 Welcome everyone to the fifth graduation ceremony of our page of 2022. Let me start with a call by Bernard Williams. There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope. With this, I call upon our respective commemorations speaker. I respect the following dignitaries, our commemorations speaker, Dr. Sedevi, Director, Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research, Dimapuru, Dr. Hewasa Elking, Principal, That's All College, Ma'am Shasinle Loring, Co-Founder, That's All College, Mr. Kulo Loring, Director of That's All College, Mrs. Vinie Saleh, the HR Manager, That's All College, the governing council members, Mr. Sedevi Hoviri, Engineer Kose Saleh, and Mashaville, Alumni Representative, and Mr. Anjan K. Behara, Acting Dean, School of English and Political Studies, to kindly walk towards the Tree of Hope and water it to start our fifth graduation ceremony of 2022. With hope, the graduation badge of 2023 found the strength to preserve, to believe in their abilities and to view each hurdle as a chance to learn, adopt, and triumph in their field of studies for three rigorous years. It is true hope that we have sought together the seeds of a brighter future. It is hope that encouraged the graduates here today to chart their own course, to think innovatively, and to dare to dream big as the college has always pushed each of us to strive for excellence as its motto. Let us therefore cultivate hope with our educational institution, fostering an environment where every student is inspired to believe in themselves and their potential. Dear graduates, as you embark on this new chapter, nurture the flame of hope with your heart and allow it to lead you towards a future brimming with possibilities. This tree of hope that you see here today will therefore be planted in the college campus in commemoration of your page, that is the page of 2023. This tree of hope shall remind your juniors to achieve big, to not give up and to spread across the world, to create a positive impact in the world as we believe you will do so. Once again, a very good morning to everyone. I extend my greetings and welcome our esteemed commemoration speaker, Dr. Sadevi Angami, who is the director of Christian Institute of Health Sciences, and Research. Our principal, Dr. Hewasa Elking, and the governing council members, Mr. Sithilu Vire, Mr. Kose Saleh, and Mashéville, alumni representative, also the Acting Ding School of English and Political Studies, Sir Anjan K. Behera, faculties from the School of English and Political Studies, dignitaries, invitees, parents and guardians, and of course, our dear graduating students. On behalf of Thessal College, I once again welcome each of you to this fifth graduation day ceremony for the School of English and Political Studies. An August gathering as this requires the blessings of God. Therefore, I would like to call Dr. Wicham Dinbo Mataina, assistant professor, Department of Linguistics, to seek prayer of blessings on behalf of everyone for the success of this program. Sir, you may take your time. A very good day to everyone. I would all ask you to join me in prayer in your heart. Let's bow down our heads. Our Heavenly Father, God of Hope, God of Joy, we thank you, Lord, for this day. We thank you, Lord, for this new day, new life. And we thank you, Lord, for this very moment of time in our life, Lord. We thank you, Lord. It is another academic year and we have seen a lot of academic success achievements. And for all these reasons, we thank you and we are full of gratitude. Lord, we thank you for your guidance, for your leading and for your care upon all our students, all our graduates. We thank you, Lord, for all our parents, our families who sacrificed everything, who worked hard to enable us to see this day. Lord, we also thank you for all the teaching and non-teaching staff of the college who play a part in the lives of our students. We also thank you for our fellow students with whom we learn the meaning of sharing, the meaning of friendship, the meaning of collaboration. We thank you, Lord, for everything. Lord, even as our passing out students today work on the states and collect their diplomas, certificates and also check a new beginning for their lives. I pray that your continual guidance, your care, your calm will be upon them. We pray that you will always be with them. I pray that you will enable them to make fear a right choice. You will grant them a wisdom so that they make a right choice, O Lord. Lord, I also pray that you will give them strength to resist laziness, to resist greed, to resist envy as they strive, as they do their best. Lord, we thank you for all our passing out students who are here and even who are not here and all their families. And we pray that you will continue to bless them as they celebrate this grand milestone in their lives, O Lord. We pray that you will continue to bless them so that they further strive for excellence in their life, O Lord. Committing the rest of our day in gratitude, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Dr. Medina. I believe that with your awards of prayers we will have a successful graduation day today. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr. Kevibinio Ngujole, assistant professor from the Department of English, and I will be the chairperson for today's graduation ceremony. Going forward to the program, we can only imagine how difficult the job of a college principal is, but our dearest principal has always handled every small or big issue with grace and enthusiasm, and I believe that the graduating students seated here today will agree with me. Along with me, please welcome Dr. Hawassah L. King, principal at So College, to deliver her welcome and her final address to the graduating batch of 2020 to 2023. Ma'am, you can take your time. Good morning, everyone. Prespected chairperson, our honorable commencement speaker, Dr. Sedevi Angami, governing council members, parents, guardians, staff of the So College, and of course, the graduating class of 2023. It is a pleasure for me to welcome each and every one of you to the fifth graduation ceremony of the class of 2023. We are so honored that all of you have made time to be here with us to celebrate this happy occasion as we witness the outgoing graduation of our students. I would like to thank Dr. Sedevi, our commencement speaker, for also taking all the time to be with us. He is a very, very busy man as we know, managing one of the busiest and largest hospitals in Nangalan and saving lives. He is a testament of the success, a success story which we hope our graduates will also emulate very soon. I also thank the governing council members, Mr. Sitzudo and engineer Kose Sade for being here with us to witness the graduation of our students. Today, the 14th of July, we are sending out a total of 521 students into the world to go and further pursue their dreams. All the parents, guardians, well-wishers who are here today have played a vital role in the success of all of you students sitting before me. So I congratulate everyone here in this hall and especially our class of 2023. I would like to request our class of 2023 to kindly rise from your seats so that we can give you all a rounding applause to appreciate your efforts. Class of 2023, congratulations to each and every one of you for your hard work. You may be seated. Dear students, when you first arrived here at Ditzel College, we all told you that you were all meant to be here. Our faiths are all tied together. And you became dreamers, thinkers, and most importantly doers of the Ditzel College community. And it is our hope that we now having understood the vision and mission of Ditzel College, which is to empower yourself towards lifelong excellence, that each and every one of you will go out into the world and create a positive impact, which is the mission of our college. Please remember that you will continue to be a part of Ditzel College. You will now be our alumni. You'll be the alumni of 2023. Your batch, that is the batch that came into this college in 2020, went through so many unexpected challenges and experiences. You are the true actual pandemic batch of students that had to weather through so many experiences from the online classes to the online exams to the hybrid classes when we reopened. Followed by the attendance requirements that were rigorous after that. And we've had to drop a few students along the way, unfortunately also, every one of you have gone through a rigorous set of assignments, exams, tasks set by your teachers to come this far. You have truly worked your way to graduate today. And we are proud of the efforts that you have made to be sitting here in this lowering hall this morning. You've definitely done what you've had to do to get your degree. But remember that it does not stop here. We believe that you will go on, some of you will go on to pursue higher studies, some of you will go on to work and join the professional workforce. Whatever it is you do, remember at all times that actions speak louder than words. We are a community of dreamers, thinkers and most importantly, doers. We have so many graduates in Nagaland. I think you'll agree with me. We have so many educated students, educated individuals in Nagaland. But the kind of graduates that we need now in Nagaland probably are the ones that do things the right way. The ones that are ethical and truly hardworking with their persistence, with their determination who are able to achieve success that way. There are, as we have seen so many different paths to success, there are so many routes to solving a problem or mastering a task. But above all of these things, there is always a right way to do things. So we hope that you will always take the right route. Please be excited about the future because we are truly excited for each one of you as you now go on into the next stage of life. Be excited, use your enthusiasm to conquer the world. And remember that your role is to help our society confront and answer the fundamental questions and challenges that we face today. On that note, I would like to once again congratulate each one of you, all the very best to all of you and do continue to strive for excellence. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am, for your wonderful words of encouragement and taking our graduation students down the memory lane again. I believe that with her words, you are all fully charged and ready to take on to the next phase of your life. Now, I call upon Ms. Lempensa-Perry, who is the valedictorian speaker, but let me introduce her. Something about our valedictorian speaker that each of us should know. Ms. Lempensa-Perry is from the Department of English and as a student, she has always been diligent and sincere in her studies and other co-curricular activities as well. During her stay here at That's All College, she has published an article titled, Delineating Racism and Nehilation of Discrimination Through Degree of Thought, which is an initiative of That's All College to train students for further research work in Morung Express. She has also an interesting fact about her. Our dear Ms. Perry has also participated in one of the beauty pageant and she has also won the title of Ms. Photogenic and also she comes from a science background. So, without taking much time, I called upon Ms. Lempensa-Perry to share some facts and interesting things about her as she gave her final word to her bitch. You may now take your time. A very good morning to the principal, board of directors, commencement speaker, Dr. Siddhavi Angami, faculty members, esteemed guests and my dear graduating batchmates. Today marks a significant milestone in our lives. As we gather here to celebrate the graduation, we can't help but reflect on the years of hard work, growth and unforgettable memories that have brought us to this very moment. It is an honor and a privilege to stand before you as the valedictorian of our graduating class. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to God and to our families who have been unwavering in their support throughout this journey. Your love, encouragement and sacrifices have been the foundation upon which our success rests. To the parents, guardians, siblings and extended family members present here today, thank you for being our pillars of strength. I would also like to extend my further gratitude to acknowledge the incredible dedication of our professors. You have imparted knowledge, nurtured our talents and instilled in us a passion for learning. Your guidance and wisdom have extended far beyond the confines of the classroom, shaping not only our intellect, but also our character. We owe you a depth of gratitude for the countless hours you have invested in our education. We all have our experiences. To describe in one word about my experience at Dead Soh would be bitter sweet. I had a roller coaster-like experience both in my studies and other spheres of life. Life brought me in a juncture where I thought of giving up on myself, but the constant support from dear ones and my professors made me realize and see my fullest potential. At Dead Soh, I witnessed many tough challenges which ultimately led to coming in terms with my life. For the record, I was a science student, not knowing I would enjoy taking English honors as my subject in the future. I scored pretty well in English papers during my higher secondary. Well, I'm glad that I shifted from science to English, arts, taking up English as my honors paper. I had my moments of discomfort, especially realizing the obscurity of life, but now having accomplished this milestone, I can say that I'm content to have experienced all kinds of emotions that has footfully helped me grow. Fellow comrades, today we celebrate not just the culmination of years of academic pursuits, but also the development of our individual interests and are also our road. Our time in college has been a melting pot of experiences, challenges and triumphs. We have learned to overcome these obstacles, both academic and other spheres of life. We have emerged stronger and more resilient individuals because of these experiences. Education, not being a simple profanity of reading and writing, books and exams, but also forms of learning and unlearning, has proved today to be a multilateral experience. I have gained friendships and I have learned to accept myself from various lenses thanks to the people I call friends. I believe that true success lies in our ability to touch the lives of others, to make a positive impact on our communities, let us strive for excellence, not only in our careers, but also in our relationships, our compassion and our pursuit of happiness. As we bid farewell to this chapter of our lives, let us not forget to celebrate the journey we have undertaken together, cherish the memories we have created, the laughter we have shared and the bonds we have formed. As we scatter across different paths, let us remember that we are forever connected by the experience we have shared as a bench. In conclusion, my fellow graduates, I stand before you today with immense pride and optimism. We are embarking on a new chapter, filled with infinite possibilities and boundless opportunities. As we step into the world, let us be guided by the lessons we have learned, the values we hold dear and the dreams that fuel our aspirations. Lastly, a hearty congratulations class of 2023, dear old pandemic batch. May each of us find success, happiness and fulfillment in our journeys ahead. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Lampensaperi, for your wonderful speech and your final address to the Tetsuo College. Now is the time we have all been waiting for and looking forward. No doubt you will all know this renowned figure, but allow me to introduce our Commemoration Speaker for the fifth graduation ceremony of 2023, Dr. Sadevi Angami. Dr. Sadevi Angami is a renowned medical doctor practicing in Dimapur and at present is the Director of Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research. He completed his MBBS from NLN Medical Research College, Allahabad, did his postgraduate in MD Medicine from Ames, New Delhi and Super Speciality in DM Medicine from CMC Valor. He has a PG Certificate in Hospital Administration from NIH FW, New Delhi, completed a course in MA Bioethics from TIU Illinois, USA and attended the Hagai Institute Leadership Seminar in Singapore, 2001. Dr. Sadevi has worked as a Consultant in Medicine at Christian Fellowship Hospital, Odan Chaltram, Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, Senior Resident Department of Hematology at Ames, New Delhi, Consultant Gastroenterology at CMC Valor and Consultant Medicine at Battle Medical Center, before joining CIHSR, Dimapur. He is also a member of the National Medical Commission. At present, Dr. Sadevi Angami is holding the post of Director for Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research for Gastroenterology in Dimapur. His area of interest are Gastroenterology, TB and HIV. Apart from his medical life, he is also interested in tecundo, basketball and trekking. Thank you, sir, for being here with us today, regardless of your busy work and schedule. Good morning, friends. Thank you for the privilege of being part of this very precious and important occasion and what is possibly one of the most dynamic and fast-growing institutions. That's our college, something which inspires a lot of people and we're very, very happy to know the growth of this institution and we celebrate this institution as you put in all your efforts to use this institution for the life of seven people out here and also in the life of our state. I want to congratulate the batch of 2023 for the amount of time that you spend and this is your big day and I'm sure you're really excited to think about the world ahead of you after this and I also want to congratulate the teachers who've invested their lives in these students. One day, several of these students will say, he or she was my teacher or my coach and when they become worthy men and women, you will get your reward and at that time, you can say I was their teacher, you know? So as you start your new chapter in life, permit me to share some principles which have helped me along the journey. So a lot of it will be from my own personal experiences which might be of some utilities or some people. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and so I would use a lot of examples from the Bible because I believe the Bible is really the crux basis, the foundation of our lives and really the best guide for any of us. So the first principle I would suggest is to keep God as first place in your life. I have three children and one of the things which I keep telling them, so my eldest is just trying to smart a small business so he is like a bit stressed out there so I tell him keep God as first place and things will work out. My second son is in college and he's doing reasonably well in his studies, getting fairly good marks, doing his research and we have a very friendly discussion about his life, his work, his girlfriend and I tell him keep God as first place and he's understood that. My daughter again, she's also in college and she is also quite good in her studies, quite a dynamic girl and I tell her the same thing, keep God as first place. Years back when I was in Delhi, we were a Bible teacher, one of our elders used to say and this he learned from another elder of his, used to say, start the day with God. In the morning, never see the face of any man before you see the face of God. Never hear the voice of any man before you hear the voice of God and so he used to always get up earlier before his wife got up because if he got up later than his wife then all hell would break loose because she'll say, bring the milk, the milkman hasn't come, the newspaper is still not okay, there's rent to pay and all kinds of stuff and then he just gets all, he gets scattered. So he said, I would always get up before my wife and spend adequate time before God. I think this is possibly the most important thing that we can have, keep God as first place. If we do that, then you will have a completely different part chartered out for you. As a medical student, as I was doing my internship in Pondicherry in Jipma, there was a lot of competition to get into post graduation and there was a lot of anxiety and panic and things like that and so a friend of mine and I said, we do not want to enter into the rat race, we'll prepare ourselves mentally, spiritually before going into post graduation and so we thought we'll join a mission hospital and we worked harder than everybody else. In our wards, we stayed longer than others, we made sure that we never missed the Bible study, Sunday was completely for Bible related things and our friends used to say, you guys are a bit crazy. You should be studying, all your other friends are in the library and so I used to tell them, we are not going to enter into this rat race. We will work extremely hard, we will not be slack in anything but we will keep God as first and if God wants us to get into post graduation, at the right time, he will give the right brains to do it. So when I had to go to Delhi to just get some luggage to bring back to Bonnicherry and on the way back by train, I had to get out in Bhopal because one lady started to deliver, went into labor, I thought I was very naive in those days, I didn't think twice about what I was doing so I just got down, took her to the hospital, thought I'll deliver her in the hospital, she landed up with a caesarean section, obstructed labor, I had to be in Bhopal for about two weeks, stayed with my friends in the medical college and she was there in the hospital and by the time I reached back to Chennai, my brother was so furious with me, he said, you know, you got, you know, he, earlier before going to Delhi, he said, when you're going to Delhi, anyway just go and write the exam, the AEMs entrance, no? So I said, okay, I'll just write the exam. So I went, wrote the exam and came back so as soon as I reached Chennai, my brother called me and he said, you know, he was there, he was very upset, they said, you didn't call up properly, you have already got, you know, you got the entrance, you've been selected in AEMs and tomorrow you have to go back, otherwise you're going to lose that seat. So I went back, you know, at the right time, God gave me the understanding of how to write the exam and today if I think, if I write the exam, I'll surely fail, you know, because I really don't know what I was writing. I must have been a bit drunk, I'm not sure, but you know, I realized that over a span of time then, from there, Delhi to wherever I've gone, God has placed people, the right kind of people to guide me, the right kind of opportunity or crisis, you know, tailored for my life and over the years I can look at the master weaver, weaving a picture, a beautiful picture till what I am today. And I realized this, that you know, if you really keep God as first place, then your life is completely different from everybody else, it's not the same. What happens to others will be different, maybe it'll happen to you, but it'll happen in a different way, no? And so I would feel that the most important thing if you forget everything about what is going on here, is keep God in first place, don't compromise on that. The Lord Jesus Christ had two friends, Mary and Martha, one of the things he used to go and spend time with them and Martha was very busy with all kinds of useful things, Mary spent a lot of time listening to Jesus, observing him and Jesus said, Mary has chosen the right thing. One thing is important, she chose that. So keep God in first place. Secondly, again, I'm a professional, I do medicine, but I also do a lot of teaching, I like to teach, I like to train and I experiment a lot with training, every day we experiment with different, different types of teaching methodologies and I also practice medicine, but I'm also interested in a lot of other things. So one of the things which I realize is that if you really want to thrive and flourish, you need to study God, you need to study Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ is the full reflection of the Godhead, the entire content, it says the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus Christ. Charles Haddon's Virgin, one of these, they call him the Prince of Preachers, he said, the study of God is vastly improving to the mind. This he said it when he was 19 years old. As a 19 year old, he was super brilliant and he said this, if you want to have a really good mind, study Jesus Christ, study it intently. There are a lot of people who are Christians, but they are not followers of Jesus. There are a lot of followers of Jesus, but they don't study Jesus. There are theologians who study and they get their theological degree, but they don't study Jesus. There's a big, big, big difference. If you study the Lord Jesus Christ intensely, it will really improve your mind. And this is one thing which I feel it's really, really important. Romans 12, verse one and two, in Paul is talking to the Romans and he says, be renewed in the transformation of mind. Read to know more about God. Be soaked in his word. So this is one of the things which I have tried to work on. That I will read the word, I will let the word submit my mind so that I think biblically. And when you start thinking biblically, it goes into every area of your life, whether it's administration, whether it's teaching, communicating, counseling, coaching, in every area of our lives, you know? Proverbs says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. And actually it's not just information knowledge, it is wisdom. One of the things we realize is that as you're young, you acquire degrees and a lot of information here and there and you become so knowledgeable, full of information. And but you don't have too much of wisdom. And then as you grow older and older, you will gain knowledge to a certain degree and then it'll plateau. And then after that, your neurons will start degenerating and you will have dementia if you don't die, too fast. So if, but as you grow older, you tend to get wisdom. The problem with wisdom is by the time you are old enough to have wisdom, you don't have too much time to use that wisdom. So I used to think, how can we get wisdom when we are still young? It would make, you know, a lot of problems would have been avoided if we had got wisdom when we are still young. So one of the things which I used to do as a student was I had a lot of textbooks and I had this mad rush of Xeroxing as many textbooks buying from everywhere, reading mad rush to get in knowledge. Then I thought, if I read it, read a lot, I will become very knowledgeable. And when I become knowledgeable, I will become proud. And God resist the proud. So I thought I must not become proud, you know? So what I used to do is I, in my textbooks, I used to write Bible verses and prayers all over, you know? So that what I read, because what I'm reading is not ordinary knowledge. It is knowledge which can impact my mind and can affect my being. And that's why I felt I had to interact with the knowledge that I'm getting and ensure that it comes under the suppression of God. So study the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the sum of all things. He's the best teacher, he's the best strategist. We just finished our third strategic planning meeting in our hospital, the entire hospital was involved in it, institute was involved in it. And we looked at all the biblical principles of strategy. You know, learn to be a coach. Study Jesus Christ was the best coach. You know, I do, I coach on a daily basis. All my staff, students, and I use coaching every day. And a lot of it comes from the scripture. And it's much more effective than just teaching. The Lord Jesus Christ is, you know, if you're gonna be an architect, you better study Jesus. If you're gonna be an organizer or a physician or a psychologist, you need to study Jesus. So I use the Jesus teaching and training methods daily in my work and in my administration. Also, we need to sort of have a very broad spectrum reading because I realize that, you know, the knowledge that we get is not just ordinary knowledge. It's God-given knowledge. And therefore, I would like to read as much as possible. So I'm a compulsive reader. I read everywhere, you know? I mean, from my childhood. So in the toilet, while waiting for the bus everywhere, you know, if I don't read, I get withdrawal symptoms. One of the things advantages with this, I think, is that when you read a lot and you try to learn a lot about everything under the sun, not just your own subject, you can develop critical thinking, lateral thinking, and you can develop thinking out of the box. So learn to observe as much as possible and learn to observe God's world. It is not a world which is just like that. It's God-created and it's God-world. So study the Lord Jesus Christ and see how He integrates and relates with your situation, your world, and it will really improve your mind. Thirdly, be creative. Explore the world and celebrate God in all things. It is God's world. So explore it with the full. His intention for us is that we might flourish and experience His fullness. In Genesis, the first chapter, he talks to a man and he says, you know, subdue the world, you know? It's given for you, explore it in its diversity, in its variety. Go into the depths of it. We call it deep diving, you know? In Christian Medical College Belor, there is a clause, a statement, in the mission statement relating to research. It says, we strive to look at God's purposes and designs in the world in research. So research is not just research, just like that. It's looking and seeing what is God doing, you know? In this world, whether it's in molecular science or whatever, you know, or genetics or anything like that, and you really study that. So be creative. One of the things which I realize is that God is a great God and He gives much more than we can ever deserve or imagine. In 1 Corinthians chapter two verse nine, it says, I has not seen, hear, has not heard, mind has not conceived, but God has prepared for those who love Him. And this is something which I've realized even in our own institute, in our own institute. We started small, we're just three of us, and over the span of time, the kind of people that God has brought into our institute is phenomenal. You know, it's just amazing. My previous director was Dr. Abram Joseph. He was the father of community medicine in India. He was a big shot. Goes all over the world, giving keynote addresses. Our current principal of the Paramedical College is the chairman of Medical Physics in India, College of Medical Physics, and the editor of the Journal of Medical Physics, big shot. Our nursing college was started by the former principal of CMC Ballant Nursing College. She, like, that was the best college in India. Fantastic people came in. We didn't ask for it, it just came in. We just took one step at a time and followed Jesus, and, you know, they just come in like that. And the kind of people God has brought into our institute now, phenomenal amount, you know, of very high quality people who are very committed about their job. So God would give things which you can never imagine, take us to places where you can never imagine. So explore the world of God and you will realize, you know. And ask several questions about the world around you. You know, the better your questions, the more you will learn. And be willing to try out everything. Food, places, take initiatives, take risks. You know, my, the former EHA director, who was my boss, used to say, Sedevi is a scatterbrain, you know. He's thinking about ideas non-stop, you know. And he thinks, you know, this guy is just fleeting here and there. But I realize that, you know, I, there's so much in God's world that we want to explore and try out. And if you don't try it, you won't know. You'll never know. So I would rather try and fail many times than not try it all. You know, there's a story about a guy called Eric Little, who is, who was a missionary to China and in the movie Charades of Fire. You know, he was a 100 meters race Olympics runner. And finally he ended up running the 400 meters race and won it, you know. So he was, his sister told him, brother, you're so bothered about other things. Why don't you, we should be going to China and doing the Lord's work. So he told her and said, you know, sister, God made me with a heart for China, but God made me fast. And when I run, I feel God's good pleasure in me, you know. I enjoy God, I worship God when I run. So when you're studying, are you enjoying God? No, I like, I enjoy God on a daily basis, you know. In my administration, I enjoy God. In my work, I enjoy God. Now, when I talk to patients, I enjoy God. And when you do that, everything has purpose and meaning and the quality of your work will really improve. So celebrate God and find the pleasure of God in all your work and studies. Forty, be free. Be free and explore the freedom that God gives to you. The Christ given identity, search for a Christ given identity and look and apply this freedom to all areas of your life. So we're trying to look at, in our institute, we've just done a strategic planning. We're trying to see what can we apply this to? Can we think, I think our, the chairperson or the principal said, think big. Look at the big picture. So one of the things which I was talking to our staff is the oncology department, the cancer department. I was saying, can we work on in 10 years, we will not send a single patient ever to go out of Nagaland for treatment, for cancer treatment. So what it means is you'll need about 300 crores of investment, you will need collaborations with at least 10 foreign and global universities, the top ones, you will need to have a manpower plan which to do that, you'll need to have processes, protocols, et cetera, et cetera. So God gives us the freedom to do it and His world is there and He has the resources to give to us. So whether it's academics, research, community, be free and explore as much as possible. Don't be bound by your own expectations or expectations of others. Feel free to love, feel free to learn, to try new things, to forgive. And what, I think one person again said, you chart your own course. I think it's very important. Listen to the advisors, listen to mentors, take that in, but finally chart your own course. Over a span of time, I have realized I have listened, I have learned from people, but finally I had to make my own decisions. And times when they thought maybe this is not the right time, I still went ahead. Maybe this is, so you will need to chart out what in Star Trek they say, the Star Trek to go bonely where no man has ever gone before. This uncharted territory where your advisors might also not know. So feel free to go to places where people have not gone and chart out your own course. If the sun sets you free, you shall be free indeed, free to be able to explore. One of the other aspects about freedom is that you need to have, to be really free, you need to live a life of integrity. And integrity is something which is quite missing in our society today. So if you live a life of tremendous amount of integrity, you will have tremendous amount of freedom. Stand first in the liberty, in this freedom, don't get trapped. Practice the discipline of simplicity. If you're a simple man, I'm not saying simple in mind, in simplicity in your lifestyle, it allows you to do a lot of things and not be bound by people. What you do not have cannot trap you. You'll not be bound by others. Simplicity is freedom actually. I worked in a mission hospital several years back with Dr. Tharyan in Odentchathuram, Tamil Nadu and this man had nothing in his house. He was one of the greatest men in Christian doctors in India. He had nothing in his house. He had nothing to fear. His house door was always open and people could just come in and go and his life was so impactful. We must realize that over the years we will keep accumulating things in our lives only to find out that it doesn't help you and you have no time for it all. I look at the books in my room. I've accumulated so many books, I realize I won't be able to read all of those books in my lifetime. So now I have to think, what is the one thing I need to do for my time? Practice humility. Now, humility is possibly the most attractive quality. People will do things for you if you are humble. Now, start with saying I'm a foolish person. Whatever my achievements were in the past, I'm going to keep that behind. And don't let people praise you and build your puffy up. That is a big hindrance. So, practice humility and you will actually really thrive because you'll get a lot of people who will be with you rather than against you. Share your failures. I try to share my failures with a lot of people. Now, I share my mistakes and the blunders that I've made in my life very often. And then, what I realize is it connects much better to people because people realize, ah, actually, they might just nod their head but they've also gone through the same thing. Be authentic and genuine. Try to aim to be authentic and genuine. People will feel comfortable and at ease in your presence if you're genuine. You know, the first thing that people want to know about you is, is this person trustworthy? Is he genuine? Many years back, I was talking to a Marwari fellow, one Marwari dealer in Guwahati. I used to get a lot of stuff from him and a lot of credit. So, I used to tell him, I told him, I said, see, are you scared that I will not pay you? So, he said, doctor, we know people. We are Marawis. Over the years, we have known, we deal with people, we can judge people. We know you will not cheat me, no? Okay, we can smell like almost from a distance. We can tell who's genuine and who's not. So, try to be genuine and give freely and release. You've acquired some level of wisdom, some knowledge that you have now. Try to give it freely as much as possible. Matthew chapter 10 verse eight, it says, freely you have received, freely give. There's an ambulance service which is called 108. In the rest of the country, they call it the 108. It's Matthew chapter 10 verse eight. This was started by a Christian bureaucrat and talks about giving out. Over the years, I realized that everything that I learned is second hand, everything that I have. So, my knowledge is all second hand. I didn't get it just like that. It didn't just come out like that, no? I learned it from a book. I learned it from a teacher. I didn't write that book. I learned it from a teacher. I learned it from mentors, from advisors. I learned it from experiences which God allowed me to have that. I did not die when I was young because I could have died. My father had five brothers. All of them died in gastroenteritis epidemics. I didn't die when I was young. I see a lot of patients every day. Suddenly, they're quite okay. Suddenly, they say I have this small lump here and then it's cancer. My father did not die when I was young. Otherwise, I couldn't have been able to study. Everything that we have is second hand. So, that's why in Ecclesiastas, the preacher says there's nothing new under the sun. If then, if nothing belongs to you, then why do you hold on? I realize that over the years, I'm losing my memory and slowly, slowly, very soon I will die. I don't know. I'm 56 years now, so which means 10 years down the line, if I'm still alive, I will be a lot slower than what I am. I have high blood pressure. My feet are getting a bit numb. I'm becoming a little overweight and my eyes are not as good as they used to be. 20 years down the line, I will be much more slower and my memory will be even worse and people will just have to tolerate me. Now, I realize that we are degenerating and so I realize, oh, I need to give up what I have as soon as possible, as fast as possible before I go, you know? So I live with my mortality in mind every day. I stayed in a Buddhist monastery several years back in Dharamsala just for a few days. One of the things which the Buddhist monks do is they look at the skull and they meditate on the skull about death so that when they die, they are comfortable with that. So think about your own mortality and live life in order to give. The more you give, the more you will learn. If one of the things which I realize as I teach people is I do this exercise very often, I ask, okay, how many of you listened to your pastor last week, you know? And what's the message good? And generally they'll say, yeah, it was quite good. Tell me three things that you remember from that. Most of the people will not remember, even one point. Even the best of the best preachers you will still forget. The only way you will remember is if you repeat it or you teach it or you practice it or you give it to somebody else. The more you give it, the more it will become part of your life. So the faster you give, today I sleep very nicely and peacefully because I taught so many people endoscopy and all my skills so many of them can do what I'm doing. So I can freely tell people, see, just go to that guy, he knows better than me, you know? So then they don't have to trouble me, I can go for a nice vacation, you know? So the more you give out, the more you can be free. Push yourself very, very hard. You'll never get burnt out. Don't listen to the lie of burnout. You know, when we were young, we didn't know there was a term called burnout. We worked hard, we never got burned out. Today people think, if I do this, this, this, I'm gonna get burned out, you know? They're planning to get burned out. Okay, you know? So they say, you know, burnout does not happen because of hard work. It doesn't happen because of a large amount of work. It happens occasionally with excessive work, but hard work never burns you out. Burnout happens because of poor relationships, adverse working conditions, the victim mentality, self-pity, you're on expectations. You will never, you will get tired and exhausted but you won't get burnt out if you don't have those things. So push yourself very hard and see the limits of what you can do. You'll never know how much you can take until you try it out. And finally, learn to reflect and integrate your learning. Whatever you're learning today, it needs to be integrated. So learning takes place in three levels. One is called information, the other is experience, and the third is transformation. So when you are learning a lot of things, there's a lot of information coming in. Then you have an experience and you say, this is nice, this is not so good, this is how I feel. But until that learning becomes a transformation, that learning hasn't had its value. You've wasted your time. So over a span of time, I think about how many things did I learn and how many things are part of my life today? Very, very little, you know? So if you don't want to waste our lives, try and integrate that as much as possible. So in order to do that, we need to learn how to learn and observe how you learn. You need to observe yourself. Socrates said, an unexamined life is not worth living. So take heed to yourself. Paul tells to his disciple, Timothy says, take heed to yourself. Observe yourself very, very carefully. Generally, when people go for workshops and they do a lot of achievements, I don't look at what they have achieved. I generally ask them the question, what happened to you? What happened to you as a process of your achievements? What, you got your gold medal, okay, fine, great. What happened to you when you got your gold medal? That is what I'm interested in. So learn to observe yourself and reflect as much as possible. And if that happens then, what is there in the world? This whole wonderful world of learning and knowledge that is in academia will then become a reality in your life. And then you will be able to celebrate. One of the purpose, I mean, the purpose of God in our lives today is that we should flourish. I hope that as you move out, you will not just get degrees, jobs and things like that, but you will be able to flourish the way God has created you to be. One of the things which I look at our staff is I would like to help our staff to grow to the highest potential that God has created them to be, you know? And we want to explore that in all its diversity and ensure we support our staff so that one day they can really worship God and I will also worship God along with that. So thank you once again for patiently listening to a very long rambling of nearing a senior citizen person and I really wish you all the best and I hope you do extremely well and I'm sure your faculty and your staff are going to be, you know, keeping monitoring how you're doing and one day they will really have course to celebrate. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Sadevi Angami for your wonderful words of encouragement and reminding each of us again to put God first. I strongly believe from my own experience as well that when we put God first and obey our parents or elders, we achieve in life. However, since this is not my day, let me spare you all from sharing my experience and we'll move further. Thank you, sir, once again for reminding us to be humble, to be genuine, trustworthy and to put God first. I believe that we will all take with this valuable things that Dr. Sadevi has shared with us as we walk out of this college today. Now, this is the most interesting part and the most exciting part, the reason why our students have been sitting here patiently, they have not been like this since I have taken their class for three years and I have never seen them sitting so patiently and so attentive in these three years of my teaching career. But today is their day and of course today is the reason why they are all attentive. Now is the moment we have been waiting for and the reason why this ceremony has been scheduled today. I hand over the time for the award of degrees to Ms. Tejasang Rakeshye, Assistant Professor, Department of English and Ms. Kevingunya Ruprio, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science. You may take your time one after the other. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the time we acknowledge this achievement of the Thetso College undergraduate students of 2023. To felicitate them, I request Dr. Sadevi Angami, Director C.I.H.S.R. and the commencement speaker to kindly distribute the certificates to them. The following students have been assessed and evaluated by Thetso College and Navelin University and are hereby being awarded the bachelor's degree in Arts. The subject topper for the Department of English is Lanpence Perry. She is also our valedictorian. She scored a CGPA of 6.31. The subject topper for the Department of Political Science is Jingben Naro. She scored a CGPA of 6.38. And from the general category, we have Vinnie G. Shohei. She scored a CGPA of 6.23. Thank you, sir, for doing the honors. I now request our principal, Dr. Havasah Elking, to distribute the certificates to the graduating students of English. The following students have been assessed and evaluated by Thetso College and Navelin University and are hereby being awarded the bachelor's degree in Arts English. I can add Hugh, Akamla L. Yemchengar, Haloli Y. Achum, Ameka Kiho, Avilo Yebuto, Benangmenla Ozuk, Ibento Yartan, Yuli Slata, Gokli Keikini, Funato Kits, Grisumi, Honji Konyak, Incheon Runla Incheon, Honji Konyak, followed by Incheon Runla Incheon. Thank you, Ms. Tejasano and Ms. Kevingunyo, for awarding the degree of bachelor's to our graduating students. Today, the 14th of July, 2023, I officially announce you all graduates of 2023. Now you may turn your tassel towards your left. Can we all give a round of applause for our graduating students? I cannot express my happiness looking into their never-ending smiles today. As your teacher, we are immensely proud and happy. And on behalf of Thetso College, Department of English, General and Political Science, we congratulate you on your big achievement today. Congratulations, everyone. You are officially graduates of 2023. Okay, now to move towards our program. May I now call upon the Thetso College Choir to lead us to sing the College Anthem. I also request everyone to stand and sing along with the Thetso College Choir, the College Anthem. We have almost reached the end of our program. Let me take this time to thank our esteemed commemoration speaker, Dr. Sedevi Angami, for his valuable time. Our principal, Dr. Hewasa Elking, our director, Mr. Kuloloring, Ma'am Shasinde, Ma'am Vinisa Le, the governing council members that are present here today are acting dean and the faculties of the Department of English and Political Studies. Thank you for your effort and your presence. I also take this time to thank our maintenance department, the IT department, the parents and guardians who have come here, gathered here to witness this graduation ceremony. And of course, the organizing committee, which has been led by Ms. Kahor, HOD of Department of Linguistics and her team, participants, guests, invitees, transport department, hotspot and hospitality team, which will be serving us good lunch after this session. Thank you for your available support to make this ceremony a grand success. I end my note of gratitude by thanking our dearest students as well, the graduate page of 2020-2023, for being here and witnessing and experiencing your graduation day. Thank you, everyone.