Graduation address: Dr Silvia Paracchini

Friday 27 June 2014

Chancellor, ladies and gentlemen. 

I feel truly honoured to be part of this ceremony, when we come together to mark the achievements of every single one of you, the new graduates. It is a real pleasure to share this moment with you, your families and your supporters. 

When I was asked to give this address I went through a range of emotions: surprise, excitement, and as today drew nearer, nervousness. But above all, I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. It is so easy to become blinded by the pressure and deadlines of experiments, conferences, papers and grants – this is how human geneticists fill their days. It is easy to forget what we all know; a clear vision requires distance, but we hardly ever step back and enjoy the view. It has been very refreshing to prepare this address and take a different viewpoint. Today, at this very moment, you are living in one of the rare occasions when you have no choice but to observe the world from a different perspective.

You have all emerged from one reality and are yet to fully immerse yourself in the next one. You can observe and reflect. We are here to celebrate the end of one journey and to wish you well as you embark on another, looking back on memories and looking ahead to new horizons.

We are gathered in a beautiful hall and are part of an important ceremony, which repeats itself year after year, full of history and meaning. You are sharing strong feelings and emotions not only with the people sitting next to you, or with people in this room today, but also with those who sat here in the past and with those who will go on to do so in the future. You are now part of a proud tradition of success. 

Remind yourself of what you have achieved. Observe the proud expression of your parents, relatives and friends who supported you all through your studies. Focus on what has been good, move forward from what has not been so good, but learn from both. Make this moment yours, and keep it with you. The splendour of this place will seal such an important moment like a perfect envelope. Look back at your time in St Andrews, a special place with many powerful images to frame your experience. The inspiring backdrop of the West Sands, an evocative cathedral, an historical castle or the freezing cold of a May Dip. It is not by chance that I reference twice our beautiful coastline. It is simply impossible to remain indifferent when looking at such striking and dramatic scenery. The West Sands is the place I go when I need to step back and make decisions. An inspiring place where sights can be lost in the infinite and the webs of random thoughts can follow unpredicted paths dictated by the sounds of waves. A place where, for once, you will refrain from using your phone, thanks to a combination of wind and sand.

Today’s memories will have the first flavour of expectations for the next journey. You have just received the tickets to your futures, towards the realisation of longer-term plans. I am sure you have all been warned, multiple times by multiple sources, about what is waiting for you. It will be challenging, and it will not be welcoming, to say the least.  But opportunities are also out there waiting for you. It will be up to you to make the most of them. My wish is that you go on a journey that makes you passionate and that nourishes your curiosity. Like Ulysses, you will find more pleasure in the journey than in what lies at the end of it. These are the ingredients that will make you alert and ready to seize the right opportunities. Be passionate, be inspired and you will be able to recognise them. Choose your next destination carefully, but do not hesitate to change direction if you feel that you are losing your enthusiasm along the way. Whatever success means to you, it will not come by following standard routes. Be prepared to take risks. There will be times for big decisions. Nobody will have the right answer for you but that is when it might be useful to pause, to detach and return to this beautiful location and this very special moment, or to project yourself onto West Sands. Remind yourself of today’s emotions and of your time in St Andrews.  

I would like to think I am too young to be wise, so I will let the wisdom of Virgil, the great Roman poet, speak for me: ‘Audentes fortuna iuvat’. It could not be said better: if you don’t dare you don’t get. Be brave, and Fortuna, good luck, will be with you. Fortuna on its own is not enough, but the tickets you all hold tell me that each and every one of you is prepared to work hard. 

Use your tickets well.

Now is the time to celebrate and to make this day truly special. I will expect all of you to be dancing and having fun for the rest of the day and through the night.

Congratulations, you deserve it!

Dr Silvia Paracchini