On December 9, the entire community of the socio-educational center of the Augustinian Recollects celebrated the annual graduation ceremony for ninth and twelfth-year students.
The ninth and twelfth-year Augustinian Recollects Boys’ Town students in Cartago (Costa Rica) celebrated on December 9 the Mass and graduation ceremony on December 14 the official farewell dinner.
The graduates belonged to five workshops and four different specialties. They begin a new path outside the educational center, some inserted in the labor market and others continuing studies in a higher education center.
The Mass of Thanksgiving opened the celebrations of the end of the course. It was chaired by the institution’s director, the Augustinian Recollect, Jesus Maria Ramos, accompanied at the altar by the Recollects Rogelio Morgan and Rafael Gutiérrez.
One of the most memorable and emotional moments occurred during the offerings when the students of the different workshops and specialties presented before the altar objects that represented their learning effort, made by themselves.
Thus, the Agricultural Workshop presented products planted and harvested in the field of the Boys’ Town, as well as some of the instruments that help control the health of animals and the traceability of food products. Agricultural Industry Workshop resented a dessert called “three milks” and fresh and mature cheeses made with milk produced on the City’s farm.
Carpentry Workshop presented a dining set model, four chairs carved in bitter cedar wood. Electricity presented a cross made entirely with electrical installation materials. Metallic Workshop presented a model of the slide of the City of Children made with stainless steel sheet and rod with welding and a sheet with the image of St. Augustine made with an iron sheet cut with plasma and painted with oil paints.
Electric Workshop featured a light bulb with the symbol of a child inside. Precision Mechanics presented a wooden base with an aluminum cross filled with bronze shavings, an isometric of cubes, and a printed plastic base. Automotive Mechanics presented a chandelier made with automotive elements and recycled materials.
Finally, the academic area presented a plaque of thanks with words of encouragement to the graduating students, inviting them to continue growing.
The graduation ceremony was held in the center’s gymnasium. The Augustinian Recollect Jesus Maria Ramos addressed everyone again, indicating great joy, emotion, illusion, and pride because he always expects the best from the students and for them.
He thanked the families and friends of the new graduates for their presence, who were eager to see how the bands were imposed on them and the diplomas were given to them.
Ramos recalled that this ceremony also serves to thank the tremendous effort that many people in Costa Rica and outside the country make to offer their students the best training. And, quoting Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, he said: “Today is the most beautiful day of our lives, dear Sancho; the biggest obstacles, our indecisiveness; our strongest enemy, fear of the powerful and ourselves; the easiest thing, to make mistakes; the most destructive, lies and selfishness; the worst defeat, discouragement; the most dangerous defects, arrogance, and resentment; the most pleasant sensations, the good conscience, the effort to be better without being perfect and, above all, the willingness to do good and fight injustice wherever they are.”
The young people who graduated have been in the City of Children for the last three or six years and have completed their studies in the third cycle, Baccalaureate or medium technician.
“Their stay has not been useless but profitable, and their fruit will be full of blessings and successes achieved with effort and courage, without fear of the challenges and difficulties that arise: for this, they have been prepared,” the director of the center told them.
“They don’t just have a degree under one arm that will open the doors of companies and universities. They also carry values of which they will not be given any certificate on paper: that certificate is worn and impregnated in their lives, in their way of being, in their attitudes” he concluded.
Immediately afterward, the Children’s City has begun the registration process. More than 100 young men will have a new home in the Children’s City when they start the 2023 academic year.
