Graduation Message to my Students at Sussex Philosophy and PPE Summer 2020

Well done all of you. You've graduated, though under unusual conditions. I hope you can come back to Sussex some time when the pandemic is over so that I can congratulate you in person. It is a fantastic achievement to graduate from university especially in PPE.

I remember teaching you all in 2016, in my first year philosophy classes. You were a very engaged group, and a pleasure to teach.

I like the American name for graduation, Commencement, because graduation is a beginning as well as the end of something.

I know you are worried that you are going to be commencing in the midst of apandemic, with high unmployment and a deep recession. But I don't think you should let that worry you. Life is more than just falling into a ready made job. Besides economies resile. There will be opportunities and with your PPE or philosophy degree you will be well-equipped to take them. There is no rush. Better to focus on what or where you want to be in 3 or five years time.

Besides that what you have learned at university enables you not only to understand life, but also to live a more meaningful one. Education is more than just skills training. The post-Covid world may be a very different one in which you grew up. It's up to your generation to make sure that it is a better one. There is no return to ordinary life, better for you having learned philosophy, politics and economics.

I wish you all the best.