To all students graduating or completing their studies in the 2019 academic year
Congratulations to all of you who are graduating from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology today, and to all of you who are completing your graduate studies. On behalf of the faculty and staff of our university, I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world, we have considered the possibility of holding the graduation and completion ceremonies from various angles and have decided to cancel them, prioritizing the prevention of the spread of infection. I believe that not only those of you who will be graduating or completing your studies, but also your parents and family members who would like to celebrate your graduation with you have been looking forward to this day. We have been making preparations across the university to hold the ceremonies safely, but due to the unexpected spread of infection both at home and abroad, we have been forced to cancel the ceremonies. It is extremely regrettable for me to cancel the graduation and completion ceremonies, which are a major turning point in your lives, as I was preparing to hand you your diplomas and offer my congratulations. I have been involved in education and research at this university for 30 years, and have worked hard for the university as its President, but I will be graduating with you all at the end of March this year. I am very sorry to have to cancel the ceremonies, but I am sure that this day will remain in my heart deeply.
Although the ceremony has been canceled, we would like to offer a message of congratulations to all of you who have graduated and completed your studies and are now moving on to the next stage.
This year, there are 301 students in the Faculty of Agriculture and 589 in the Faculty of Engineering, 344 in the Graduate School of Engineering master's program, 182 in the Graduate School of Agriculture master's program, Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering 53 in the master's program, 33 in the Graduate School of Technology Management, and 29 in the Graduate School of Engineering doctoral program, and 19 in the Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering doctoral program, United Graduate School of Agricultural Science 39 doctoral students, for a total of 1,589 students, will receive degrees from the university. If you've earned a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, you're probably feeling a great sense of accomplishment. The fact that you were able to successfully put together the thesis that you submitted for your degree is the result of your tireless efforts, and it will be one of your great achievements in life. However, it was not only through your efforts that you were able to put together your dissertation. Supervisor I think I had the support and cooperation of many people, including professors in the department, seniors in the laboratory, and my compatriots. In addition, the understanding and cooperation of the family must have been significant. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my family, friends, and associates who have supported you in various ways during your degree. We, the faculty and staff, would like to congratulate you and express our heartfelt gratitude and respect to those who have supported your growth, and share the great joy of graduation. When I say that there are many people who are grateful, I mean that I have been supported and influenced by many people in various ways. It's a real blessing to have friends who can influence each other. Sometimes they were wholeheartedly supportive, and sometimes they corrected my selfish thoughts. Please continue to keep in touch with the people you have been involved with, maintain a network with many people, and strengthen that network even after you go out into the world.
Some of you will be going on to graduate school in April, while others will be leaving the nest to enter society. Graduation and completion are the milestones that will take you to the next step. You have studied at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Technology, worked hard in clubs, and grown remarkably. In particular, those of you who will be graduating from graduate school have been involved in actual research at this university, and I'm sure you have had a wide variety of experiences that you cannot get from just classroom learning. You must have had some fun. You must have had long conversations with friends, and sometimes even exchanged opinions until you were satisfied, and you must have felt alive. On the other hand, you must have worked hard to achieve big goals, such as examining the research results you obtained through your own efforts from various angles, formulating your own thoughts, summarizing your results and presenting them at academic conferences, and submitting papers to professional journals and having them published. I'm sure you have had many difficult times. There must have been many times when you wondered why things weren't going well. However, is the happiest life when everything you do goes well? I don't think you all only wanted things to go well. Humans fail, get discouraged, and grow. It's okay to make mistakes that don't cause trouble for others. Successful people often say, "I kept failing until I succeeded." I tried to avoid repeating the same mistakes, tried, and still failed. There is nothing more challenging than this. The same goes for you who are about to enter society. Not everything you do will go well. You will fail a lot. There is no graduate of this university who cannot recover from a single failure. I often use the expression "glass heart." It is said that your heart will beat 2 to 3 billion times in your lifetime. You have a flexible and strong heart. The word "resilience" has become popular, but please live in society with your heart "flexibly." In addition, please think carefully about the methodology for success. Selfish ideas that ignore the rules are not science. Remember research ethics again and always act based on these ethics. Obtaining a degree does not mean that you have acquired only specialized knowledge. Your mission is to have a broad education and a high sense of ethics, and to work for the happiness of humanity and the peaceful progress of the earth.
Now, you will not lose your connection with the university after you graduate. I think it would be best if you could maintain a stronger bond with the university and build a relationship where you can inspire each other. When you come back to our university in the future for Homecoming Day, the school festival, or alumni reunions, please let us know about your progress. We will continue to work hard to make our university your proud spiritual home as your alma mater and to be able to support you at any time. All faculty and staff will work together, without fear of failure, to aim to become a capable university that is useful to the world and recognized by the world.
I hope that all of you who are leaving our university will spread your wings and fly out into the world, spend your days fulfilling and stimulating, and deepen your exchanges with our university in a meaningful way. The fact that the first graduation and completion ceremonies of the Reiwa era were canceled and that diplomas were instead awarded on a laboratory-by-lab basis will remain in your memories for a long time. I would like to conclude my speech by congratulating you on the awarding of your bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
