Firstly, I'd like to thank my
family for their continuous love and support.
And I'd like to express my gratitude
to the university vice chancellors
and acknowledge the alumni relations
team, and my lecturers, Penelope Mackie,
Harold Noonan, Andrew Fisher, Joseph
Kisolo-Ssonko, Tara Vandewalle,
Philip Godchild, Stefano Patel, just to name a few.
Your lessons continue to guide and enlighten me every day.
And thank you to the University of Nottingham for recognizing me
alongside this year's alumni award winners who were all incredible.
And it's an honor for me to stand alongside such a line up.
And it's a pleasure for me to address you all on your graduation.
Nottingham is such an exhilarating place to be.
I think we have no community like this.
And coming to campus today
made my memories of evenings at Mooch,
Long nights at George Green and picnics by the lake so much clearer.
Last month I was asked by my editor
to come here to this very campus to report on a tragedy.
The loss of two members of our community.
Two brilliant minds who had the world at their fingertips.
And I returned to.
And I mourned with you all.
The university and the city sharing the story
with the world.
And I couldn't help
but think about the future.
What could have been.
The future
is such an interesting concept.
At present we're here with our most cherished celebrating
one of your biggest achievements to date.
And in this moment, we knowledge three or perhaps
more years of learning and growth, both academic and personal.
And I'm here just to join in and to say, Well done, because it's not been easy.
And after
studying at the most wonderful university, full of beautiful souls,
amazing teachers and pretty cheap Smirnoff
ice, I live in London.
You'll be entering the world with your new flashy degrees.
And as humanities students, a question you may frequently hear is
What are you going to do with that?
And I got it a lot.
And I used to respond with anything and everything because it's true.
You all are our next or current
creators, liaison, human encyclopedias.
You will read and you'll learn.
Expanding your world view in order to understand the diversity
and human experience making you equipped to be
the next leaders of today.
And as for tomorrow, the possibilities are endless.
The British Council did a study in 2021.
They found that 65% of students
will work in jobs that do not yet exist.
How incredible is that?
Many of you all will be doing things with your life that aren't even possible yet.
And even my job was created just last year.
A BBC journalist specializing in news on Tik-tok.
If you told me that when I was in third year, I thought you'd lost it.
But what's most empowering about knowing that
is that you'll be rewarded for your creativity.
Tenacity and drive.
So as you leave here, stand up and stand strong
because you have experience in your own right about things
you may not even realize.
Starting out, I did work experience on a radio documentary
and I was in the studio for the second reading of the script,
and this is where staff are usually encouraged to give feedback.
But I wasn't staff.
I wasn't an intern.
I was just shadowing.
And at some point, I had a suggestion to change a word.
Obviously, I'd learned from Professor Portelli,
and I
believed that word would have negative social consequences.
So I spoke up and I was younger than the other producers
by around 20 years and from a completely different background.
So naturally, I was quite nervous.
But to my surprise, they understood my point.
They changed it and they thanked me.
Three weeks later, I was called, notified about a new job
opening and encouraged to apply.
They said it was valuable
to have someone like me in the room.
Regardless,
I didn't have all the answers
and of course, still don't.
I was a student here at this great university.
And since I've never stopped being a student of life,
constantly learning from others.
The University of Nottingham
has helped you build the most important thing
character.
This is a place of integrity, honesty and diligence.
So take that all with you alongside your shiny new degree.
Two new places.
Places where you're better yourself
and improve the world.
Congratulations, graduates, and thanks again.