Graduation 2019

After a phenomenal year and a very memorable graduation, we would like to bid farewell the Class of 2019 with the graduation speech of Michel Lopez, our Academic Coordinator at the time, and the 2019 Graduation video by one of our Marketing graduates, Nada Allouch.

Good evening graduates, parents, and faculty,

Today we are here to celebrate the closing of a cycle. I can only say how thankful I am that I was to be able to share this journey with you. I want to share a reflection of something I realized as the year passed by.

One of the biggest mistakes a school could do is to make the student believe that the school itself is the provider of knowledge. The school should be known as a facilitator - a network which ultimately should teach the student how to learn and where it is possible to learn from. Life, people and yourself possess knowledge, not institutions; they should only exist to make you recognize your full potential. So I hope this year you have realized that knowledge is all around you, and that learning is not limited to school.

Today, at your graduation, I ask you for 3 things:

First, never stop learning from the humans that surround you. Understand that because you possess the knowledge, you are a teacher, and that comes with responsibility. This responsibility is to understand that because there is still so much knowledge that surrounds you, you forever will be a student.

Second, never stop learning from life. Experimentation is only possible if one understands that mistakes are part of the process. It is the capacity of learning from them that truly has an impact on how we shape the world. So even when life feels dark and things are not at their greatest, ask yourself what the lesson might be. If you see life as a school and not school as a part of life, you will be closer to reaching your full potential.

And last and most important, please never stop learning about yourself. This experience can be as powerful as learning from others, we just don’t practice it as much.

Inside of you, there is knowledge and potential.

The more you learn about yourself, the greater your capacity of shaping the world that surrounds you, and because of this, there are fewer probabilities that the world will shape you instead. I hope that after this experience you have started to understand the broadness of your potential. I hope that this year you have not only learned how to acquire knowledge, but also how to create it. I hope that you know, in honor of Hannes, that you are limitless human beings.

So even after you leave Harbour.Space, please always remember that life is a school itself.

Love your life, love others, and love yourself. This way I can assure you, you will never stop learning.

Congratulations Class of 2019.

- Michel Lopez

Graduates of 2019, a big thank you to each and every one of you. We hope you take the experiences, knowledge, and learnings from your time here and use them to create the impact you were dreaming of when you joined our university.

We're proud of every one of you and we can't wait to see you shape the future. Take care. 

- Harbour.Space University