Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Principal of St Augustine Campus, University of the West Indies in Trinidad.

His theme was 'What is Development?' and he spoke about the necessity for well-qualified young people to gain experience overseas BUT then to come back to St Lucia and give back something to the island that had nurtured them.

These are thoughts very close to my own heart.

Sadly I don't have a picture of Merphi actually delivering his speech. He was right at the end of the programme and it was dark by the time he made his presentation. I did take photos but the flash on my camera isn't powerful enough and they didn't come out.

However his speech was an absolute triumph - it was punctuated by whoops and cheers from the students and the applause at the end was deafening!

Maurice and Catherine were both in tears and I felt very proud to be present at such a wonderful, moving event.

...... and finally it's all over!

The Graduate - complete with trophies!