 Welcome to this virtual celebration of your graduation from AUS. We know that this is no substitute for being together and we look forward to seeing you when circumstances permit. In spite of the difficulties you have persevered and have been successful. As you make the transition to life after graduation I am sure that your ability to persevere will serve you well. The University is proud of your accomplishments and grateful for the contributions that you've made to enriching AUS as students, as campus leaders, and as role models for your peers. I wish you continued success as you join your fellow alumni to make the world better. Congratulations again. I hope that you enjoy this video intended to celebrate all that you have accomplished. Congratulations. On behalf of His Highness, Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad al-Qasimi, member of the UAE Supreme Council, ruler of Sharjah, president of the American University of Sharjah, members of the Board of Trustees, the faculty and staff, congratulations to the class of fall 2020. Much has changed since the first day you stepped onto campus and the world has changed in unexpected ways. AUS has expanded facilities, launched new programs, enhanced research opportunities for faculty and students, and renewed the focus on student success, including an increased emphasis on the transition to University Due to the foresight and the extraordinary vision of His Highness, AUS today is not only characterized by the incredible buildings that we enjoy due to his generosity, but the campus is much more. It is a diverse academic community enriched by the students, staff, and faculty who contributed to the advancement of the academic mission of the University. While the change that has occurred at AUS has been significant, it pales in comparison to the change that has taken place in the world. The pre-final exam anxiety that you experienced just a short time ago may seem minor when compared to the challenges ahead. However, my confidence is restored each time I speak with AUS students and graduates who are confident, capable, and prepared to face a complex future. At just as you have successfully negotiated the challenges associated with pursuing a degree, I am confident that you will rise to the even greater challenges that lie ahead. Education is a gift that comes at a cost and sacrifice, and we should not forget to thank those who have supported you in order to make today possible. Please join me in recognizing the family members and friends who have supported you through this journey. Given what you have accomplished academically and as contributors of the AUS community through class discussions, community service initiatives, leadership roles, performances, extracurricular activities, and research and teaching assistants, I am confident that you will continue to make a difference in the world. Congratulations graduates. I am delighted to join you, your families and friends, in celebration of this major milestone in your lives. A degree from AUS is here finally, and it's indeed a distinct honor for me to share the excitement of this moment with all of you and to express the sense of pride that everyone in the AUS community feels for your accomplishments. We all know that you have come to this point through a great deal of dedication, persistence, and hard work. That is always the case for AUS graduates, but the fact that you have done so and that the severe restrictions mandated by the current pandemic simply adds to our pride and to our admiration for your achievements. It should also be a source of great joy to all of you. Rejoice in this your day and please accept my warmest congratulations on your graduation and my best wishes as you embark in the new phase in your life. Warm greetings to the graduating class of fall 2020. Even under normal circumstances, graduation is the culmination of a challenging journey. But you, on top of that, have had to contend with almost two semesters of learning in a global pandemic. The difficulties of learning remotely are significant. Yet my faculty colleagues who have taught you tell me that you have adapted well to these circumstances. So on this happy occasion, let me send you congratulations on behalf of my faculty and staff colleagues and other members of the CAD community. We salute your resilience and your accomplishments in the face of adversity. We wish you all success in your life after CAD. The next phase of your life's journey is commencing. How exciting. We owe a collective thanks to my faculty colleagues who taught you conscientiously. We also owe a debt of gratitude to family and friends who have given you love and support and kept you going. I have heard that leaving CAD is a bittersweet moment. Please stay in touch and let us know how you're doing. Good luck and God speed. Congratulations to the class of 2020. And I speak on behalf of all of us when I say that these are such exciting times ahead of us, despite the current global situation. Now I studied in CAD and I suppose that aspect of my university experience here at AUS that I will miss the most is the aspect of interaction and all the experiences that I've had because of the interaction with all sorts of people at AUS. Whether it's through working with different people, both professors and students or just having classes with such a diverse group of students. It's this aspect that has allowed me to have all sorts of opportunities and just a rich set of experiences. And it's also something that I miss the most this aspect of interaction, especially with online learning and distance learning and not having the opportunity to have this as much. But I am grateful and I do cherish the experiences that I've had over the past five years. And all the lessons that I've learned that I will definitely take and use in my life and my career going forward. And so congratulations to all of us. And may we all embrace the challenges and the opportunities that life will throw at us in the future. And most importantly, may we all stay healthy, and just stay positive. The world needs you and AUS will continue to need you. You along with the 16,000 alumni that you join will continue to remain an important part of the AUS community. Just as I hope that AUS will remain part of you. I look forward to the time we can gather to celebrate your graduation. Until then, I wish you continued success. Congratulations to all of the AUS students, friends, faculty, fellow graduates. We did it. We accomplished our dreams and our major steps that we took in this journey. I hope that wherever our future takes us, we allow it to take us somewhere and even beyond. The past four years were more than an academic journey. I will definitely miss my morning rides to Sharjah. And I will miss the ITF room at SBA. But I'm definitely prepared for a career in corporate finance. Besides quality education, AUS gave me friendships and memories that I will forever remain grateful for. It gave me the opportunity to represent students in the Student Council for one year, which I consider one of my greatest achievements. In the future, I hope the type you simply represent AUS as an alumina and make it any community proud. After graduating high school, I always went with the quote that says, Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. And this code has governed the life I live for the majority of my academic and social speech throughout my time in college. To thank you to my MCM department and faculty that shaped me to the woman I am today that you guys are looking at. And of course, my friends that turned into my family. I can't wait to see what the future holds for me and each one of you and take all that AUS has taught us over the four years, patience, commitment, hard work and kindness. Here's to our next journey of adulthood. AUS, you'll be missed. Thank you once again.