Welcome graduates, faculty, families and friends to Alma University’s graduation ceremony for the Class of 2016 in Computer Science andEngineering. My name is Essy Stone, and I’m a Wallace Stegner Fellow atStanford University. I’m here today with my colleague, Sherol Chen, who isan engineer at Google. Thank you for inviting usto speak at your commencement. It’s an honor tobe here, and quite unexpected. A week ago, we arrived in Kazakhstan, and since then, I’ve grown to love this country and its people as I love my own. I’m constantly impressed and humbled by your generosity, ingenuity, and commitment to technological advancement. The people here are kind and intelligent. They are filled with entrepreneurial spirit and unified in their faith in this country’s potential for growth as a land of innovation and prosperity. Kazakhstan educates, supports, and believes in its students like nowhere else I’ve seen. The teachers and administrators in this university have so much passion for their work, and I hope you will follow their examples throughout your lives as you advance within your own careers. To succeed now in this world you must never stop learning, and you have been provided with excellent models for how to innovate at the forefront of a rapidly-changing culture. I’m so inspired by the long-term vision I see in this country, and I have no doubt that the students graduating today will continue to build upon this vision in the future, that your children and grandchildren will carry on the robust and scalable journey you’re beginning here today. Each ofyou has the talent and ability to work together to build the best possible world. At Alma University, you have had the opportunity to develop your technical and engineering skills in a dynamic, challenging environment. The pedagogical approach here is revolutionary, and I hope you know how
lucky you are to have received your education in such a forward-thinking place. Alma University has a progressive curriculum that reflects a commitment to educational and economic progress. Here, you look to the future instead of the past, and as future computer scientists and engineers, you are more than ready to adapt to whatever challenges may arise in our ever-changing world. You are uniquely prepared for success, both here inKazakhstan and on the global stage. I know you will represent your country well, and I’m so excited to see what you accomplish. Your dreams are important, your voices are valuable to international discourse, and your ideas will shape the future. This, your graduation ceremony, marks a huge achievement, and a turning point in your lives. Today we celebrate the end of your academic journey, and the beginning of your promising careers inthe exciting and important technological fields. I’m so glad you’ve invited me here to share this special day with you, and I wish you all the best asyou continue to excel in your careers. More than ever before, students here have the ability to make a global impact. Half of a century ago, few people could have predicted how computers would shape our world. Of course, it’s easy to see why a computer is useful today, because this technology has become soubiquitous, but how does a person create a technology to fit a world that doesn’t exist yet? How inventive does a person have tobeto generate something that will be used by so many people? The products of the future are difficult to conceptualize right now, but I believe that with with the right tools and a significant amount of passion, each of you can build something that has a lasting effect onour international society. The engineering ofgreat inventions requires resilience, innovation, and a meticulous
