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Head of Psychology’s message to the 2018’s graduands

The journey of education is one that is full of many ups and downs that the joy that comes with achieving each milestone is simply unfathomable. With that I would like to congratulate the 2018 Counselling Psychology graduands on adding yet another milestone to their journey.

We are so incredibly proud of you for all that you have learned, all that you’ve achieved, and all the ways that you’ve grown. You’ve used complex methodologies, bleeding edge technologies, and sophisticated statistics to do remarkable research. You’ve learned how to care for the wounded and afflicted – how to determine why someone is suffering and what can be done to improve their quality of life. And you’ve begun to learn how to navigate the tricky and at times treacherous waters of science and academia.

You are being ushered into a world that seems to be having more red lights than green lights. The picture painted by the statistics of a high youth population coupled with high levels of poverty and unemployment, is one that only denotes gloom. Despite all that, you are expected to not only earn a living for yourselves but also for all those that have supported your education to this level. With this burden laid before you, many fears, uncertainties and doubts come to your mind about whether or not you will find your place in all this and eventually make something of your education.

Well the statistics don’t lie and indeed what they say about the status quo is absolutely true. However the statistics do not tell the whole story for if that were the case we wouldn’t be sending you out there. Our nation has a lot of challenges that need to be addressed, many opportunities that must be utilized, and a lot of potential that is waiting to be exploited.

The world is changing everyday and with each day that passes, more and more opportunities are being created. The task being handed to you on this graduation is to identify these opportunities and use them, to realize the potential within yourselves and exploit it.

The world is changing everyday and with each day that passes, more and more opportunities are being created. The task being handed to you on this graduation is to identify these opportunities and use them, to realize the potential within yourselves and exploit it.

It’s this last point that I want to say more about – how and why we do what we do – because I think it’s arguably the hardest and most challenging but also potentially the most rewarding part of what it is that we all do. By virtue of being here this morning, you’ve all demonstrated that you have mastery of the skills needed to be a Counselling psychologist. My main hope for all of you is that by acquiring and honing these skills, you’ll have the opportunity to have a career that you value, that you will find rewarding, and that will repay you in kind for all of the blood, sweat and tears that I know you’ll invest.

“EVERY END, HAS A NEW BEGINNING”

I have confidence that during your stay at Kyambogo University, we have equipped you with the necessary knowledge, skills and exposure you require to not only exploit your potential but also the world around you. As the great Mahatma Gandhi once said remember that the world has enough for every man’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed.

So all of that’s to say that we want you to go out and achieve and do great things, make important discoveries, and push our field ahead in ways that we could never imagine ourselves. My charge to you is to please put just as much thought into how you make these important advancements as you do into designing the studies, selecting your assessment battery, delivering psychological interventions, framing your feedback to consulting clients, and writing your papers and grants. My hope is that you, and we, will be all the better for it.

Once again on behalf of the Department of Psychology and on my own behalf I would

like to congratulate this year’s graduands on their achievement.

Congratulations to all the new graduates who have successfully accomplished this most impressive of endeavors.

 

Ali Baguwemu (PhD)

HEAD OF PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

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