Remarks by Ambassador Blake at the English Access Microscholarship Graduation, Jakarta
Selamat siang! Good morning! Today I have the pleasure of congratulating you, 122 Access graduates, here in Jakarta.
We have many people to thank. First the teachers and staff of the Center for Civic Education in Indonesia for their dedication to helping you reach your dreams.
Let’s also thank all the parents, family members and friends who are here showing their support for your achievements.
For all the students: for the past two years you have come to class regularly, on time, to work hard after a full day of school. You have done more than just learn English; you have been part of a cultural exchange as you learned about American life, history, and culture.
In doing that, you have become part of the strong supportive education community – the Access family – of your teachers and fellow students all around Indonesia.
The U.S. Embassy values the Access program as a way to bring our two countries together and to offer new opportunities to young Indonesians like you.
For today’s graduates, I want to emphasize that even though you have completed your Access studies, we will not forget about you and we don’t want you to forget about us.
As graduating Access students, you are now part of our thriving U.S. Embassy alumni community in Indonesia. I encourage you to take advantage of our wonderful @America programs and many other alumni opportunities!
Today’s graduation is one of what I am sure will be a series of important accomplishments in your future. Soon, you all are going to be graduating from high school and after that most of you will be graduating from university.
We hope that someday you will study at an American university. The Access program gives you the skills to help you do just that. And EducationUSA can help make the dream of an American degree a reality.
President Barak Obama loves to visit schools in the United States and he often says to students, “Each one of you could be doing the same kind of thing I am doing or you could be running a company or you can be inventing a product. You can do anything you can imagine… but the only way you do it is if you’re succeeding here in school.”
That is a basic American and universal value: no matter what your background, you can advance through education.
Through the Access Program, you’ve received expert attention from your teachers and a community in which you’ve learned English and grown as a community member and young leader. We can’t wait to see what you do with those gifts.
Knowing English will be a particularly important skill for you and other Indonesians because English is a passport to being a citizen of the world.
With English, you can become a digital entrepreneur and maybe write Apps for Apple or Google.
With English you can succeed in international business, a doubly important service for your country now that President Jokowi has signaled Indonesia’s intention to join the Trans Pacific trade Partnership.
With English, you can study at any of America’s top universities and so many more doors will be open to you.
So congratulations on the first step of an exciting journey that we hope you will continue. Please stay in touch with your teachers and the people at the Embassy – we want to see you succeed. Thank you and I wish you continued success!
As prepared.
