Graduate’s Message at the Opening Ceremony of the Academic Year

“Be happy and proud of starting the long journey that will make you doctors“

Giulia Mulazzani, 2016 Hunimed Graduate

I must beg your pardon because it makes me a little emotional to stand here in front of you today; exactly here, in this room, seven months ago, I got my graduation. I am actually worried and emotional as I was on that day!

[…] The question is: why am I here? It is a very good question actually; why me? I think the reason is because I am one of seven lucky people. […] I am Giulia Mulazzani and I am here because I am one of the first seven graduated of Humanitas University.

A Successful Experiment

[…] I am lucky because six years ago I had the chance to enter the first year of the very first Medicine and Surgery degree in English in Milan. It was founded by Università degli Studi di Milano, but three years after, Università degli Studi entrusted the management of these first three experimental years to Humanitas to create the new autonomous private Humanitas University.

It was an experiment and, as usual when you are about to start an experiment, no one knew how it would go, would it be successful or a loss? […] But this was actually more than just an experiment: it was a double challenge since at first it started as the first English course, and then it became also the first course of a newborn university! […] we tested new teaching approaches, new English-speaking professors, new examination methods. I had the opportunity to work, with other colleagues of mine, as student representatives, to improve the little imperfections that popped up along the path. How many of you could say to have taken part to the foundation of such a big educational institution, unless you are more or less eight hundred -year-old students who had the chance to see Oxford dawning? Just joking, but what I am trying to say is that I am honored to have contributed, even if at a very little extent, to what Humanitas University is today.

Anyway, that experiment, started six years ago, has turned to be a successful one. Aren’t we here together to celebrate the opening of a new academic year? Yes, we are. Didn’t we celebrate last year the very first degrees? Yes, we did! I can testify! Aren’t we here to welcome also this year more than one hundred new students from all over the world? Again, yes, we are.

So, very well done, Humanitas University!

An International Environment

As I was saying, I am lucky. And looking backwards to the past years I find so many reasons to feel lucky, besides that challenging experiment. We lived in a very international environment; we used to celebrate a passed exam saying “Mazeltov, cheers, cincin, nasdarovie” all together at the same time! If you have a look at the library, there are, and there were, students from all over the world studying at the same table. I know that it may sound pretty self-evident, but this is so culturally enriching! It actually opens your mind!

The university itself always encouraged this international approach. We had, for example, scholarships for self-organized projects abroad: with this travel grant I went to Brazil where I started to work to create an exchange program between Humanitas and the Brazilian hospital to make other students have my same experience. We have been always pushed to create our own opportunities and to contribute to the growth of our university. Weren’t we lucky?

Furthermore, we lived our university life in a hospital at the forefront; we studied just next to where the real hospital was, with a nearly one-to-one relationship with our mentors in the ward. And the rumor that you can learn more from the environment you live in than from books only, guess what, is true; and the environment we had around made even the uncomfortable daily way back and forth worthwhile.

Be happy, be proud: your studying the best subject ever

So, congratulations to all of you who have just started this journey here, this year, one year or two ago. Be happy and be proud of yourself as I am. Proud because you have succeeded in starting the long journey that will make you doctors; keep in mind the happiness of the very first day when you discovered you passed the entrance test! I will always remember mine! And be always happy because you are studying the best subject ever in a very rich environment; this is the best Art in the world, the unique made of science, humanity, communication and, why not, a little of marketing as well. Be it for a love for science, a love for human beings or for personal satisfaction, you did choose it; so be happy and proud. I am. And do not be afraid, not at all, never! The road may seem long, exams may sometimes seem difficult to pass, and sometimes you will find yourselves tired of so much studying, but you will make it! […] Stay happy, curious and, first of all, passionate, and you will make it!

And in the blink of an eye, you will find yourselves with a graduation in your hands and with so many doors open in front of you. The use of the appropriate medical English is very appreciated everywhere, the high-quality preparation of this university is very well-known everywhere and Humanitas itself invests in first person on the added value of people who studied and grew here. […]

A place of life experiences and growth

Then, […] when you study in a place you like you don’t want to leave. That is why I am so emotional today; this university creates a bond with its students because it is not just a place to study in, it is a place of life experiences and growth, in any sense. And now that I am about to start a new chapter of my medical life, I must say that I owe a lot of what I am to this University and I am proud to say that I am part, with my professors and colleagues, of its very fundaments.

So, good luck. Good luck to Humanitas University, keep on growing as you did, and good luck to all those of you who have the opportunity to grow together with it.

More about the Opening Ceremony of the Academic Year 2016-17.