Address by Valedictorian Syed Shujaat Ali at UCA's 2026 Graduation Ceremony

Your Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan, Chancellor of the University of Central Asia, Dr. Shams Kassim-Lakha, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, distinguished representatives of the governments of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, Professor Christopher Garry, Rector of UCA, Dean Diana Pauna, esteemed faculty, dedicated staff, proud families, and above all — my friends and fellow graduates of the Class of 2026. 

Hello, and Assalom. 

My name is Syed Shujaat Ali, and it is with deep gratitude and humility that I stand before you today as the Valedictorian of the Class of 2026. 

About five years ago, I was at home in Gilgit, in the mountains of northern Pakistan, watching the convocation ceremony of the Class of 2021 on the screen. I don't remember how long I was sitting there, but I was completely still, watching those graduates walk across the stage, I was completely lost in the moment. I didn't notice how deeply I had been drawn into the scene until my mother looked at me and said, quietly — "I have a deep feeling that one day you will be standing on that stage, making us all proud, inshallah." 

Those words moved something in me. That evening, I didn't only feel I would like to study at UCA. I felt I owed my mother and the community, and every young person from the mountain region who would wonder like me whether a world-class education is attainable or not. I felt the urge to make those words in my head come true. 

Today, they have. 

Each one of us arrived at UCA carrying a different story. Some of us had to cross many borders and barriers. Some of us hailing from villages where the nearest paved road was hours away. Some of us said goodbye to families who would never see the city we were heading to. What we brought with us were not just our bags and books — we brought our dreams, our communities' expectations, and the subtle pressure of proving that we deserved the opportunity and belonged here. 

And we did belong here. We proved it — not just by going through the motions, but by growing with every semester, drawing closer to our true selves. 

Countless times, we wrestled with assignment deadlines at 11:59 at night. We endured winter nights where the cold might have made us question our life choices, and somehow we still found the energy and warmth inside to make it to the 9am classes. We turned self-doubt into reflections, and reflections led us to curiosity, and curiosity powered ideas, and ideas set a path to this moment we are living right now. We often wrote papers about poverty, and inequality, and development — all the while knowing that beyond our academic pages, many people were living those very conditions in their everyday lives. 

We debated in classrooms. We built clubs. We mentored each other. And on the hardest days — when doubt set in and the path felt too steep — we persevered and carried on. Just as our ancestors persevered through the harshness of life in the mountains, we stayed the course and didn’t let up – so we can plant our flags on one of the highest peaks in our lives today. 

I spent four years on both sides of that classroom — as a student trying to understand, and as a teaching assistant trying to explain. I learned that you do not truly know something until you can explain it to someone else. Along this winding path, there were nights when I sat alone and genuinely questioned myself if I was good and doing enough to be here. I think most of us had those moments of doubt, perhaps not so different from the doubts our parents felt when they were sending us away and yet trusting that something better awaited us in that journey. What carried us through was the same spirit that had them believing in us: the firm, unshakeable resolve pushing us forward, staggering at times? – maybe – but we never fell. And feeling today that the path was worth it. And I am not going to be the only one to prove it right.   

Our founding Chancellor, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, once said: 

"I think it would be foolish to believe that there are no problems — life is made of problems. They occur every day to just about everyone around the world, and I think it is important that we should simply accept that that is life, and we must live it fully and courageously." 

— His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, Founding Chancellor, University of Central Asia 

We graduate despite the odds and problems, but we also thrived through them and UCA taught us this as a life-changing perspective. 

This journey was never ours alone. I want to express our deepest gratitude to His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan, whose leadership carries the founding vision forward with wisdom and purpose. To the Board of Trustees — thank you for your unwavering commitment to building and guiding a university that believes in students from the world's most remote mountain regions. 

To our faculty across all departments — to the professor who handed back my first assignment with more red ink than the original text and yet stayed after the class to explain why — thank you. That afternoon taught me more than any grade that ever could. You pushed us to think harder, write better, and pose our own questions. You gave us tools we would carry with us for life. 

To the Student Life team, the Co-operative Education Department, the administrative staff, and to every Apa, Aka, and Hola who made these campuses feel like home — you are woven into everything we have become. 

And to our families — to parents, siblings, and loved ones who made sacrifices we may never be able to fully repay: this degree belongs to you as much as it belongs to us. To my mother, who saw something in me that evening five years ago before I could find it in myself — thank you. 

Class of 2026 — the world we are stepping into is not a calm one. Climate change is rapidly reshaping the planet we were handed. Artificial intelligence is disrupting entire industries faster than policy can follow. The future is uncertain, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. 

But here is what I know about us: we were not shaped in comfortable conditions. We have grown up in mountainous communities where uncertainty is not a rarity— it is the order of the day. We were however educated at a university that instilled in us the curiosity to ask hard questions and resist easy answers. We have already lived through disruption and come out on top with a clearer vision and more capable hands. 

So be hopeful. Not with passive hopes, waiting for things to improve by themselves— but with active dedication to building and creating. Apply yourselves to the future of the communities counting on you to be a beacon of hope and change. The world does not want us to be perfect, it needs us to be present, persistent, and purposeful. 

UCA did not just teach us how to think. It taught us who to think and care for. 

We come from the mountains. And the mountains teach us the wisdom that the summit is not the end but simply a higher perspective bringing into view the next valley and peak worth exploring. 

So, keep climbing and do so together. 

Congratulations, my dear Class of 2026.