Abd Gafur’ Commencement Speech at Boston University (Full Transcript)
Hello everyone.
Dinner work, Mr. Rotenberg, distinguished faculty, staff, proud parents,
families. Good morning, and to the graduating class of 2018, Congratulations.
The struggle is real that this point we can say that we made it through. Anyway,
as you can hear from my accent, I’m not from America. I come from a country
where the sun shines the whole year, with people who always smile and grateful
no matter what, I’m from Indonesia. Thank You. You know grew up in Indonesia, I
had a few that America is a land of Wonder with a lot of superheros, probably
because I watch TV so much when I was little and I like Spider-Man, Wolverine,
Magneto, X-Men and other friends, they are all Americans. How cool is that for
a child. You know, probably because of those Hollywood movies, I put the first
one of my dreams that one day I will visit America. And I’m so happy that I’m
here today and I’m not just visiting, I’m studying here for 2 years. So, thank
you. Thank you.
In 2016,
I arrived for the first time in Boston and people are so welcoming from a cab
driver to the hotel receptionist. And you know what as a Foreigner, as a
stranger in a new country, A single smile or a simple friendly gesture means a
lot. And in Boston I feel welcome, and I’m thankful for that. I would like to
use this opportunity to extend my gratitude and to say thank you to my fellow
Ellen graduated. Thank you for sharing your stories, your thoughts, your
culture, your beliefs, everything. Thank you for just being as proud as you
are. You know, your story is enlightened you with what every misconception that
I had about this world. I always though that I could understand thigs from
reading, but in fact the books that I read they’re just papers, the news, the
video that I watched on the internet they’re just pixels. They’re just likes. But
you are real people with real experience from around the world and I feel so
blessed to know you all. To my friends in IP Law LLM. Thank you for sharing
your thoughts with us. I had some discussions about book royalty with IP law
student with acting very interesting. To my friends in American Lala LLM. Thank
you for being very nice and answering our question about American legal system.
Every time we have questions.
To my
friends in tax LLM, thank you for being our tax’s counselor for free. I want to
say that I admire you in tax LLM, because I had tax course last semester and it
was so hard in almost made me cry the day before the exam, seriously. I mean
you’re gone through all the tax courses. So you sould proud of that. To the
JD’s, honestly sometimes I feel intimidated when I sit in the same class with
you, sometimes. Because you are so smart and you're so eloquent, you covey your
ideas, your arguments with clear, effective and persuasive language and because
of you, I realized that I still have a lot of work to do as the best as you are,
so congratulations. I believe that some of you or most of you will take the bar
exam like very soon. I wish you good luck for that.
And to
my brothers and sisters in Banking and Financial who are sitting back there,
Hi. I want you guys to know that you are very special to me. Thank you very
much for all, for everything that we've been through together. I know that some
of you already have experience in Banking and Financial about some others not.
And I feel so proud and happy to know that we can work together side by side
helping each other overcome difficulties. I hope that I'm a good friend for you
and I hope that this is a friendship that will last forever. Thank you for
letting me to become part of your journey and thank you for being a part of
mine.
I would
also like to say thank you to Dean Marino Rory, thank you for always taking
care of us, you know for 14 years. Thank you to assistant Dean John Riccardi, Thank
you to Professor James Scott the director of Banking Financial Law for the passion,
the positive vibes and the joy that you always bring to the classroom, it means
so much. And thank you to all professors in below that I can’t mention one by
one here, it's an honor to be your student. Anyway, back to my story about
superhero on my first week in Boston. I went to downtown, you know for a sec
seeing. And since I'm in America, I somehow imagine that Spider-Man will appear
from nowhere and shot his webs to the Prudential Center and swings around the
downtown. You know, I know it sounds absurd but it’s kind of fun to imagine, It
never happens though, but you know what, as I'm standing here and seeing this
wonderful view, I realized that we are surrounded by different kind of
superhero people were sitting there and they’re the father’s, the mother, families,
friends, significant others. They are all superheroes for us, without them we
won't be sitting here today. So, if I can say something as a friend, if I may,
please let them know that we appreciate and love them that we cannot thank them
enough for everything that they have done for us. We could probably give them a
round of applause right now.
Thank
you to my mom and to my family's in Indonesia, they are not here today, but
it's okay because I'll be home soon. And thank you to my dad I don't know where
you are right now because I don't know where people go when they die. I just
hope that I make you proud and I hope that you are watching my journey from
somewhere where you belong and you know that I’m doing just fine in this life,
thank you for everything that you've done for me. thank you.
My
friends,, my fiends, one day this moment will become an old memory. We will
grow old, some of us will become lawyers, prosecutors, judges. Some of us will
take A Road Less Traveled by and some of us will become leaders in our respective
countries. This makes so naïve, but I just hope that our generation can create
a better and a more peaceful world. I saw you work together in Villa,
regardless of your nationality. And I knew that International cooperation and global
understanding is not a fantasy. Today as we leave this place, we will go out
there on overcome whatever challenge that we face. Today is the first of many
wins, but always remember that it’s not going to be so easy because all great
things they’re never easy.
Lastly, I would like to thank the city of Boston and the great state of Massachusetts for all my experience during my time here. Next week I will back home to Indonesia. And from now on every time I see Orion's Belt in a Western Sky in a February night. I will always remember that Boston at the very moment will be covered with snow, Boston at the very moment will be covered with snow. Yet, it's still warm because of the people, so Boston thank you so much. My life is not perfect, but thank you for being a part of my timeline. I’ll see. Once again Congratulations to the class of 2019. I wish you great success for your future. I'll see you, when I see you. thank you for this moment, God bless you all. Terima kasih.
Abd Gafur | Student Speaker Boston University (Video Link)
Okey, demikian rekapannya, semoga bermanfaat ya. Btw, kenapa aku bikin transkrip ini? ya karena akhir-akhir ini lagi mencoba belajar dan mendalami para speaker-speaker hebat di dunia, mulai dari Stve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, dan orang-orang Indonesia, utamanya yang berpidato / Commencement Speech di kampus ternama di dunia. hhe.