A very wonderful evening to all gathered here friends, family, faculty and staff. and finally, to the Class of 2026: congratulations to us all. We have made it!
I, Laxmi Khatri, from the Cinema and Television Programme, stand here today in a room surrounded by the most intelligent, hard-working and strong-minded people I have ever met. Our dreams are tall and our creative visions bound to come to reality. Whether you aim to go far, to travel the world, or stay close to home making a change here, each and every one of you has made your mark on this university. Each of us has found a path to pursue whilst enriching our skillsets and contributing to the enrichment of BNBU.
Today I'm going to talk about hope, resilience and fortitude. I see a room filled with I was a girl begging my parents to let me study abroad. They agreed, on a few conditions. On a fateful summer afternoon, BNBU realised my dream with an offer of admission and a hundred percent scholarship. It was exhilarating, but also scary. I would be travelling alone, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when Chinese airports were all but deserted and the only people on planes were nationals returning home. Fear, naturally, plagued me. I was alone, unsure of whether I'd be lonely, miss my home, or make my parents worried sick. I still remember arriving at the gates of BNBU with two gigantic suitcases… and then, warmth enveloped me in the form of students who had already settled in, eagerly greeting me and welcoming me to a large, beautiful campus decorated with evening lights. Since then, BNBU has been my home. Over the next four years, I would learn what I loved and what I didn’t, and here, I discovered my passion for film and film studies, for expression through art, and for the beauty and ugliness of the human soul.
If BNBU was my home, my teachers were my role models. Some uplifted me; some challenged my wits and shook my confidence, only for it to rebuild stronger than before. I am not here to talk about perfection. It is not our achievements that define us, but how we grow through our hardships and our struggles. Motivation and ambition are born from resilience and we are all winners today, at this milestone, with ambitions that carry us toward our futures. My experiences at BNBU are the foundation of who I am now, and who I will continue to become as I work towards my dreams.
Congratulations, Class of 2026, for reaching this milestone. May the memories we have built here light the way to a brighter future for us all.
Thank you.
