You the class of 2020 will graduate as the first “Post-Covid” generation; the industry will need you more
than ever. Our economic and social development will require larger numbers of academic and
technically trained citizens. This generation will be the ones called upon to take us ahead on the journey
as we navigate through to the other side of COVID-19.
How blessed are we as a people that the corrosive COVID-19 virus has not weakened our resolve, but
has found us in a confident possession of a Triple First, ranked by the Oxford University: number one in
the Caribbean, top 1% in Latin America, and top 1% globally.
Fellow graduates, as you contemplate your future beyond this pandemic, I ask you to consider that now
is the opportunity for you to embrace your education for professional development, skills training, and
intellectual growth. We are eager to have you join the family producing events.
You are the post-COVID generation of event management professionals our region will need. More than
want – NEED!
Graduates, with event management experience already under your belts, I remind you that the event
industry is here to welcome you back “home” with open arms.
This is not a time to retreat from your event experience. Despite the problems and pain posed by recent
events, this is the prime time to advance the journey to your professional future. To retreat is to impede
your promise, weaken your family’s prospects, and narrow the parameters of your nation and region.
This is the moment to step forward with confidence and create opportunities.
At the same time, we want our leaders and influencers to know that we are ready, as always, to produce
the social capital needed to drive our economies out of COVID-19 constraints. We have the confidence
to craft the future we wish for ourselves.
As is customary with valedictorian speeches, I would like to share a quote for you to ponder.
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what
you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t
found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
– Steve Jobs
As newly minted event management professionals - I invite you to join me in thanking the accredited
Trinidad & Tobago Business Etiquette & Protocol Specialists on a job well done and a fantastic
institution. Graduates…institution…put your hands together for deserved yourselves.
I thank you.
Adrian A. Baker, TTBEPS Event Management Class of 2020 Valedictorian
August, 2020
