In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful.
Thank you, [name of the previous speaker]
Standing on an existing protocol, I greet Honorable guests, the founders, Taiwo Ojo & Wale Olojo, distinguished faculty members, the engineering team, family, friends, my fellow graduates, and honorary members of the press. It is my great honor and privilege to stand before you to deliver a speech on this auspicious occasion.
Three months ago, we began a journey as the trailblazing sets of Alluvium University. Today, we are marking the completion of stage one, The traineeship. During this period, we were equipped with the necessary resources: a personal computer (I got a Macbook!), MiFi, and headphones to make sure we are on the same page as we were learning. We were trained on the use of Atlassian suite tools Jira & Confluence, hands-on application of Python programming, DevOps culture, and Business ethics earning certifications and badges.
Arriving in Ekiti, we were warmly welcomed and shown to our rooms by Mr. Tenibiaje, he ensured we were most comfortable. At first, we were receiving our training at Glimpse Hub. The Hub was easy to locate and we had no issues settling in. Here in Ekiti, it has been a delight seeing the highlands and having a glimpse of her people’s culture. The locals are peaceful and friendly. The serenity of the environment is resounding. Of course! moving to our workspace on the Bootcamp was the highlight of the program for me.
Here, I was opportune to work alongside seven other great minds, of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Spending the past three months with strangers who have now become coworkers and friends has thought me a lot about being in a team and effective communication. We had our rough moments too, heated arguments especially when it came to kitchen affairs, portions, and doing the dishes. The good moment was more. I recall the excitement when we had to go on a tour visit to Ikogisi warm spring. It was a fun experience on that journey, I could remember the banters about our course of studies in tertiary school. The time Khadijah and I hiked Oke-Ila, pooling funds to make our food when some of us didn’t feel comfortable with the meal of the day, and the time we came together to Sky’s feed.
I would like to thank Alluvium, and Alluvium-geniesys for this opportunity to learn, work and earn. This is a program that is highly recommended for people looking to switch careers to tech and those that are budding in it. You not only get to learn from the best hands but you are also encouraged to seek knowledge outside and acquire skills from external resources. The work culture is friendly, and transparency is the watchword here! With an open-door policy, you can message Taiwo, Wale, or any team members at any time and get necessary help as required.
My appreciation goes to the Faculty team led by Mr. Tenibiaje who lectured us on the Atlassian suite tools and business ethics. Dr. Lawrence, for giving us assignments that tasks us to apply critical and logical reasoning in Python and SQL. Mr. Bashir, for putting us through cloud computing and DevOps culture. All of you have contributed to who we are today, and although we are far from perfect, We believe that we are much better software engineers than we would have been having we not met all of you.
I would like to give a shout-out to the lead engineering team especially Adeola, Babs, Demi, Isaac, Tim, and Yusuf for always being ready to assist us and for giving us the chance to work and learn alongside you.
I would like to appreciate my fellow graduates, and my teammates for a beautiful time spent learning and growing together. I will express my gratitude in alphabetical order, Anthonia for making sure there is orderliness in the activities on the Bootcamp, Divine for being wonderful roommates and for those midnight gists about your love life; Fola for being the mummy of the house and for pieces of advice. James, the headmaster, for being a wonderful personality and always keeping it cool. Khadijah for always being my call-on sister, she nudges me to do more when I am slacking. If not anything I appreciate you for ensuring I became better with my deen and of course, the pieces of advice too. Lewis for being an amazing teammate alongside Babs and Demi, and for monitoring our data bandwidth, you are such a workaholic, and Michael, the professor for being an exceptionally cool dude.
Special Appreciations to Jaytee’s mom for being the most welcoming host, Mr. Francis for securing the Bootcamp throughout our stay, The Cook for amazing meals, and The Cleaner for ensuring we had a clean environment.
I would like to thank my parents for always supporting my decisions. To Zainab, I would thank you for being present from the beginning of this journey checking up to see if I’m good, and putting those tiny smiles on my face.
I’d like to thank myself for being so resilient.
Learning for us doesn’t end here, as we continue to seek greater heights in our endeavors so must we continue to seek beneficial knowledge.
I would depart with this quote from Steve Jobs. “You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”
Thank You.