Father Patricio Ramírez, managing director of the Mary Help of Christians Work.

Father Ronny Stephan, regent director of the Salesians of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Christ the King, outgoing regent director of ITESA.

Professor Henry Noel Rodríguez, educational director of ITESA.

Maestro Eddy Chávez, director of regional 15, MINERD.

Karmen Selter, headmaster at Kehtna Vocational Education Center of Kehtna, Stonia

Mr. Rafael Piantini, human resources manager of the Itabo Industrial Park.

Eng. Basilia Reynoso, technician of educational district 15-02 of the technical-professional education area of ​​the MINERD.

Maestro Rafael Casado, general coordinator of labor education and technical coordinator of technical secondary school at ITESA.

Friends and friends all:

I thank the authorities of the Salesian Technical Institute not only for the honour of allowing me to be here with you and to be in charge of this intervention, but also for being able to enjoy what I consider a celebration of the spirit, a graduation ceremony in which formal recognition is given to those who complete an important stage in their journey of formation as people.

I believe that these events are among the most important and satisfying moments for an educator and an academic, because they mean something to everyone who participates in them: the graduates, their families, their teachers, and everyone who has in some way contributed to making these graduates become graduates. For me, who began as a teacher in my early youth at the San Juan Bautista De La Salle center in the Simón Bolívar neighborhood, sharing with you here at Mejoramiento Social is like a reunion with the settings where my aspirations were at educational levels such as those covered by ITESA.

I hold a high and sincere appreciation for all educational work, but today I want to emphasize my appreciation for the Salesian Technical Institute, the ITESA, which I truly believe is emblematic of the best we have in our educational system, considering all its levels. The 216 graduates as basic technicians and intermediate technicians who gather here today, 42 percent of them women, in programs so necessary for the development of our country, make us wish that we had many ITESAs in all the cities and regions of the country, if not in all its neighborhoods, because surely, with that, we would ensure a better country with a better future.

That is why my first message is to an abstract audience, which is not physically here, but only partially here, to society, its government authorities and civil society. Today, when we talk about the quality of spending and public investment priorities, and when we are stressed by the limitations of State revenues and the tightness of government budgets, today more than ever we must identify where the investment yields the most and best, whether in education, health, infrastructure or whatever area. To put it in popular language, if the hen no longer lays as it did before, you have to be very wise to know in which basket to put the eggs you have.

And humbly, in my opinion, one of those baskets, where investment and support must be privileged, is in institutions and programs such as ITESA, which offer opportunities for quality and relevant education to our youth, as well as to others not so young, to train not only academically and as citizens, but also occupationally or professionally, to be people with better capacities to solve their needs and those of their families, and to contribute productively, constructively to society. The high school graduates and, in general, the technicians who graduate today in areas such as Industrial Mechanics, Electrical Installations, Electricity and Refrigeration, Electronic Equipment, Computer Networks and Systems, Development of Computer Applications, Multimedia and Graphics, and Commerce and Service, so relevant to our productive and social development and in which there is such a shortage of well-prepared people, like those who graduate from ITESA.

As a citizen, I am pleased to see the support that the Ministry of Education offers to ITESA, as symbolized by the presence at this event of the MINERD directors who make up the main board. I hope that this support is sustained and even greater, and is maintained and extended equally to similar institutions such as ITESA, like the other Salesian institutions, or other religious or secular entities, whether private or public.

And I hope that this feeling is also shared by the private sector, the employer sector, because not everything is to be left to governments. Companies and business associations should develop and multiply the contributions that they can make to institutions like ITESA in different ways, in terms of finance, equipment, outreach and support, and offering better jobs to their graduates, scholarships so that they can continue or deepen their studies and training at higher educational levels. In my day to day life I repeatedly hear the expressions and even the complaints of business executives who demand to find more and better prepared technicians and professionals, especially in areas like those that we see covered by ITESA. That being a reality, then one expects the private sector to contribute by the different means possible to sustain and expand the very valuable offer of training opportunities in institutions like ITESA, wherever they are, at whatever educational level they are at. That is my call, that, if they feel that the basket is somewhat empty, they help by putting eggs in it.

My 53 years in education and in other occupations, more than half a century, most of it working with youth, today as Rector of the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo, leave me with no doubt that our country is rich in talent, but there is a lack of opportunities. That is why I call on the government and private sectors to continue creating and expanding opportunities for our talented youth, opportunities like the ones you have taken advantage of here at ITESA.

As the end of the year period is approaching, this is part of my Christmas list.

I cannot end without speaking to our graduates today. My heartfelt congratulations. And my audacity in communicating these messages to you.

Frank Rainieri, the successful tourism entrepreneur, has explained to us more than once his recipe for success. He sums it up in three words: vision, perseverance and work. Let us follow his advice. You, graduates, in some way envisioned yourself to get to where you are today. You envisioned yourself as technical graduates. You envisioned yourself as basic or intermediate technicians. You envisioned yourself taking the courses you have completed. I once read on a mural in Córdoba, Argentina, this phrase: At every end, invent a beginning. At this important end of the journey you have just finished, invent a beginning, with a vision. Where do you want to see yourself in five years from now? In ten years? Finishing university studies? With a promotion in your current job or with a new and better job? With your own business? None of these objectives will be easy, because not all dreams come true, but rest assured that no important reality is without having been a dream first.

Perseverance, Rainieri tells us. This is the word that explains the passage from dreams, from vision, to reality, to facts. Henri Ford said that “Obstacles are the horrible things one sees when one takes one's eyes off the goal.. And Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, the iPod and the iPhone, said: “When you are in front of the river, do not look at the current, look at its horizon.”That is the attitude that underlies perseverance, knowing that there are obstacles, that we must cross the mighty river, but never losing sight of the goal of our vision, of where we want to see ourselves in five, in ten years, in order to persevere.

And to the above, always add what you have already done to get to this day. Work, effort. Because you have to dream, you have to have a vision, and you have to persevere, not let yourself be overcome by obstacles and difficulties. But as Frank Rainieri says in his recipe, you have to work on all that, make an effort and keep up the effort, with its ups and downs, but always the effort. I am fascinated by the story of someone who asked God every day to let him win the lottery, with many prayers and wishes, every day, until one day he heard a loud voice coming from the clouds, from above, and that said: Yes, but buy the ticket!

I will end with some more advice. That of Thomas L. Friedman, an American journalist and writer, columnist for the prestigious newspaper The New York Times, three times winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the most important for journalists. His various books have sold like hotcakes.

In a lively talk, Friedman offered the advice he gives his own children for moving forward and succeeding in life. I summarize it here.

1. Think like an immigrant and stay hungry

Don't count on a legacy. The immigrant has to make his way without much to lean on for support. He must identify opportunities in a new field and strive to seize them with greater vigor than anyone else. Stay hungry, stay willing.

2. Think and act like a craftsman and have pride.

Conceive your work and achieve its results with such care that you give them an individual seal that proudly deserves to place your initials on them for the level of added value they have, as a good craftsman does with his paintings, his sculptures, his products.

3. Always think like new computer programs, new software: always in beta.

Always think of yourself as a work in progress, always learning, relearning, redesigning, reengineering, reinventing, unfinished, because you will be better and you can be better at what you do and who you are.

4. Think like a waiter or waitress at a popular restaurant.

He or she doesn't have much room to change the service or the products offered to customers. But if you can, if the customer asks for some fruit, bring it and when you put it on the table tell the customer: here is what you asked for, I allowed myself to put a little extra fruit on it, enjoy it. Think entrepreneurially in everything you do, like that waitress does with what she has control over: deciding (and telling) the customer that she has put extra fruit in his order. Give a little more of yourself, in what you do, in what you can, that distinguishes you.

I have not given you my own advice, but I have told you the advice I have heard from others. The kind of advice that has worked for me, and believe me, it is obvious that I have been doing it for many years. It has worked for me, and I hope it works for you too.

I congratulate you on this very special day for you and, I understand, for your loved ones. You have had vision, perseverance, and you have done your work. At the end, invent a beginning, with a new vision of yourselves and a commitment to perseverance and work to make it a reality within five, ten, whatever years you set as a deadline. Think of yourselves as if you were immigrants, conquering new territories, keep up the enthusiasm. Whatever you do, do it like a craftsman, with your personal stamp so as to stamp your signature on it. And in whatever you do, in whatever is under your control, put something extra, which also distinguishes you and what you do.

Thank you for listening to me and, again, congratulations on your achievements.