Graduands of the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic were told at their annual graduation and prize-giving ceremony on Saturday that they must set high standards.
During his address at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, valedictorian Ramon Hinds advised his fellow students that in order to achieve excellence they needed to set a personal benchmark.
The theme of the graduation was In Pursuit Of Excellence.
“I urge you strongly to set high standards for yourself; high standards in the workplace. You may have great ability, skills and talent, but great ability, skills and talent with low standards equal very little or nothing much.
“It is a great thing to see you all here after having completed our coursework, enduring classes and enduring long sessions. We fought the good fight because we wanted to succeed. [But] success or excellence comes with standards,” Hinds stressed.
He further told the graduands they should know where they wanted to go when they set standards “and uphold yourself to the standards that you set”.
Featured speaker Delores Dottin, NATION executive assistant, encouraged the graduands to “always follow the path of excellence” and in doing so “define your values”.
“As we strive to be the best version of ourselves, there must be clarity of purpose,” Dottin said. “Once you clearly define your values, you can make tremendous strides towards fulfilling your purpose.
“From your values come vision and mission and goals that detail the steps you must follow to reach your destination,” she said.
Dottin told the graduands they needed to seek to expand their knowledge by reading, and urged them to choose their friends wisely and to take personal responsibility for their actions.
A number of students were recognised for their outstanding performances.
Out of an enrollment of 1 613 full-time students, about 1 318 of them qualified for graduation.
This, according to acting principal Anthony Headley, represented an 80 per cent pass rate in 13 areas of training.
(MM)