Ms Johnya S. Sasso of The Farrington, Anguilla, has graduated from Fayetteville State University with a B. Sc. Degree in Criminal Justice. She graduated as Valedictorian. The following is her Valedictorian address:
In an address to a group of students at a high school in Philadelphia on Oct. 26, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. posed the following question: What is your life’s blueprint?
He suggested certain features that should characterize their life’s blueprint:
“Number one in your life’s blueprint should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth, and your own somebodiness. Don’t allow anybody to make you feel that you’re nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance. Secondly, in your life’s blueprint you must have as the basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You’re going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life – what your life’s work will be. Set out to it well.”
At the tender age of 10, I decided that (being) an attorney was what I was called to be. At that age I did not have the benefit of reading the speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. and even if I had, at such an early age I would not have been in a position to design my life’s blueprint. As destiny would have it, over the years different individuals, who influenced my young impressionable life, helped me to gradually draw my life’s blueprint. Special mention should be made here of Mr. John Benjamin and the staff at Caribbean Juris Chambers and Ms. Jean Dyer (Attorney). The experience gained from these individuals helped me understand the critical importance of the law to our daily lives and in particular to indigent individuals who have been ‘wronged’. Though justice is not an ideal easily served, I intend with God’s help to make my mark.
On May 4, 2013 Chancellor James A. Anderson of Fayetteville State University (FSU) conferred upon me the Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Political Science. Out of a class of 641 graduating students I was awarded the honour of Summa Cum Laude and emerged as the Valedictorian of the Class of 2013. My academic excellence also afforded me the privilege to be a member of Phi Eta Sigma, National Freshman Honour Society; Alpha Phi Sigma, National Criminal Justice Honour Society; and Phi Sigma Alpha, National Political Science Honour Society. During my tenure at FSU I participated in a program which enabled me to become a Certified Mediator in the state of North Carolina.
At this juncture I would like to Thank God for being the pilot of my progress. I would also like to thank my Parents, Grandmother, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Godparents, and Friends for all the unwavering support and love they continue to bestow upon me, for without them I would not have gotten this far.
As I progress to the next milestone in my life I will always be mindful of this quote by Albert Einstein, “If you follow the crowd, you will go no further than the crowd. But if you walk alone and find your own way, you will likely find yourself in places no one has ever been before”.
– Contributed
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newpspaper.)
