Just over 2 years on from the start of the pandemic, Aisha Dosanjh, Kent Union President, celebrates and reflects with the ‘Class of 2020’ at their celebration ceremonies in Canterbury Cathedral this week.
Watch Aisha’s full speech
Read Aisha’s speech
‘I am so honoured to be able to address all of you here today, 2 years and 6 days after we parted ways and the world went quiet. I am so pleased to be able to sit amongst you in this beautiful cathedral and share this once in a lifetime event with you. Of course, not everyone has been able to make this journey with us and we have lost family and friends along the way. I’d like us to take a moment to pause and remember them.
‘We could have never predicted what we’ve been through. When the pandemic began, I held my breath. I couldn’t make sense of the world, though I tried and tried to make sense of it, and grief hit me like a wave. Grief for the connections I had lost, grief for the routine I had gotten used to, grief for the things I had taken for granted. I forgot how to put one foot in front of the other.
‘I spent my days thinking about how close I came to finishing before the world turned upside down, how close I was to spending a day in July in this very cathedral. I had booked the day off work. I had looked at dresses. I felt very sorry for myself, actually. I don’t think I was able to properly process how I felt until recently. But upon reflection and having been able to digest at least a small fraction of the emotions I’ve been feeling these last two years, and after having found my feet a little after the wind had swept them up, I started to think about what my time here at Kent has taught me.
‘Education is not a commodity to be bought and owned, it is to be shared among our community. University isn’t just about lectures and classes and assignments and exams (although it starts to feel like that after about the 5th time you drag yourself up the hill for your Thursday 9am). Education is about giving us the opportunity to learn with each other, to share with each other, to challenge each other. Education is about opening ourselves up to transformation and emboldening one another. It is about using our newfound knowledge to grasp at the roots of injustice and being inspired to be a visionary. It is about expanding each other’s learning and committing to each other’s liberation.
‘Older members of the audience will know that many generations have fallen into the trap of exceptionalism, the idea that we are somehow vastly different to the generations before us. In some ways we are: access to higher education has never been easier and many of us who wouldn’t normally have been able to have the privilege to go to University have now been able to; cultures and identities have never been mixed and shared like they are now; compassion for those who are different from us has never been so bold. But change shouldn’t feel like a weight on our shoulders. It is gradual, something we create when we see a barrier and decide to move forward. Every time we stand up for justice, every time we insist on speaking the truth, and every time we refuse to compromise on our values.
‘I hope that you do not leave today feeling proud only of the certificate you hold in your hand but I hope you are proud also of your experiences. The energy you have invested into relationships, training with your society or sports club, fundraising for meaningful causes, representing your peers… helping others, and letting them help you. I hope you are proud of the change you have made to the world around us, and of the person you have become. When the pandemic began, I held my breath. But now I feel like I can breathe.
‘I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you something special that we created together, a crowd-sourced poem written by us, for us, brought together by Kent alumnus and former Canterbury Laureate, Dan Simpson.’