Ambassador

Ambassador's Speeches

Honored guests,

I am pleased and proud to have been asked to speak today by this year’s graduating class.  2007 has been a milestone year in many ways – both nationally and locally.  Here in the International Community School of Abidjan, there a number of landmark events and achievements that I would like to highlight.

I would like to recognize the graduating seniors’ impressive achievements – four years of hard work in academics, the arts, civic life, and extracurricular involvement.  Their dedication to learning and to their community is being recognized today with a diploma.  In the United States, a graduation ceremony is often referred to as “commencement” – it is seen as not the end of high school, but as the beginning of a student’s adult life.  Today’s ceremony marks an important milestone, an important transition from high school to life beyond.

I would also like to congratulate our longstanding partner, the International Community School of Abidjan, on its own unique milestone.  Today, ICSA has its very first graduating class in four years.  This is an important day for the educators and staff at this school, where they see all of their painstaking and diligent efforts in the classroom come to fruition.  So today, we mark these important milestones in the lives of the students, and the life of the school.  

At this time of the year, there are graduation ceremonies taking place all over the globe, but I can say that this graduation is truly special.  The four students graduating today from this American-style school are all Ivorians.  In addition to the usual challenges of learning new material in a variety of subjects, they have had to master a new language and a totally different style of learning.  Moreover, they have gone through their high school years at a time when their beloved country has been deep in crisis.  All of them have seen the impact of this crisis on the school, which has gone from large to small to growing. 

Nevertheless, all four have risen splendidly to the occasion.  They have learned a great deal through the different challenges they have faced.  In their three – or, in one case, six – years at the school, they have dramatically improved their English.  They have become leaders – true talents in a variety of fields, and role models for the younger students in the school.  Most importantly, they have become true citizens of the world, versed in their native culture and familiar with the thoughts and values of other peoples.  I am confident that these skills and experiences will serve them well throughout their lives, and benefit their country. 

In recognizing the talents and successes of these bright graduates, we must also take a moment to note the role of the school.  The International Community School of Abidjan, thanks to its dedicated board and – most especially – the conscientious leadership of Director Rob Walbridge – has worked its way through turbulent times.  Now, the school, in calmer times, is renewing itself, adding to its already talented staff, expanding its course offerings, and restoring enrichment activities to the curriculum, all to the benefit of its students.  This school, which stood fast through troubled times, stands today as one of the leading international education institutions in all of Africa.

Let me assure you that no one attends a high school graduation without thinking back to his own graduation.  We always measure ourselves with our high school friends because they are the ones that we grow up with through the difficult teenage years.  And high school memories – the music, sporting events, parties – always occupy a special place in our hearts.  I am here today with a friend with whom I shared the high school experience at Marion High School in South Carolina.  This friendship has endured through more than 40 years.  I hope that the friendships you have developed at ICSA will last equally as long.

Once again, I would like to applaud the International Community School of Abidjan, and the graduating seniors.  My congratulations to all of you, and best wishes for the future.

Thank you.