Dear comrades,
Since I wept like a baby, I am posting my closing speech for posterity, jeje. I know the video shall come soon from Ulan.
MILE 7
I spent yesterday night, exactly 47 minutes staring into the white wall in my room, wondering how to enlighten these avid minds and at the same time entertain such passionate hearts. A magical dolphin finally came to my rescue giving me the answer. I am going to elaborate on the issue of compulsory licensing under the TRIPS agreement and parallel importation…
NO WAY!
I wonder if you believe in coincidences, generally I don't. The fact that today we close the door of MILE 7 on the 7th of the seventh month of 2007, makes me wonder if I am not mistaken about coincidences and maybe they do exist. Maybe they are everywhere just waiting for an acute eye and an open heart to recognize them for what they are, not coincidences, but opportunities. I do know something though, if this is a coincidence it is a blessed one, for seven is the quintessential lucky number and that makes me think, my friends, that today we start a new journey, a new opportunity. It seems to me it is starting in the right way.
I do not mean for a second to imply that it is a coincidence that we finish the program. There is no coincidence in sleepless nights studying, in hours of madness writing paper after paper after paper, in timeless debates on the inconsistency of a measure to a WTO agreement; there is no coincidence in making new friends by means of a glass of beer, a needed help given, a cigarette shared outside, a trip, a smile, a laughter or even a tear. All of them become memories engraved in our heart, I believe, for ever.
As Thomas Alva Edison said: Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration, and we have all perspired together, my friends, to achieve the genius accomplishment of finishing the MILE. I hope that 1% of inspiration has now been enhanced by the knowledge we have gained, I am sure it will be needed in the future.
It has not been all a bed of roses of course. We carry scars too. Some of them are even visible in our exhausted faces and some broken knees. But since, as they say “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, we are now as strong as ever, sharp and ready to seize the new opportunities lying ahead. Hermann Hesse said that to achieve the possible, one has to pursue the impossible over and over again. We have made the impossibility of the MILE a possibility by pursuing the impossible every Thursday night and Friday morning in the solitude of our rooms, while writing endless assessments that made more than one contemplate the possibility of bungi jumping into the depths of the Aare river. Impossible shall never again be an impossibility for us.
I don't want to be righteous and elaborate on our mission to make this a better world in the future… I dare not be so vain. You all know within yourselves what kind of house you want to build on top of the solid foundations laid here, in this classroom, I just hope you feel at home when the work is done and when night falls in your bedroom the memories of MILE 7 grant you one big satisfied smile.
Now, I would like for my comrades to take the floor and let them tell you what they feel and think at this moment.
Helen I could not tape you so please, if you feel like sharing something now??
On behalf of my classmates I would like to thank Margrit, Nicole, Susan, Karin, Wulfhard, Cristo, Elisa, Corrine, Sebastian, Andrew and Prof. Cottier for making us feel safe when the walls seemed to be crumbling around us. You have been the backbone of the program and sometimes even though it seemed we did not appreciate your work, believe me, we did and we do now more than ever.
I think we all owe Ulan a well deserved thank you for creating and taking care of milestudents.com. I really hope you visit the site and keep in touch using this tool. Thank you my friend.
On a personal note I would like to say that this has been the most inspiring academic and personal experience of my life. I have met all you comrades, teachers and administration whom have enriched my life, giving me memories that I'll cherish wherever I go. I take friends for life and one special friend-plus that will shine in my heart wherever the path of life takes me. And when I feel darkness lurking behind me, be sure I will call you to embrace the memories of MILE 7 and the joy that comes hand in hand with them.
Congratulations to all, and thank you very very much.
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. Anyway, I hope we take a chance to revive it a little. So it would be great if everybody can update on where they are and what they are doing.