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Last updateΔευ, 01 Ιουλ 2024 7am

Επίτιμος Διδάκτορας του H.A.U. ο Π. Τσάκος

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Επίτιμος Διδάκτορας του Hellenic American University αναγορεύτηκε στο πλαίσιο ειδικής τελετής αποφοίτησης των φοιτητών του 2014 ο καπτ. Παναγιώτης Ν. Τσάκος στην τελετή που έγινε στην στην Γεννάδειο Βιβλιοθήκη.

Αναλυτικά η ομιλία του καπτ. Παναγιώτη Ν. Τσάκου:

"Dear Mr. President, Dear Board of Trustees

I am delighted and deeply moved to receive this honorary degree and I wish to warmly thank you for this special honour.

Dear Graduates,

First of all allow me to congratulate you for your efforts and your hard work, which have led to the successful completion of your studies.

You should be proud of your accomplishment, as I am sure the same pride is felt by your teachers and parents as they see you with the University degree in your hand ready to conquer life.

This important day in your life is the beginning of a new phase in your lives, which, through a winding and challenging course, can lead you to the fulfilment of your dreams.

This course is not going to be easy.
Especially in our current era, in which your generation has been called to pay ----for the mistakes and omissions of the past generation,----- which considered that life owed them, and that everything could be easily obtained without effort and hard work.

However those falsehoods and illusions have now been dissolved --όπως διαπιστώνουμε τόσο έντονα από χθες το βράδυ.....

You know that what is being built on loose foundations, no matter how polished ---will sooner or later collapse. This is why you should try to build your own path in life, piece by piece, based on your own forces alone.

Probably you may see the future bleak and uncertain.

Indeed. Times are difficult.

The economic and financial crisis that started in 2008 is still with us all; there is social and political unrest in several parts of the world; natural catastrophes happen more often these days than in the past; climate change phenomena send worrying messages; hunger and humanitarian disasters fill us with sadness; and the recent migration movements of thousands of unfortunate refugees crossing dangerous waters in the Mediterranean remind us of the risks fellow human beings are prepared to take in search of a better life.

However, things were not any better in the past.

As a matter of fact, life for people of my generation was much harder, and opportunities were fewer.

People of our generation were not offered opportunities.
They created their own. They mobilized their minds and souls; they seized challenges and opportunities. With passion, hard work, dedication, discipline, plenty of sacrifices and in true unity, teamwork and inter-dependence.

These virtues, are fully integrated in the maritime industry, where I'm coming from and it is these virtues that placed Greek shipping on the top of the global maritime arena.

This success has not been an accomplishment of one man, one family, or even one single generation. ---

It has been the collective outcome of hard work and ongoing sacrifices, - including lives and fortunes made and lost-, for generations and originally initiated by our forefathers.

Shipping is a very challenging field from which we can draw useful lessons.

The entire shipping industry, which has grown to be one of the most well run industries in the world, is the result of serious planning, massive cooperation, continuous training, and disciplined behavior and commitment by all participants and every employee, whether onboard or ashore.

Με αυτά δε θέλω να πω ότι η ναυτιλία είναι ο μόνος καλά οργανωμένος κλάδος της οικονομίας της χώρας μας, αλλά από αυτό το σημείο μέχρι το λαϊκό «Τα κάναμε θάλασσα», υπάρχει μια απόσταση.....

Αλλά ας επιστρέψουμε στα δικά σας.

Your University has equipped you with the basic skills to be able to claim what you deserve and proceed to achieve it.

But you must continue to seek knowledge because this is never permanently conquered. Listen to the demands of times, seize challenges and be ready to adapt to new conditions which are constantly changing. Believe in yourself, assert yourself, develop and create something of your own: these are the keys to success.

But further: Now that you know the mistakes of the past, make yourself your own tomorrow built on the core values of dignity, honesty, respect and social responsibility.

Our country's mistakes,

mistakes that get worse day after day, emphasize the imperative need for you, who soon will be a part of our country's business, cultural and social elite, to ensure that you will not only excel in your own field or profession, but you will also get to effectively contribute to the political and social maturation of our society.

Με πατριωτισμό και Αξιοκρατία.

Success in life is not only career and professional achievement, is not judged by how much wealth we acquire, success is not determined by what one has, but what comes from what someone is, as a personality, as moral substance as a social being.

Fight above all to enrich your character, your "inner self".

Because it will stay with you forever and no one will be able to take it away from you.

One more and final advice:

Many of you may have not gone through the hardships that your forefathers had been through. Yet, you worked hard to get here tonight.

From now onwards life lies ahead of you.

Don't expect that things will come as easy as you aspired for.

You can't change the direction of the wind.

But you can adjust your sails to always reach your destination.

You may not be lucky enough, from the beginning, to do what you originally dreamed of.

But even so, whatever comes your way, embrace it as if it was your lifetime dream.

If you do translations, compose them as a poem.
If you get to build, do it as a sculptor.
If you get to paint, do it as an artist.
Always with a smile.
For if you love what you do, ---
you will get to do it in excellence.
Success certainly follows excellence.

And remember:

A smooth sea has never made a skillful sailor...

With these words I salute you and congratulate you,

With optimism and smile.---

Thank you all very very much.

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