Dear UBB graduates of 2020,
Your graduation, together with the stress (related to exams) and the joys (holidays/parties), is marked by unfriendly circumstances facing the entire world, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many people feel disheartened by this! Nonetheless, I would like you, UBB graduates, to know that you can choose to feel differently. This is why I want you to understand that, from a psychological viewpoint, it is not the event (the pandemic and/or its consequences) that influences our emotions and behaviours, but rather the manner in which we relate to it. If we cannot change/control the event, we can always control how we relate to it! Therefore, let’s face this dangerous happening with a flexibility of thought, in a non-catastrophic way, with tolerance to frustration and with acceptance (let’s acknowledge the situation without getting defensive and without it meaning that we enjoy that very situation); this way, the healthy emotions (negative or positive) and the adaptive behaviours will result naturally from this attitude! An added dose of realistic optimism, as mentioned above, may turn everything into something even more positive. Also, I wish to remind you that you are called and self-called “the digital generation”, and so I encourage you to rise up to this good repute and use technology in a creative way in order to reduce the stress associated to graduation, in order to increase the joy associated to this event and in order to become more innovative now and during your lifetime!
Per Aspera Ad Astra!
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Daniel David, Ph.D.
UBB Rector
