Chemique Harris-Benjamin

“Let this degree be the runway and not the destination,” UWI Five Islands valedictorian tells graduates

UWI Five Islands Campus valedictorian Chemique Harris-Benjamin urged graduates in Antigua and Barbuda to treat their degrees as the beginning of continued growth, calling on them to adapt to change, support others and lead with courage and integrity.

Harris-Benjamin, who earned a Bachelor of Education with a concentration in Mathematics Education, graduating with first-class honors, delivered the valedictory address during Saturday’s afternoon graduation ceremony.

“Let this degree be the runway and not the destination,” she said. “Embrace a growth mindset and continue adjusting your wings as new technologies and global challenges emerge.”

Addressing the class of 2026, Harris-Benjamin said graduates were entering a world where change was accelerating and developments beyond the campus would not wait for them to catch up.

But she said their education had prepared them to face that uncertainty with conviction.

“We were not trained simply to endure change,” she said. “We were built to adapt and we are ready to lead.”

Harris-Benjamin identified complex economic conditions, climate change and digital disruption among the challenges confronting the Caribbean. She said the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus had equipped graduates to respond through lessons that extended beyond lectures and examinations.

“Within these lecture halls and community spaces, we were taught critical inquiry over rote learning,” she said. “We were taught to look at a complex regional problem and see a canvas for innovation.”

“UWI did not just teach us what to think,” she added. “It taught us how to adapt when everything we know shifts.”

Chemique Harris-Benjamin

She acknowledged, however, that adapting often involves hardship, exhaustion and moments of doubt.

“Now adaptability sounds noble in theory, but in reality, adapting is hard,” she said.

For students, she said, it was demonstrated through late nights completing research papers and the demands of balancing family, work, community commitments and academic deadlines.

“It is found in late nights over research papers, when exhaustion whispers, give up, but purpose answers, keep going,” she said.

Harris-Benjamin recalled a moment during her studies when she became so overwhelmed that she called her head of school and announced she was giving up.

Before she could finish explaining, she said, he responded firmly: “Hell no, girl,” challenged what she was saying and urged her to come speak with him.

The encounter taught her that resilience depended on the willingness to accept support as well as personal determination.

“Right then and there, I learned that adaptability isn’t just about personal grit,” she said. “It’s about leaning into a community that refuses to let you stay down.”

She credited mentors, relatives, peers and students with sustaining graduates through periods when they struggled to believe in themselves.

“None of us reached this stage in isolation,” she said.

Looking across the graduating class, Harris-Benjamin described a diverse group united by determination, with each graduate carrying a story of adaptation and growth.

Pro-Vice Chancellor Sir Hiliary Beckles

“We are leaders. We’re problem solvers. We’re community champions,” she said.

She argued that the same spirit of cooperation would be essential as graduates confronted challenges in their communities and across the region.

“No single leader or island can tackle modern challenges alone,” she said. “It requires empathy, collaboration, and unwavering support networks.”

Harris-Benjamin urged graduates to understand leadership as the ability to act amid uncertainty.

“Leadership is not about waiting for smooth seas,” she said. “It is mastering the art of navigation in unpredictable waters.”

Drawing on the campus mascot, the frigate bird, she compared adaptability to reading changing currents, adjusting direction and using difficult conditions to rise.

She said the university had taught graduates to assess a shifting world and turn challenges into opportunities to reach new heights.

Her closing message set out three responsibilities: adapt continually, help others rise and lead courageously.

Just as mentors had intervened when students considered giving up, she said, graduates should become a support system for others.

“Be the thermal lift for others,” she urged.

She also called on them to exercise leadership wherever their careers and responsibilities took them.

“Lead in your communities, lead in your workspaces, lead in your boardrooms and our regional institutions,” she said. “And lead always with integrity and vision.”

Harris-Benjamin ended by telling graduates that their resilience and abilities were needed in the world they were entering.

“The world is waiting for leaders who cannot be broken by change,” she said. “It is waiting for you and for me.”

Source: Antigua News Room “We were built to adapt and we are ready to lead,” UWI Five Islands valedictorian declares.