Alba’s Graduation Ceremony held at the National Opera of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
On Monday December 4th, the 25th ALBA Graduation ceremony took place at the Greek National Opera, at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
More than 1,300 guests, friends and family members celebrated the graduation of our 332 students coming from all 14 programs and from 7 different nationalities.
The new Greek National Opera, a state-of-the-art building was the perfect place to host this special event, since our graduates were seated on the stage along with the Faculty and were visible from every corner of the theatre.
The ceremony opened with Mr. Nikolaos Ebeoglou, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alba and Dr. David G. Horner, President of the American College of Greece, who welcomed the graduates and the guests.
The keynote speaker of the Graduation Ceremony was Mr. Gerasimos Kouvaras, General Director of ActionAid Hellas, who delivered a truly inspiring speech. In his own words: “So, this is what I want to talk to you about this evening. About challenging the unchallenged. About un-learning the “truth”. The truth hidden in axioms, hidden in collective thinking, hidden in prejudices and stereotypes, hidden even in objects, everyday objects. Unlearning means disputing the established, questioning the accepted. Unlearning is not about forgetting. It’s about the ability to choose an alternative mental model or paradigm.
He concluded his speech with an inspirational proverb: “Whatever road you choose, whatever your road will be, when you feel powerless, please remember the wise African proverb that says: ‘If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to sleep with a mosquito’.”
Following the customary procedure the valedictorian graduate addressed a short speech, while a member of the ALBA Alumni Association Board welcomed the new graduates to the alumni community.
The Ceremony was concluded with the empowering speech of Dean Konstantinos Axarloglou, on the importance of the technological progress and the challenges of the future. He urged the graduates to make a difference by applying the knowledge and ethical behavior that Alba has disseminated to them.
A festive cocktail reception at the foyer of the Greek National Opera followed, honoring the graduates and their guests.
The 25th Alba Career Forum
The 25th Alba Career Forum was held with great success from September 19-22. A total of 96 companies participated along with 150 recruiters, while 89 of our graduates took part in the interview process with at least 1,500 interviews conducted. This year we implemented a new scheduling system which increased efficiency overall. We received excellent feedback from the recruiters and students, while so far three students were hired within a week of the forum and over 50 are currently in second and third interviews. For updates and photos use the hashtag #25thAlbaCareerForum.
RG Bootcamp for entrepreneurs
For the third year the Alba Hub for Entrepreneurship and Development (AHEAD) co-organized the RG Bootcamp for entrepreneurs. Alba in co-operation with Reload Greece delivers a week-long and hands-on training program to turn ideas into plans. The RG Bootcamp took place this year from October 2-7 at our Downtown Campus and more than 40 participants worked hard in teams. A week full of entrepreneurial ideas, masterclasses, teamwork and – lots of – fun concluded on Saturday with the final pitches of the teams. Once again, the week’s finale had it all: passion, excitement and emotion. The winners for 2017 are the Koosh radio team, a new media platform led by the refugees for the refugees, and Postcards from Greece, creating series of handcrafted postcards. And this was not an easy decision for our judges, as 9 teams presented their unique plans.
