Comillas graduations kick off

They may now feel a certain respect for the future that lies ahead, but there was nothing but joy on this beautiful day of recognition that constituted the first of the graduation ceremonies for the 2023-2024 graduating class at Comillas Pontifical University. Almost 350 students from E-3, E-3 Analytics, E-5 and E-5 FIPE received their stoles this afternoon.  That is to say, the now forever alumni of the Bachelor's Degrees in Law and Business Administration; Business Analytics and Law; Law and International Relations; and Law and Bachelor's Degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. They have entered a new era: the one in which, with their "knowledge and virtues", they will contribute, from their discipline, to society and the world. 

Their first years at university were marked by the pandemic. "We survived the 8 a.m. classes, especially on the third floor. The curious regulation of the classroom thermostat. The 'can you hear me?' that marked our first years here," joked Paula García-Álvarez Palá, a student on the Bachelor's Degree in Law and the Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, who spoke on behalf of all her classmates. "This last year we have come face to face with the need to choose.  We can no longer sit under the shade of the fig tree and wait to choose one fruit or another (...) let the vertigo of freedom not cloud the fact that this university has given us access to a splendid forest", added the student. 

As if in response to these doubts, the godfather of the graduating class, Jesús Remón, president of the law firm Uría Menéndez, began his speech by listing the different professional possibilities that recent graduates have, but added: "However, bear in mind that it is not necessarily a definitive choice, because a professional career can take a meandering path". This is coming from someone who already has more than four decades of experience in the legal profession, and is president of one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. "Go for what you are passionate about", the lawyer advised them. And he remarked that "passion is a driving force that leads us to spare no effort to fulfil our task, it leads us to enjoy what we do". Remón's speech continued with a handful of good advice for the practice of the profession. 

The last speech of the afternoon was that of Enrique Sanz-Giménez Rico, Rector of Comillas Pontifical University, who referred to the binomial knowledge-values as "something very dear to St. Ignatius of Loyola, to the Jesuits and to the collaborators of the university" .During his speech, the Rector went through the lyrics of the hymn of Comillas, explaining them in detail: "hum and sing from now on the competent, compassionate, very conscious, critical, committed words of our hymn. Sing it also when you face various challenges in your next job or occupation. Sing it also when in your work and personal life you encounter problems that affect you and that may also affect your contemporaries. In all these circumstances, always deploy your gifts and abilities in the service of others," the rector recommended to the graduates. 

After a solemn, emotional and exciting afternoon, the recent graduates of Comillas Pontifical University set out on a new path. With friends for life, guided by passion, with science and the profession in their minds, and enriched by the values learned during these years, they are preparing for a future full of challenges and opportunities. Although their studies are over, the real adventure has just begun - congratulations! 

See all the pictures of your graduation here🎓