Something abroad, as grads miss big day
Name after name of the 23 students in a MBS (Asian Business) graduating group were marked “in absentia”, initially making their absence look like a sort of walkout student protest: It prompted the explanation from UCC president Michel Murphy that it was because “they’re all working in Asia, and the others who are here today are also working”.
Proof that the old motto “go west young man” has been upended by the same injunction to today’s generation to “go east, young men and women”, was graphically illustrated by the 100% placement of the class of 2013, in this fledgling MBS course, undertaken in conjunction with the Farmleigh Foundation and sponsoring businesses. The group spent a year split between UCC, the Nanyang Technical University in Singapore, and on placement with Irish firms doing business with China and other Asian countries.
Also yesterday at UCC, a further 11 graduates also were conferred with their BComm (International with Chinese Studies) degrees, the first class to finish this course, after one year spent in Shanghai as part of a four-year degree. A smaller number of these also graduated “in absentia” as they too were already working overseas.
Addressing hundreds of primary degree graduates, master’s and PhD students across a range of disciplines, Mr Murphy said they should savour the chance to travel and work abroad and gain a wider perspective.
