Address by Assoc. Prof. Dr Krasimir Nedyalkov to the Graduates of the Class of 2026
Dear Members of the University’s Management,
Dear Lecturers,
Proud Parents,
And you, dear graduates of Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”!
Dear Guests!
Today is not an ordinary day in our university’s academic calendar. Today is the day when your personal student symphony, composed over several years with hard work, sleepless nights and no small amount of coffee, reaches its magnificent crescendo!
When you first crossed the threshold of our university by the sea, years ago, you were like young musicians picking up an unfamiliar instrument for the first time. Some of you played a few wrong notes in your first lectures, others suffered from serious stage fright outside the examination rooms, while still others tried to tune the key of student life to the rhythm of Varna’s nightclubs. And yet, here you are today, in your academic gowns, and I see a perfectly tuned orchestra, ready to conquer the world’s stages.
As President of this university - and as someone who is proud to share a stage with colleagues and students in Varna Free Band - I know very well that education and music have a great deal in common: both require perfect coordination, countless rehearsals and the ability to improvise when things do not go quite according to the score.
Your time at Varna Free University was not always a gentle ballad in a minor key. There were moments of hard rock, intense jazz improvisations and, of course, the classic drama of examination season.
Do you remember your first semesters? Your lecturers showered you with reading lists that seemed longer and more incomprehensible than a Wagner musical score. When the time came for your first examination session, you quickly learnt what the term “staccato” meant: sharp, abrupt and hurried page-turning through lecture notes at four in the morning.
But you learnt to play in an ensemble. You realised that if one member of the group “plays out of tune” during a group project and sings the wrong note, the whole orchestra may receive a lower mark from the conductor (that is, the lecturer in charge). You mastered the art of “polyphony” - the ability to listen to a lecture on international law or architecture, chat on Messenger, plan a weekend party and still look as though you are experiencing a profound spiritual revelation at the lecturer’s words. This is not just studying; it is the art of conducting your own time at the highest level!
There were also moments of “pause” - those blessed hours in the university park or on the beach, where, guitar in hand or surrounded by good friends, you rehearsed the most important subject of all: the art of being young, free and inspired. Our university has the word “Free” in its name, and true freedom is like jazz - it only makes sense when you know the rules so well that you can break them with style.
No great performance is possible without good mentors. Your lecturers were your conductors. Sometimes they were strict, demanded perfection in every assignment and made you repeat exercises until you achieved the perfect note. I am sure that, when they returned your coursework, you sometimes thought they simply did not understand your “avant-garde style” and modern interpretation of science.
But today, as you hold your diplomas, you understand that they were not simply examining you - they were tuning your inner strings. They taught you not to settle for cheap pop tunes in your professional lives, but to aspire to complex, timeless compositions. They gave you the tuning fork of critical thinking, so that you would always be able to recognise discord in the world around you.
A special round of applause is also due to your most loyal audience - your parents, families and friends. They were the ones who paid for the tickets to your long tour called “higher education”. They put up with your solo rehearsals at home, your dramas before your final state examinations, and applauded you even when you yourselves were not sure you would make it to the end of the set. Today’s concert is a shared triumph, and their tears of joy in the audience are the purest melody you could ever hear.
Dear graduates, from today you leave the auditorium of Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar” and set off on your grand world tour. A vast marketplace lies ahead, one that will often expect you to play by someone else’s rules and, at times, to make your way through demanding solo performances.
Do not be concerned if, at first, you find yourself in an orchestra where the first violin is played by a more experienced colleague - or simply a louder one. What matters is that you never lose your own rhythm. Never forget that the best managers, lawyers, architects, psychologists, engineers and IT specialists are not those who reproduce other people’s texts, but those who know how to create original music of their own in their respective fields.
When you enter the labour market tomorrow and an employer asks you, “What can you do?”, do not simply show them your diploma. Show them that you can play in a team, that you are not afraid of complex scores and that, if life throws an unexpected hitch your way, you can change key immediately and keep moving forward without missing a beat. Because, as the great Freddie Mercury said, “The Show Must Go On”.
And if you ever find yourselves missing the sea, the sound of the waves, your fellow students or those carefree days, come back here. The stage of Varna Free University will always remain open to you, our alumni. We will always be delighted to welcome you back for another jam session together and to hear how far you have come in your personal journeys and achievements.
Dear young colleagues, hold your diplomas high! May your lives be an exciting, grand composition, filled with bright harmonies, true friends and unforgettable moments. I wish you to always play fortissimo - loudly, boldly and with all your heart!
Good luck, Class of 2026!
May your great crescendo begin now!
Read more about the event here