The American philosopher and educator John Dewey maintained that “Education is not the preparation for life; education is life itself” – a sentence that truly embodies at the CIS University graduation ceremony for the 2023 academic year.
As always, President María Díaz de la Cebosa, together with the deans, professors, staff, graduates, family members, as well as a delegation from Endicott College, gathered at the Madrid Country Club for the ceremony that put the finishing touches on the work of art that was this academic year at CIS University, and started “a small ripple of hope” towards a bright and shared future.
“We are here today to create, between all of us, that ripple of hope that will lead us to achieve a shared dream,” said the president in her speech, alluding to the new opportunities for education, but also the dangers that great technological advances bring with them.
Any improvement in access to information must be based on humanistic principles, training from solid ethical foundations, which, far from being dazzled by all the infinite doors that open before us today, will always maintain respect for human dignity at the forefront of our discourse.
For this reason, the next generations of CIS University graduates come with technical knowledge, but more importantly, also with critical thinking skills as a beacon of light, which allows them to navigate the waters of such exciting and turbulent times.
2023 CIS University graduates, towards a better future
We are living in a time of profound change, without a doubt, in which many truths that until recently seemed immovable to us, are now beginning to be debated and even questioned. Faced with this “moral relativism,” education must act as a compass that allows us to always tread on firm and dry ground.
Because with new technologies, the temptations to take the easy way out will always be there, so who wouldn’t want to be part of history? Who wouldn’t want to write their future? For all these reasons, only a quality education, acting as the backbone for everything else, will allow these students to rise up and inspire the change they want in their lives.
We have a fascinating challenge ahead, involving all past, present and future generations, educated in values to overcome uncertainty and make this a more just and peaceful world.
Dear class of 2023, as President Díaz de la Cebosa said at the end of her speech: “This is the moment!”
Congratulations to all!
