Celebrate what unites us
June is graduation season for schools. I attend two each year, as I teach Geography and History to 4th year ESO students and History of Spain to 2nd year Baccalaureate students at IES Alcúdia. In Alcúdia, we're fortunate to have access to the municipal auditorium, which the City Council lends us for the graduation party. The space is very attractive, and when you give the students the choice of whether they'd rather have the party at the school or the auditorium, they always choose the auditorium.
I must say that this isn't a type of event that particularly appeals to me, because it often ends up becoming a sort of fashion show. It's true that delegates' speeches require them to speak publicly in front of an audience of more than 400 people, which I think is a very good skill to develop. However, at times I can't help but feel a certain sense of superficiality about it.
However, this year, while attending the 4th year ESO graduation, I became aware, for the first time, of two aspects that had until now gone unnoticed and that moved me. The first was the applause. Each and every one of the students received a long, resounding round of applause when they went up on stage to receive their graduation caps from their tutors. Receiving that applause made them all equal, even though they obviously aren't. Each one has their own way of speaking, thinking, acting, and hearing. But, furthermore, they aren't equal because many of them come from other countries, with very diverse traditions and cultures. At the graduation, students from Mallorca and the Iberian Peninsula took the stage, but also from Argentina, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Senegal, Poland, Mali, Chile, Guinea, Morocco, and Ukraine (yes, Ukraine), among other nationalities. But their origins were the same; they were all students at the institute finishing their compulsory secondary education, and this was their moment, and they all enjoyed it with pleasure, without exception or distinction.
The most emotional moment was when two unaccompanied minors took the stage. They also received applause. Unfortunately, they couldn't receive it from their families, for obvious reasons, but they enjoyed it and enjoyed it like everyone else.
The second aspect that deeply moved me was hearing the masters of ceremonies, the delegates, speak in Catalan to the full audience. Of a total of eight students, only two had Catalan as their native language, but I can assure you that all of them excelled in their speeches.
A society in which an event that may seem superficial to some (like myself), by making the effort to leave behind one's own prejudices and seeing it from a different perspective, can awaken consciences and emotions. A society in which, beyond what differentiates us, spaces are created to celebrate what unites us.
