6th Convocation

In the name of the Almighty, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid, MP, Honorable Education Minister, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Md. Sabur Khan, Distinguished Chairman, Board of Trustees, Daffodil International University, Professor Dr. Yousuf Mahbubul Islam, Vice-Chancellor, DIU, faculty members of DIU, distinguished academicians, galaxy of luminaries, parents, ladies and gentlemen and the enthrallment of today's celebration, the graduands, greetings to all of you.

I feel privileged to be invited to deliver the Convocation address at the 6th Convocation of the Daffodil International University. Let me begin by congratulating DIU, which I hope would one day emerge as one of the most preferred educational institutions in Asia.

I am delighted to see such a gathering of bright, young people in the young, green campus of an IT-based university of a promising nation. I am also delighted that these young people will spread across the world to disseminate their knowledge and skills that they acquired in DIU.I congratulate all the graduating students on attaining this milestone in their lives, and the faculty members for shaping the young minds.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The word 'Daffodil' reminds me of the immortal verse of William Wordsworth, in which he saw, at a glance, ten thousand daffodils tossing their heads in sprightly dance like the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way. Here, I see thousands of young stars eagerly waiting to receive their degrees like the sparkling daffodils of Wordsworth.

The vision to transform society and invest for the development of human resources needs courage. In DIU, I see the courage of Mr. Md. Sabur Khan, the esteemed Chairman of Board of trustees. In the new global order, a nation will be considered powerful only if it has worthy human resource potential. We need to augment our human resources to become globally competent. To create this wealth, we need quality driven institutions like Daffodil International University (DIU). I believe that the graduates of DIU would be competent enough to serve their nation by upholding its prestige and stature with their knowledge, skill and good sense, which have been ingrained in them during their stay at this university.

Dear Graduands,
Today, I wish to take you back to 1876 when the first ever the telephonic transmission by Alexander Graham Bell said, "Come here, Mr. Watson. I want you". Today, the world asks you, my young friends, in the same way 'Come here, I want you'. The world is indeed beckoning you to flow and flourish with fruitfulness to relieve the people from hunger, ignorance and poverty. You are being called upon to serve humankind, to liberate it from the manacles of illiteracy, superstition, dogma and poverty. Please go out to conquer the world thinking of your fellow people. Follow the art of giving and helping the people. Remember, your country is rapidly developing, and so after your graduation, you have a lot to contribute for nation-building and world development in addition to your personal advancement. Think of what you can do for yourselves, your families, your communities and the world. As students of DIU, you can become role models for your juniors and you should uphold the banner of your Alma Mater, DIU. You have the supreme responsibility of transforming Bangladesh into a developed nation.

As you step out to conquer the world of opportunities, you need to possess unique traits for achieving success in your missions. First, you need to have a larger- than-life aim in life. Next, you should be a lifelong learner engaging in constant pursuit of knowledge. At all times, you have to put in honest hard work and have faith and perseverance in reaching your goals. Another important quality is to convert your goals to tangible and meaningful outcomes. To achieve this, you will need to constantly evaluate your actions and ideas at all times.

The 21st century is unfolding as an opportunity-filled, knowledge-based era that is waiting with open arms to receive knowledgeable, skilled and willing youth. In his book, "Empires of the Mind", Denis Waitley describes the opportunities and challenges of the world in which we are living now. The book highlights the fact that what worked yesterday will not work today. You need to march ahead with confidence and zeal to take on the exciting world that is unfolding before you.

Not so long ago, natural resources were defined as power, but today knowledge has taken that position. Today, knowledge is power and information is wealth. Yesterday, leaders commanded and controlled, but today they empower and coach. Yesterday, shareholders came first but today customers are top priority. Yesterday, status was the defining entity but today creativity drives status. Yesterday, value was extra but today value is everything. Yesterday, everyone was a competitor but today everyone is a customer.

Education with emphasis on values is the need of the hour. I am sure, the curricula and the methods of teaching at Daffodil International University (DIU) have been designed to cater to the needs of the 21st century knowledge society.

With these words, I once again congratulate the graduating students. My best wishes to the management and all the faculty members of DIU in their mission of developing quality human resources for the nation as well as for the world.

Thank you.

May the Almighty bless you!

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Education, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh; Professor Abdul Mannan, Honorable Chairman, University Grants Commission of Bangladesh; Dr. G. Viswanathan (GV), Honorable Founder-Chancellor, VIT University, Vellore; President, Education Promotion Society for India and the Speaker of this Convocation; Mr. G. V. Selvam, Vice President, VIT University, Vellore, India; Professor Dr. Yousuf Mahbubul Islam, Honorable Vice-Chancellor, DIU; eminent academicians; esteemed parents; distinguished guests; dear graduates and respected ladies and gentlemen.

As-Salamu-Alaiqum and a very 'Good morning' to you all. I welcome you to our unique permanent campus and express my gratefulness to all of you for being with us here today. It is indeed a memorable day because, on this auspicious day, students are harvesting the fruits of their hard-work for years. On behalf of the University community and on my own behalf, I congratulate our proud graduates.

Distinguished Guests, Students, Ladies and Gentlemen,
From a humble beginning with only 66 students in 2002, we at present, have an enrolment of over 18,000 students. The number of students who have passed out successfully in the past years is now more than 12000. We not only have grown in terms of number of students but also have opened new departments and specialized courses considering the needs of the present world. We are in touch with our dear students and it is our commitment that not a single graduate will be jobless. I'm sure our students will succeed in networking, as entrepreneurs and as a job provider.

The university is focused on holistic development of the students to make them worthy citizens of the country and of the world. With our movement "Change Together", DIU aims for drastic positive changes in our society through creating a generation of entrepreneurs and leaders. We believe, not a single of our students will get involved in unethical practice as they have gone through our unique course, "Art of Living", which has been designed to shape their moral, ethical, emotional and social values. We have implemented policies on anti ragging, anti smoking, anti eve-teasing and neutral gender equilibrium environment for education at DIU. A triangular relationship has already been nurtured among and between Students, Teachers and Guardians of DIU through well-planned and effective get-togethers and Parents' Days.

My Dear Graduates,
I congratulate you on the success you have achieved by dint of your hard labor. The Convocation ceremony will remain as an unforgettable memory in your life. You are going to enter a new phase of life from here. You have fought for your education for so many years; now it's time to fight for your career selection. Certificates you have achieved today will be valuable only when you will be able to capitalize on it and be successful in life. As young graduates, you are about to embark on your own extraordinary journey and enter into a new life full of adventures. I am hopeful that you will be able to face reality of life with courage and credibility. Your parents and guardians have invested time, money and expectations on you. They wish to see you come out with success and glory, prospect with pride and progress ensuring peace for yourself, for your family and for the society that helped raise you. It is your turn to give them back what they need and deserve.

I am proud of all of you but I want to make a mention that I am so happy to see so many of our graduates have taken up covetable positions at home and abroad. Congratulations to those who have already proved to be successful. I recommend fresh graduates to spend time into the 'hidden' job market and yet to be explored entrepreneurial fields. Those who still have no job need to do career-mapping properly. Don't forget, we are there for you with all possible support. Don't forget, we are there to work on your shortcomings and find opportunities for you. Don't forget, job market is very simple if you start looking for your job with a little preparation. You need to read the company's background, job scopes and their requirements, website, existing HR and their demands. Don't forget, career is a challenge. For a right choice of career, select your goal, define your path and start your journey from tomorrow. Look where your passion leads you to. Focus your dream company, do your case study where you desire to work. Think about why will a company recruit you? You must add some value to their company. It depends on how you can create value -you need to do your home-work before addressing the company or attending an interview. You must acquire proper knowledge about that company; you must work out what scopes they have and you must be sure of what additional value you are able to bring for them - they must call you.

Be organized, build your network, attend speaker events, follow tips and technique of job-finding, and apply for job wisely. Don't think, after submission of a CV, that you will always be called. Take mental preparation and proper precaution before facing an interview. It's your responsibility to uplift yourself through different events, programs and networking. Jobsbd.com and Career Development Center can be reliable friends in your job hunting and career development. Never lag behind and be prepared in such a way that you become lucrative in job market. University has equipped and supported you in such a way that we believe you cannot let yourself down.
In DIU, we have arranged a series of mega events: career related programs, workshops, seminars, lecture series etc. We set up Industry-Academia linkages; we collaborated with 300+ foreign universities, provided Laptops free of cost, facilitated labs, e-Learning and Google classroom; we ensured continuous curricular development; we established Daffodil InnovationHub', Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) and 'Innovation and Incubation Center (IIC); we strengthened students exchange, research collaboration, membership and affiliations; we incorporated foreign faculty members; We developed state of the arts facilities and infrastructures; sponsored projects like helicam and solar car; we nurtured entrepreneurship- all for the sake of our students, graduates and alumni!

Dear Future Entrepreneurs,
We are now concentrating on developing DIU as the only entrepreneurial university in the country. We train our students to emerge as entrepreneurs. DIU produced more than 1000 entrepreneurs who have created over 5000 jobs so far. We have established Business Incubator, Entrepreneurs Club, Venture Capital Ltd., Startup Bangladesh, Bachelor of Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Guidance Program (EGP), Industrial and Innovation Park, Enterprise Competitiveness Institute (ECI), Startup Market & Lab, Startup Restaurant & Café, Young Women Entrepreneurs Forum, Are you the next Startup, social business club, etc for you to benefit from.

International job market always creates new era and new scope which you must explore carefully and follow the trend. You should not only depend on so-called common job which calls for too much competition. As you know, DIU provided you with free laptops only to enable you to cope with the demands of technology and drive your career with technology.
My suggestion is: use your strength through technology to set up your career; or become an entrepreneur and creating job opportunities for others.

Outgoing Graduates,
You are our ambassadors. We can assure you that DIU will always be with you. Keep in touch with DIU. It is our moral duty to settle you in your career. Come anytime; come for counseling, cooperation and guidance. We'll welcome you with your innovative ideas. You can trust on our promised support.

As alumni, we welcome you to our alumni networking. DIU was, is and will always be your university. It makes us proud when we see our successful alumni flying DIU flag with their successful career at home and abroad.
I'd like to wrap up with a story for you: The story goes like this:
A frustrated student stood on the street for begging - he had nothing except a shabby T-Shirt. He repeatedly said he had nothing to have something. A passerby, an owner of a company told the beggar man, "You have something in the thing that you already have." The more the begging man said he had nothing, the more the company owner repeated the same, "You have something in the thing that you already have." Being even more frustrated and disturbed, the beggar man went away. Suddenly, he recalled the message "You have something in the thing that you already have." He realized that he had a T-shirt and it was something.
He thought of doing something with it. Suddenly, he saw a gentleman was going past him. He was wearing shoes full of dust. The beggar boy asked that he wanted to clean the shoes by his T-Shirt. The passerby thought for a while and let the begging boy shine his shoes. And by this the beggar boy earned some money from the gentleman. In this way, he understood the message that if we try we can start something. Something gradually becomes huge. In the end, he worked more and earned more money and setup a shop. Eventually, his shop expanded. Finally, he became a renowned business tycoon of shoe industry in the world.

Please don't forget to take away these tips: You will be remembered for your commitment to the ideals of caring and sharing, for helping someone, for making someone feel special. You'll feel good for a little act of kindness; you'll be remembered for a genuine gesture, friendship and support to your fellow human beings. You'll reach a height if your target is the sky. I have no doubt that you will get the very best in life. May Allah help you in all your endeavors. Hope you can start to use your potential. Keep trust on Almighty and don't waste any opportunity that comes in your way. Make your parents happy and proud for their sacrifice; fulfill their expectation of you; but keep DIU in mind whatever you do and where ever you are.

May Allah always bless you!

Thank you all.

In the name of the Almighty, the Most Merciful and Beneficent, I begin!

Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Education, People's Republic of Bangladesh, the Chairman of the 6th Convocation Ceremony of Daffodil International University; Professor Abdul Mannan, Honorable Chairman, University Grants Commission of Bangladesh; Honorable Convocation Speaker, Dr. G. Viswanathan (GV), Founder-Chancellor, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Mr. G. V. Selvam, Honorable Vice President, VIT University distinguished guests from India, Honorable Members of Parliament, Honorable members of UGC, Heads and representatives of Diplomatic Missions, Vice Chancellors, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Daffodil International University, Mr. Md. Sabur Khan, Emeritus Professors, Founding Vice Chancellor, Dr. Aminul Islam and immediate past Vice Chancellor, Dr. M. Lutfar Rahman, Members of the Board of Trustees, Members of the Syndicate, Members of the Academic Council, Deans of Faculties, Directors, Faculty members, teachers, members of the press, Alumni, Guardians of the graduates, organizers, volunteers and the center of attention of today, our graduates: Assalamualaikum, may the Almighty Creator grant you all peace and blessings always!

As we stand here today in the 100 acre lush green Permanent Campus, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, all at Daffodil International University (DIU) and myself, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you at the 6th Convocation ceremony of DIU. Thank you for making the effort and taking the pains to grace us with your presence at this auspicious occasion honoring the graduates. I thank the Almighty for creating this opportunity for us to get together on this special occasion.

As you may know, the university started its journey in 2002 and as we move into the 6th Convocation of Daffodil International University, 3398 students have been conferred degrees of which 2718 awarded Bachelor's and 680 a Master's degree which includes a total of 84 foreign graduates.

Respected audience,
With the approval of Ministry of Education, the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, DIU started its academic offerings on March 16, 2002. At present, the university conducts thirty seven academic programs under five faculties. Nearly 20,000 students are enrolled at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the university with over 650 full time teachers and about 550 administrative officials supporting the academic activities. The main objective of the university is to turn out broadly educated and technologically oriented graduates capable of graduating to a meaningful career and ultimately making a positive contribution to the development of the nation as entrepreneurs.

In line with Vision 2021 of Digital Bangladesh, almost all the academic and administrative services of the University have been digitalized and the University has emerged as one of the prominent ICT oriented universities of the country. In recognition of its efforts, the University has been handed the WITSA (World Information Technology Services Alliance) Global ICT Excellence 2014 award.

The university maintains academic collaborations with nearly three hundred renowned universities and organizations in fifty countries of the world. We conduct joint research programs leading to PhD degrees for young teachers, employees, and students with a number of foreign universities. We have over 400 international students from different countries of the world. Students are provided with broadband internet and on-campus WiFi facilities and dedicated internet browsing laboratories. The students are provided with laptops under the project called "One Student, One Laptop" of the university. In addition, the joining teachers undergo a rigorous teacher training and orientation program each semester.

The university conducts academic programs from three campuses at Dhanmondi, Uttara and Ashulia in Dhaka city. Permanent Campus of the university has been established at Ashulia that should ultimately accommodate over twenty five thousand students as well as teachers, officials and supporting staff. The facilities at the permanent campus include the elegant entrance, academic buildings, students' hostels, guest houses and sports playgrounds with modern facilities.

Dear Graduates - a few words for you.
As you officially move into the real world to stand on your own feet, you are like a new born just released from the mother's womb. To the baby it is an unfamiliar environment. Rather than being afraid, on the contrary, the baby takes a keen interest and wants to know more and more about the real world. Some babies even lick the floor to know what it tastes like. They take on the challenges of learning about the new world. Regardless of the number of times the baby falls, the baby continues till he/she successfully learns how to walk. So, as you walk into the real world, I would like you to consider taking on the challenges faced as a baby does, with a keen interest in facing problems and, never stop trying to solve the problems that you face.

In addition to the spirit of a baby, you now have the skills of a graduate. Become a motivated problem solver. Use the subject skills you have as a resource. You also have another advantage that many previous generations of graduates did not have – you are socially networked. Make best use of these networks to connect with like minded peers and help each other to succeed. Get together and, collectively, solve problems to help each other for progress of the world.

On the path to success, you will face many setbacks. As you keep chasing your target, each setback will make you stronger and better at facing future challenges. You are the citizens of a modern world. Become an entrepreneur and contribute to build a better Bangladesh. If you get a job, do so only temporarily to learn how to set up a business. Ultimately become a job giver rather than a job seeker.

Keep in mind that you are the ambassadors of your Alma Mater – Daffodil International University (DIU). The world will recognize DIU through your efforts. So as Alumni keep supporting DIU in any way that you can to make it a world class institution.

Finally, just as we trust a brand manufacturer, trust the Almighty Creator who has created the human brand and has taken the trouble to create you individually – the best of creation, a unique human being. Be grateful to Him for giving you the opportunity to experience an intelligent life, derive satisfaction and make full use of the potential He has given you so generously. The more you use your potential, the more you will realize His Greatness in creating you.

At the end, again, I express our gratitude to Honorable Minister and Honorable Convocation Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid, MP, Honorable Minister and the Chairman of Convocation Ceremony. Thank you, Honorable Convocation Speaker, Dr. G. Viswanathan (GV), for your time and outstanding speech. We will gratefully remember you and your presence in the Convocation on this green ground in the years to come.

Dear Graduates, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
May the Almighty bless you all with peace and happiness always.

Thank you all