Huntington News

Issue date: 5/9/07 Section: News

Media Credit: News Staff Photo/Aram Boghosian Seniors of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences celebrate their graduation at the commencement ceremony May 5 at the TD Banknorth Garden.

As Sergio Marrero took the stage at the TD Banknorth Garden last Saturday to speak to his fellow seniors at the commencement ceremony, pride and honor raced in his words.

"We have made it," said Marrero, this year's student commencement speaker. "Today is ours."

Both Marrero's and commencement speaker Nicholas Negroponte's speeches shared common themes: to dare, take action and try new experiences.

While listing things he would miss about Northeastern, like campus life, professors, administrators, Chicken Lou's and the Stetson East dining hall, Marrero told the seniors they have already started changing and impacting the world with their leadership in various organizations on campus.

In his closing remarks Marrero encouraged his classmates to continue daring, making history and paving the way for the future.

"Your time is now, dare to change the world," he said.

Negroponte, co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory and the creator of the non-profit organization One Laptop per Child, told the seniors to not listen when people say their dreams are unrealistic.

He shared the story of how he founded his non-profit organization.

There are 1.2 billion school-aged children in the world who will receive an education, Negroponte said. Fifty percent of them live in rural villages without electricity. He said one solution to the world's biggest problems is education.

Negroponte said his goal is to create self-charging computers with wireless internet access at a low cost for 1 billion children who could use them for educational purposes. Some people called his idea crazy at first, he said.

This process kick-started since 4,000 computers were assembled and are being tested by children in countries like Cambodia, Negroponte said.

"When someone tells you to get real or you're not realistic, that is, for me at least, a code world for 'Go for it,' try it. You're at a stage in your life where being real is not necessary," Negroponte said.

Neil Finnegan, chair of the board of trustees awarded Negroponte with an honorary doctorate in public service for his "extraordinary teaching and pioneering leadership."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools