Have integrity 鈥� and do more than just work.
And with that advice from this year鈥檚 honorary degree recipients, fall graduates were sent out from the halls of the 色妹妹直播 Arts Centre to make their mark on the world.
Tuesday鈥檚 ceremonies had graduates hear from acclaimed Canadian author Lawrence Hill and Canada鈥檚 21st Prime Minister Paul Martin. They joined acclaimed Canadian neuroscientist Dr. Alberta Aguayo as this year鈥檚 色妹妹直播 honorary degree recipients.
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A writer鈥檚 passion
Lawrence Hill, who spoke at the Tuesday afternoon ceremony for students in the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, Science and Graduate Studies, said his mother keeps a quote on her refrigerator door that reads: 鈥淲hen a writer is born into a family, that family is finished.鈥� Hill added, jokingly, 鈥淒o not follow my path in life. Do not become a writer.鈥�
Interesting words of advice from one of Canada鈥檚 most acclaimed authors. The point Hill, best known for his renowned historical novel The Book of Negroes, was making is that while he鈥檚 made his livelihood from writing, he doesn鈥檛 let it become his entire life.
鈥淲ithout a volunteer life, I would have never imagined or written the books that have built my professional life,鈥� Hill explained. 鈥淭o do nothing but work would be a big mistake.鈥�
Hill volunteers with a Canadian non-governmental organization called Crossroads International, is involved with book clubs for inmates in Canadian prisons and is part of the Black Loyalist Heritage society.
Interestingly, Hill鈥檚 career first began to 鈥渂ear fruit,鈥� as he put it, right here in Nova Scotia 鈥� and it started very, very small. When he was a creative writing graduate student at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, he was invited by Professor Andrew Wainwright to do a reading of his novel Some Great Thing at 色妹妹直播.
鈥淟et鈥檚 blame it on the snowstorm. The reading attracted four people鈥� one of them was Andy, another was me,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淚t was a humble beginning.鈥�
He鈥檚 gone on to win awards such as the Rogers鈥� Writers Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, CBC Canada Reads and Radio Canada鈥檚 Combat des Livres, to name a few.
He said his parents did not always agree with his career choices. They hoped for their children to become doctors or lawyers to protect themselves from the hardships they had faced 鈥� a feeling Hill says is common among immigrant parents. (Hill's brother, Dan, is a famed Canadian singer and songwriter, best known for his 1977 hit "Sometimes When We Touch.")
That鈥檚 part of the reason why in The Book of Negroes, Hill worked so hard to make sure the characters had hands, hearts, children, mothers, fathers 鈥� to convey the humanity of the victims.
鈥淲e fail to appreciate the humanity of the victims; we fail to see that people who died were just like us, and it could happen again if we do not remain vigilant.鈥�
The importance of integrity
Earlier on Tuesday, the Right Honorable Paul Martin spoke of values and integrity to graduates of Faculties of Agriculture, Architecture and Planning, Management and Graduate Studies.
Martin, who served as prime minister of Canada from 2003 until 2006 following ten years as minister of finance, originally planned to talk about 鈥渃hange鈥� with Dal鈥檚 graduates. However, the young people in his office advised him against it; they told Martin, 鈥淸the graduates] know more about change than you ever will.鈥�
Instead, he spoke of the skills graduates will need to master for their lives ahead of them 鈥� and Martin put writing skills at the top of his list.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 English, French or Sanskrit, remember the rules of grammar on one hand and logic on the other hand,鈥� Martin told the graduates, emphasizing the importance of language to help explain complicated issues in understandable ways.
鈥淒on鈥檛 limit yourself to a narrow, circumscribed world,鈥� Martin continued. 鈥淭he world doesn鈥檛 operate on expert silos; it functions on the relationships between them. Explore those relationships and how your ideas fit in between them.鈥�
While personality and judgment are critical for success, Martin thinks curiosity is even more important: 鈥淭he ability to look beyond yourself is what makes the difference between something that is pretty good and something that is excellent.鈥�
Martin complimented Dal for its education in ethical values, explaining that integrity is not only a reflection of individual values but a question of our values as a nation. It was a message he hit home as he discussed his cause to improve the lives of Aboriginal Canadians.
鈥淲e are blighted by our blind spots. As long as Aboriginal Canadians feel a stifling melancholy of dreams undreamt, out work will be unfinished, our potential will be unfulfilled, the promise of Canada unkept.鈥�
鈥淲ork hard. Have fun.鈥�
Monday afternoon鈥檚 graduates were treated to an address by honorary degree recipient Dr. Albert Aguayo. The McGill faculty member and former director of its Centre for Research in Neuroscience is a pioneer in neural regeneration, with renowned research showing that nerve fibres and neural function in the central nervous system could be restored after injury.
In his speech, Dr. Aguayo remembered a lesson from his director at his own MD graduation from the University of Cordoba: 鈥淲ork hard. Have fun. Life is good to those who take it seriously.鈥�
He encouraged students to consider the impact they can have on the world, and how important it is to work to improve health care in less-developed nations 鈥� after all, what happens halfway around the world affects us here in North America more than ever before.
His advice to graduates echoed that of his past director: 鈥淎s you enter this new stage of your professional life, work hard, balance your actions, but hold to your dreams.鈥�
It was a message of possibility that was common across all three speeches.
鈥淎s graduates of Dal, you are heirs of tradition which speaks to the soul of this land,鈥� as Paul Martin put it. 鈥淭he world is yours.鈥�