Graduation Speech 2025,
by Sharwari Khare

Good afternoon to everyone here!

We’re so grateful to have you with us to celebrate this special moment. Welcome to our families—our parents and siblings who have been with us from the very beginning and have supported us throughout. You are the reason we are here in our caps and gowns today. And to the parents who couldn’t be here with us in person today, you’re here with us in spirit. Welcome to our friends abroad and close by, our classmates, and our string-mates. To everyone who has been a friendly face around the dorms and has been there for one another, even when things got really, really tough. And of course, welcome to our teachers and staff. You’ve guided us, seen us grow in confidence and ability, and we thank you for the work and passion you have put into your courses. It goes without saying, but I am honoured to speak today before all of you. 

Coming back from the summer and into my third year, I was already reminiscing about my memories from my first two years, and even more, imagining my last few experiences at AUC. Now we're here, and it feels unbelievable. Where did the time go and how did we get here? Our first year was a whirlwind of new… everything. New friends, new classes, new experiences, a new home. Second year was grounding. It was about being comfortable with ourselves and about adventure. The third year was pure nostalgia—about looking back at your first-year self and being in awe of how things have wildly changed since. Clearly, my third year had already started out very emotional, so you can just imagine how the rest of this speech is going to go.  

Like many of us this week, I recently packed up my friend’s dorm room. How do you reduce 3 years of memories into a few boxes? I remember us falling sick during Introweek, not knowing what to expect in my first class, and experiencing my first AUC event. I remember joining a committee and eating breakfast during our meetings, exploring Amsterdam in an attempt to escape the bubble, and always ending up back in the dorms. Now, three years later, many of us here have been Introweek mentors ourselves, organised events of our own, can recognise almost every face we come across on that walk from the dorms to the AB, and we know Amsterdam like the back of our hand. 

During my 3 years at AUC, my classes, and more importantly my teachers, have given me so much. They have given me knowledge, incredible opportunities, clarity (well, somewhat, I’m still taking a gap year). The things we have learnt and the values we have developed are so important, and it’s time we take them with us into every part of life moving forward. I won’t lie, we have also had some very difficult semesters, and yet we are so lucky and privileged to have experienced what we did. Not everybody has this privilege, and it would be a shame not to acknowledge the work that is needed to make this change and the power that we, as graduates, as young adults, as people, have to contribute to this. 

To practice what we preach, we would like to commemorate, among others, the Palestinian students who were unable to graduate from university. AUC students were given the opportunity to wear a bracelet that features the name of a Palestinian student aged similarly to us, 20-23, that was killed in the past two years. Our cohort is able to honour the names of almost 300 Palestinian students, a small fraction of those killed. We would need a graduating class that is more than 15 times larger than what it is now in order to commemorate all registered killed Palestinian students. We are bringing these names with us on stage when we graduate, alongside a flower to lay on the Palestinian flag, to remember what a privilege it is for us to graduate and to commemorate the students who were robbed of such opportunity. 

In light of honouring their stories, I’d like to share a poem with you—one I’m sure many of you have heard before. This is “If I Must Die” by Refaat Alareer.

If I must die, you must live 

to tell my story, to sell my things 

to buy a piece of cloth and some strings, 

(make it white with a long tail) 

so that a child, somewhere in Gaza 

while looking heaven in the eye 

awaiting his dad who left in a blaze— 

and bid no one farewell 

not even to his flesh, not even to himself— 

sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above 

and thinks for a moment an angel is there 

bringing back love 

If I must die 

let it bring hope, let it be a tale

To acknowledge the lives lost, please now join me in a minute of silence.
 

If we are to embody the values AUC stands for, we need to use the voices we are lucky to have—that everybody deserves to have—and we need to do better. These are conversations and actions that need to be happening everywhere, across universities and across fields. I am so proud of the AUC community for everything we have done—from making our voices heard and standing up for what is right to starting initiatives with real impact, like Right2Education, PeaceByPeace, and the protests for Palestine, to name a few. These activities outside of the classroom have been just as, if not more, important, fulfilling, and inspirational. They are a big part of what I’ll be carrying forward after AUC. 

So, I’ll be packing up my own dorm room this week. But I know what’s in my box now, and I’ll be taking it with me wherever I go from now on. It doesn’t hold much, but the things it does hold are the most important—my knowledge and skills, yes, but also my passion, creativity, independence, adventure, and sense of justice. 

And when I look into that box, what stands out to me is my friends, the people I met in the last few years. I would not be able to describe my AUC experience, and honestly, the person I am today, to someone without mentioning their names. They are such a big part of me and my inspiration, and I’m sure many people here feel the same way. The community at AUC is so special, and unlike any other community I’ve ever experienced. Living a few doors away from each other in the dorms is circumstantial, but it goes further than that. I admire the way we create space for each other and go out of our way to actively organise events purely for ourselves—to bring us together and explore the things that bring us joy.  

To this day, I am blown away with how much talent, drive, and compassion we put into everything we do. The support and love we’ve created—whether it be sharing dinner ingredients or cheering for our friends on stage—has helped me and so many others come out of our shells. It has taught me to take risks, find comfort in solidarity, and openly fight for what I believe in. I hope no one here lets go of this full-of-life approach.  

Today is our day to celebrate everything we’ve achieved and to look forward to the countless new experiences lying ahead of us. I hope we open every door that intrigues us and hold on to the people who make us smile. Through all the hard times, stress, AB study sessions till 10pm, and committee drama, but also all the dinners with friends, Spar runs, walks in Flevopark, and laughs—we made it.  

Congratulations to us—my fellow class of 2025!