UTM celebrates the commerce and management graduating class

When UTM’s Commerce and Management graduates walked onto the stage at the historic Convocation Hall last week, there were cheers and probably more than a few tears shed in the audience.

Principal Deep Saini congratulated the grads for their commitment to excellence, and called upon the class of 2015 to always remember their roots at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and at the University of Toronto as a whole.

“Today the University of Toronto formally recognizes your hard work, your accomplishments, perseverance, and this very important milestone in your career,” he said to a packed auditorium.

“Thank you for your many contributions to the university while you were with us as a student. And thank you for what you will do as members of Canada’s largest most distinguished alumni community.”

The convocation address was delivered by guest speaker Paul Woolford, a tax partner at KPMG Enterprise with over two decades of experience advising private companies.

In his very first convocation address he encouraged grads to do what they feel passionate about and not to be afraid to fail.

“Growth starts at the edge of your comfort zone,” said Woolford. “It’s up to you to find out what you love.”

But the centrepiece of the ceremony was the moment when proud grads came forward in pairs to be recognized by faculty, family, friends and their peers.

Following in the footsteps of thousands of their fellow alumni before them, it was a symbolic walk commemorating their stay at UTM where they first began their journey as students bristling with hope and promise.

After graduation, some will be venturing across the country and the world in pursuit of their professional aspirations in accounting, marketing and management in a wide range of industries.

Some have already started building enterprises, bolstered by the exposure they’ve had to entrepreneurial thinking on the UTM campus.

“UTM’s and the University of Toronto’s promise to you is to prepare global citizens who are uniquely fit to meet the global challenges that confront us all,” said Principal Saini.

“I can say, with absolute confidence that you are going out into this world as a collective embodiment of the fulfillment of that promise.”