“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

Six years have gone by, and they passed so fast that it seems incredible today to be here in Kosice for your graduation ceremony!

Six years ago, you were very brave!

It takes a lot of courage and determination to move out of your parents’ house, to go living in a new country without knowing anyone, without knowing the language, without knowing what was going to be…

Sometimes knowing all the things I mentioned above makes you feel comfortable and certain, but the reality is that, despite all those, you still do not know what’s coming and the future remains a surprise.

You had a dream, and that is what counted: that was the fuel that kept you going, that made you adapt to a new country and lifestyle.

The beginning was not easy but I know that slowly slowly Kosice became your second home and I know what that means myself. You started appreciating the town, making friends, exploring a different life than the one you knew.

Sometimes you even felt better here than where you grew up!

You have pursued your dream with great tenacity and I am proud of you, Massi!

I am proud to be here for you, to assist to your graduation ceremony in the same University I studied. Before me I have a grown man, who looks proud, filled with happiness. Yet, at the same time, a bit of sadness shows through his eyes…

I know what it is, I’ve felt the same way myself when this adventure finished for me as well…

Today you leave a country you grew used to, you leave those that are now your colleagues but have been your friends all along, you leave the appartment where you first started living by yourself…

Nevertheless, today you have accomplished to get your diploma, you have pursued that dream of becoming a dentist that six years ago was the generator of all those changes!

It may seems scary, and probably when we grow older changes are scarier than they were before, but today it’s time for new adventures, for new purposes, for new dreams! A new life awaits!

NEVER STOP DREAMING, MASSI! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

 

P.S.: more pictures and videos on my instagram profile!