Monrovia – Sean Devereux Excessive Faculty in Perry City, Brewerville, got here alive on commencement day as dad and mom, academics, and college students gathered to rejoice the resilient and decided Class of 2025.
By G. Watson Richards, Contributing Author
Delivering the keynote deal with, Legal professional Nathaniel Chen Gbaba impressed the graduates with a strong message centered on the theme: “Affect the World—Don’t Let the World Affect You.”
Opening his deal with with enthusiasm and pleasure, Atty. Gbaba congratulated the graduates for reaching a significant milestone.
“Immediately is your day — the day you may look again and say, ‘I made it,’ and look forward and declare, ‘Now I start!’” he stated, drawing thunderous applause.
He reminded the graduates that whereas they’d crossed one end line, they now stood at the start line of a far larger race — the race of life. His message was clear and profound: “Affect the world; don’t let the world affect you.”
Atty. Gbaba urged the scholars to start their journey of affect by mastering themselves first. He inspired them to dream large but in addition to get up and work exhausting to make these goals actual, emphasizing that “goals alone don’t construct a future — exhausting work does.”
In a touching second, he shared private tales from his life — how he dreamed of changing into each a father and a lawyer, and the way persistence and religion helped him obtain these goals, even returning to regulation college at almost fifty years previous.
“Don’t simply dream,” he instructed the graduates. “Get up and work your dream.”
Reflecting on his upbringing, Gbaba stated he selected a special path from his father, who had 5 wives and sixteen youngsters.
“I influenced my dream, not my father’s,” he acknowledged, urging the graduates to chart their very own course reasonably than comply with the group.
Addressing the digital era, he cautioned in opposition to searching for validation via social media.
“Don’t chase likes, chase objective. Don’t comply with developments, set them,” he suggested. “You aren’t a put up or an image — you’re a promise.”
He additionally cited world figures who defied odds to form the world — Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Oprah Winfrey, and Elon Musk — describing them as people who “turned challenges into affect and failure into affect.”
“Every of them was instructed to give up,” he stated. “Every refused to be influenced; they selected to affect.”
Gbaba challenged the graduates to keep away from the traps of medication, peer strain, and false notions of success.
“True greatness,” he stated, “is being actual, being accountable, and being respectful.”
He urged the Class of 2025 to embrace authenticity and objective:
“Love your life — not your buddy’s, not your mum or dad’s, not what you see on-line. Be you, do you, and use what’s inside you to affect your world.”
Concluding his speech, Gbaba shared the inspiring story of Dr. Dougbeh Christopher Nyan, a Liberian scientist who rose from poverty through the civil struggle to world recognition. His story, Gbaba stated, symbolizes the facility of religion, persistence, and objective.
“When the world tries to vary you, stand tall and say, ‘No! I used to be born to vary the world, to not be modified by it,’” Gbaba declared to a standing ovation.
The ceremony ended with cheers, laughter, and hope because the Sean Devereux Class of 2025 marched ahead — able to affect their world with braveness, religion, and dedication.
Venus T. Tutu, valedictorian of the category, urged her friends to pursue greater training and expressed heartfelt gratitude to the varsity’s administration and instructing workers for his or her dedication and assist. She additionally thanked her dad and mom for his or her unwavering love and encouragement.
Earlier than the occasion concluded, the varsity offered a proposal to the visitor speaker, Atty. Nathaniel Chen Gbaba, who made an preliminary contribution of US$500 towards a constructing venture for the varsity.
