“THANK you for inviting me to speak at this afternoon’s celebrations. I am amazed at how quickly time can pass, but here we are, 34 years after this historic school was opened.

I am the son of a cane-cutter and an ordinary housewife who was educated on these hallowed grounds. That opportunity for education changed the course of my life, and rewrote my otherwise predetermined destiny. It was more than just the academics.

Here I learned to ride horses. I learned to play the guitar, which I later did on stage, and was able to pay my bills while in Medical school.
I fell in love with military drills, and joined the reserves of the Guyana Defence Force after leaving President’s College.

I became friends, real friends, with people from all backgrounds, and still remain friends with them up to this day. The boys especially had unique names for each other. And now, 35 years later, when someone calls me by that name, I know what it means… No one outside our circle know those names, and they wouldn’t know the meaning of those names anyway.

How did this happen? A very long time ago, a teenager, just like you graduating students, had a dream for his country: That the best and brightest should be trained for leadership in a specialised environment. This teenager later became president of Guyana, and this school became a reality. What do you dream of as teenagers about to graduate? I hope your dreams are big and grand.

President Burnham was quoted as saying “Comrades, if I leave nothing behind me but the President’s College, I would feel, in my conceit, that I have contributed to the building of a monument more lasting than Bronze.”
That’s confidence; confidence in Guyana, its people and our collective future. He was talking about you; he was talking about us. Our lives will give meaning to the dream that is President’s College just as President’s College fuels our dreams.
We can’t change our past, but we can certainly determine our future; our destiny.

In 1985, way before you graduates were born, my group was selected to attend PC. We came from diverse backgrounds, and many of us were warned about being “brainwashed”.

The warning was absolutely accurate, and I am forever grateful for being “Brainwashed” at President’s College. You see, to wash something is to make it clean, acceptable, beautiful, and to remove its blemishes. It also allows you to polish and shine the object.
I was “brainwashed” right here into embracing my new family from Linden to Skeldon, from Plaisance to the Rupununi. A family like none other. And those bonds are strong still. I was “brainwashed” into believing that I belonged here. I was “brainwashed” into expecting more from myself; to try a little harder.
Brainwashing made us all believe that we were capable of greatness, despite our humble backgrounds.

I hope that as you leave PC, you would have received the blessings of being “brainwashed”. That your minds are now cleaned from biases and prejudices that hold us back as a people; that you would see your fellow Guyanese as brothers and sisters and not as your enemy; that you would treat the security guard, cook and cleaner with the same deference as the pastor, banker or doctor; that you can disagree, argue and still maintain respect and dignity; that you can see people for who they are, and not prejudge them because of where they come from, their social and economic status, their ethnic background or who they choose to love.
I wish you a lifetime of friendships as strong as the ones we share. Own the gift of being brainwashed, it’s yours. Wear it like a badge of honour.

This is the best time for you to create the new Guyana; the Guyana that you want. No more brown, black, yellow or white Guyana, but one people capable of celebrating our assorted yet converging heritage. You don’t all have to be doctors or lawyers. We need poets, artists and musicians, too. I have spent my life in science, yet I envy those with the precious creative talents that bring our emotions alive.
It is true that until lions learn to write, every story will glorify the hunter. Write your own stories; our stories, and tell it with pride.

Your generation will be responsible for ensuring that every Guyanese has access to the best of everything available, regardless of their circumstances; the best in healthcare, education, security and opportunities; that being poor does not condemn you to receiving less attention in your time of need.

It will be your job to defend the abused, the defenseless. Protect the vulnerable; be the voice of the voiceless. Use your talents to build, and if you must break things, then break barriers.
When you wear purple, it is a responsibility. Because purple blood runs deep, excellence is expected.
When you are identified as purple, it is a recognition of your country’s investment in its future.

You are the future.
You are the generation we have been waiting for.
You have been “brainwashed”, and it is now your time; our time to shine.
We can! We must! We Will!”
(Excerpt of Dr. Mahendra Carpen’s address
On November 7, 2019, on the occasion of President’s College’s 34th Graduation Ceremony.)