NEWS On Tuesday 24 May, 143 Masters students from twenty international programmes celebrated their upcoming graduation by attending a ceremony held in Aula Nordica. It was the second consecutive year in which the ceremony was held, and it was very much appreciated by students and guests alike.
The ceremony was opened by musical entertainment by Vera Winter and was followed by a congratulatory speech by Vice-Chancellor Lena Gustafsson. She reflected on how the time as a student in Umeå can change your whole life, and at the same time be the start of something new.
Shaf Mansour from London was invited to hold the alumni speech at the Graduation Ceremony. He was appointed to do so by winning a competition among international alumni where the first prize was a trip to Umeå and the honour of giving a speech to this year’s graduating students. Shaf Mansour, who studied law at Umeå University in 2007/2008, spoke of the importance of having a "Plan B".
“Lots of people have plans. But not everyone has a plan b. By plan b, I mean something as simple as an alternative to the direct route to your goal. If the original route gets blocked somehow, then you might need to change track slightly. The more prepared you are for this, the easier it will be,” said Shaf Mansour.
Jonas Jonsson, City Manager at Umeå Municipality, also congratulated the students and thanked them for choosing Umeå as their city to study in. He emphasised how multicultural Umeå is and how it attracts talented people from around the world.
“Graduation Ceremony is a nice and well-appreciated tradition we have started here at Umeå University and it’s also fun that we this year received an increased pressure among students to participate,” says Wasif Ali at the International Office who together with the Communications Office organises the ceremony.
The ceremony ended with a mingling and photography session. Students were also encouraged to join the University's alumni network to keep in touch with the University and other alumni, and receive news and invitations to alumni events around the World.
Editor: Petra Käck/Anna Lawrence