When I heard I
was going to speak at our graduation ceremony I first felt honored and
excited at the opportunity to represent my class. Summarizing the joys,
struggles and achievements of the last three years. Then, five minutes
later, the novelty were off and reality set in. I
mean, who wants to have to sit down and write a speech after exams when
everyone else is enjoying their last few days of freedom before entering
the working world. Anyway I figured it couldn’t be as bad as my first year
moot. For one thing I only have to talk for five minutes and secondly I
don’t have to worry about power hungry second years throwing me off topic
by asking irrelevant questions. In any case, someone told me not to worry
since no one, except my family, would be listening to what I was saying,
everyone else would just be listening to my accent.
There are two main points I would like to share with my fellow law
graduates. Firstly, no matter where fame and fortune takes us, or fails to
take us, we must never forget our original reasons for coming to law
school. Secondly, we should all take advantage of the experience we had of
studying with people from diverse backgrounds to try and understand and
solve some of the problems Canada is now having to keep itself together.
 For us
as law students, we have all come a long way from when the then Law
Student’s Association President, Paul Brown, in his immortal words
reminded us that these were our last three years to be silly. I believe
the President meant that this would be our last chance to have a real
blast but, after applying a little creative interpretation, I believe he
also meant that for most of us, this was probably our last opportunity to
truly expand our minds and horizons sheltered from the concerns and
constraints of the real working/world. In other words Paul Brown was
inviting us to put the U.B.C. motto Juum Est or “it’s up to you” into
practice, and I believe most of us did.Contrary to popular opinion I
believe most of us came to law school because we honestly believed that
law was a noble profession. We had a genuine desire to help people,
further causes and to see that justice was done. Money was not our primary
motivation, though I will admit the thought probably crossed our minds
from time to time. In order to get the most of our law school experience,
we filled our minds not only with traditional substantive law courses, but
also those touching on a diverse range of topics including important
social issues. We broadened our interests by joining one or more of the
several public interest social and sports clubs in the law school and some
of us also took part in student government. |
After three years, some of us may be a little
disillusioned, however, for most of us I believe that at least a bit of
that original spark and zeal is still there...and in fact for a few of us,
our convictions are even stronger now than when they were in the first
year. Unfortunately as we enter the working world, the realities and
demands of the almighty dollar have the potential of putting our goals and
ideals on the back
 burner..where
in a few years they could be lost forever. But, this doesn’t have to be
so. There is no reason why we can’t continue to expand our minds and
further our ideals just as we have for the past three years.
My challenge to the graduating class of 1991 is not to get caught up in
the art of making a buck that
 your
forget the reason you came to law school, or the goals and ideals you’ve
developed while in law school. Therefore, I am asking each and everyone of
you, at your earliest convenience, just to jot down a few of the thoughts
you have today on what you plan to achieve as a lawyer or in whatever
profession you choose to follow in life. Then later on, when you are lost
in a sea of commercialism (no offense to the commerce and M.B.A. grads)
you will be able to step back and get a sense of direction by looking at
your earlier thoughts.
All in all, I believe most of us had a great few years at U.B.C. For us as
law students, we all survived first year exams and moots and lived to tell
the tale. Things were not always perfect though..our classes were held in
a concrete bunker known as the law building and our library was basically
three floors of basement and often over-run by S-N-A-I-L-S that’s
“Students Not Actually In Law School”..including some of you commerce and
M.B.A students. Don’t get me wrong though, we were more than happy to
share our excellent library facilities.
On the bright side, or first year saw women out number men for the first
time in the law school’s history, with 9 out of the top 10 students at the
end of the first year being women. We also saw the appointment of a new
woman Dean and the election of a woman First Nation Canadian to the
presidency of the Law Student’s Association. For the interaction area we
saw the abolition of smoking and we all witnessed with great pride and joy
the introduction of bubble hockey into our cafeteria. |
Other features of U.B.C. law included great
professors and courses, Friday beer-ups, the Law Revue, the Law Games, Law
League Hockey and other sports teams..even the Rugby Team, the several
clubs we could join, grad at the Pan Pacific..thanks Jeanine and Lester,
and of course one feature which no other law school in Canada enjoys..the
view of Howe Sound, at sunset from room 157.
However, undoubtedly, the best feature of U.B.C. Law, was the diversity of
the student body, which brings me to the next point. In my first year
alone, I met students from every province and territory in Canada and from
all walks of life. For example, the person who sat beside me on
Orientation Day is now the Chief of an Indian Band in Newfoundland. You
name it, we had it, farmers to doctors to airline pilots, and of course, a
few Commerce Grads.
 As Canada is
going through its current growing pains, I believe that the diversity of
the student body at U.B.C. has given us an opportunity to understand and
appreciate the concerns and visions of most groups in Canada. As future
leaders, based throughout Canada and occupying a variety of posts and
positions I challenge each graduating student to take advantage of this
unique experience of diversity we had at U.B.C. to foster tolerance and
understanding, where ever you are located in Canada, whether it is in B.C.
or Toronto or St. John’s. By doing so we will be better able to find
solutions to Canada’s problems and build a strong country based on an
understanding and compromise where each group feels that it is an equal
and integral part of the Canadian family.
Finally, on behalf of the whole graduating class, including those who
unfortunately could not be present today, I would like to thank our
instructors who got us through the last hew years and of course our family
and friends, without whom most of us would not have made it to U.B.C. in
the first place.
In closing, I would like to remind the graduating class that Paul Brown
was wrong-we never have to stop being silly. In fact if we want to come
close to fulfilling our ideals and goals, it is imperative to keep our
minds and attitudes as young, open and as innocent as possible. Then we
can combine this with our unique cosmopolitan experience at U.B.C. to find
creative ways to build a stronger and better Canada and world.
But don’t forget the U.B.C. motto, Juum Est. Your future and Canada’s
future is all up to you. |
