NEWS SERVICE / AÍDA ORTIZ

As the commencement speaker at what were his last graduation ceremonies as Chairman of the Board of the Tecnológico de Monterrey System, Mr. Lorenzo H. Zambrano threw down the following gauntlet to the young graduates:

"I would like to challenge you to be coherent with the ethical principles instilled in you at home and here at the Tec, challenge you to turn your backs on the corruption, arrogance, and impunity that hamper our country's progress, and that of our communities and families," he stated at the ceremonies held December 15-16 at the Monterrey Campus Gym.

The Chairman of the Board invited the students to be ready to take advantage of every opportunity, particularly those that arise unexpectedly, as happened to him when Mr. Eugenio Garza Lagüera invited him to take his place.

"I learned then that life's best opportunities sometimes come unexpectedly and that the only thing you can and must do is be ready to make the most of them."

He added that this didn't apply solely to a new job or position, but was about risk-taking. "I'm talking about having the guts and the willingness to do something, to take risks, of venturing into unknown territory, where there's mixed signals and you don't know what's going to happen immediately. Don't be conservative, be ambitious."

He also encouraged them to set the bar increasingly higher. "Success is based not only on talent –you're here because you possess it- but on discipline and perseverance. Don't fear change, or mixed signals, or making mistakes: we all make them, we pick ourselves up, learn from them, and that makes us better going forward."

After presenting the graduating class with their diplomas, Tecnológico de Monterrey President Prof. David Noel Ramírez took the lectern to thank Mr. Zambrano for the privilege of his being the 2011 commencement speaker and for his 15 years helming the Tecnológico de Monterrey's Board.