H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, has lauded the graduates from Education City for their achievements despite the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic and said that every challenge enables to form new perspectives about the reality of the world.
H H Sheikha Moza was addressing the graduates from the Classes of 2020 and 2021 of QF partner universities during Qatar Foundation’s virtual Convocation ceremony held yesterday.
The live, interactive event celebrated the graduates of QF’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and international partner universities together with members of their families who joined the ceremony online.
The event celebrated achievements of 1,614 graduates including H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who graduated with a master’s degree from HEC Paris in Qatar of Class 2020.
QF Convocation this year reflected the unshakeable resilience, hope, and vibrancy of graduating classes. The virtual gathering shared vivid personal stories and heartfelt messages from students, their parents, and the broader community. Speaking at the Convocation H H Sheikha Moza said: “It is through you that we can sustain the glories of the present so that they strengthen our pillars for the future.
“Each challenge teaches us lessons and inspires new values that enable us, together, to form new perspectives about the reality of the changes the world is facing.” H H Sheikha Moza also spoke of her belief that the pandemic will create “a new and significant trend towards young people choosing to work in the health sector”, and said that “The pandemic has shown everyone the importance of the medical profession and the extent of its impact on all aspects of life, stemming from its centrality to everything else around us.
“We have seen how the world was suddenly paralyzed in the face of the pandemic, due to the inability of health sectors to contain this sudden eventuality.
All countries were affected in the face of the pandemic and its repercussions. This led to a new and widespread belief in, and awareness of, the importance of medicine – a belief and awareness that is restoring its status and its vital role in protecting humanity. “But we cannot build the world, and our lives, by simply focusing on one area without also focusing on others. We can only build in this way when all your specializations come together,” said H H Sheikha Moza.
She also highlighted the contributions that Qatar Foundation’s universities, researchers, and students have made in fighting the pandemic. Writer, author, lecturer and Islamic studies specialist, Yasmin Mogahed, delivered the keynote speech at the Convocation.
“There is something to be said for the resilience that can only be had through challenges. As the graduates of 2020 and 2021, you were positioned in a very unique place. And not only have you survived a pandemic, you have completed a degree in the midst of it. You have not only survived inside this global storm; you have thrived in it,” she said.
“These storms you have weathered over these last 15 months have not only strengthened you in resilience. They have also prepared you to become the very change we desperately need to see in the world today,” Yasmin added.
The virtual Convocation ceremony saw graduates who have excelled in fields ranging from medicine, engineering, computing, art and design, and communications to Islamic studies, international affairs, humanities and social sciences, and business share in a collective celebration of what they have learned and achieved during their time in QF.
A graduate from Georgetown University in Qatar’s Class of 2021, Malak Elmoh said: “I hope to make a change by taking what I have learned from my experience at QF and continuing to bridge gaps and challenge boundaries in the global education system, so that we can work toward education that is not only effective, but also inclusive and accessible to everyone.”
While new doctor Moza Al Mohannadi, a graduate of Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar (WCM-Q), said: “To the Class of 2020 and 2021, I’m so very proud of you.You graduated to the truest test of all doctors – a global pandemic – and I’m so inspired by your courage.
The ceremony also saw graduates’ parents share their joy and pride at the achievements of their sons and daughters, including Esmael Ibrahim Shahbik, father of WCM-Q graduate Dana, who said: “Dana graduating as a doctor is honestly a dream come true for me and for her.”
The virtual Convocation ceremony also saw Palestinian graduates of universities at QF shared their views on the injustices being inflicted in the occupied territories. They urged people to speak out against the oppression Palestinians continue to face.
