Convocation and Valedictorian Speech

After 2 very stressful (but in hindsight very quick) years, I graduated from the BCIT Accounting Diploma Program. Both sets of parents came out for the ceremony along with my lovely Kathryn, which really reinforced what a special event it was for me. I have several years of part-time schooling to go before I complete my degree and then my designation, but this certainly marked the cut-off point where I quit worrying about returning to VFX and officially began my new career.

The ceremony was in a church near the BCIT campus which comfortably sat the board and top instructors from several programs along with 230-ish graduates and 1200-ish guests, so that seemed like a good excuse to try out New Professional George and deliver the Valedictorian address. A few years ago I would have hidden in the back, but now I am quite comfortable talking infront of large groups of people, so long as I have time to prepare.

Since BCIT was very clever and recorded the whole ceremony, I have easy access to my speech, and to save anyone else from having to sift through 2+ hours of people in funny hats receiving awards, I have edited out just my speech below: