On April 29, the graduates and members of the HSZG celebrated this year's central graduation ceremony together.
The road was sometimes long and arduous, but always instructive and worthwhile! With this realization in mind, which had less to do with the graduates' choice of seats at the disenrolment ceremony in the Zittau assembly hall than with the memories of their recent studies, the invited graduates celebrated this year's central graduation ceremony last Saturday, 29 April 2017.
The ceremony began with the disenrolment (from university) at 1:30 pm in the auditorium in Zittau, where Rector Prof. Albrecht first addressed the graduates and guests, followed by welcoming words from the Mayor of Zittau, Thomas Zenker. In his speech, he made it clear, among other things, that despite the economic construction sites that still exist in Zittau and the region, it is worthwhile gaining a professional foothold here.
Many graduates have succeeded in doing so. Martin Quinque, for example, who settled down professionally with his practice partner, MBN Maschinenbaubetriebe Neugersdorf GmbH, after completing his Diplom thesis in mechanical engineering. The Diplom engineer is not only a graduate, but also one of six recipients of the prize awarded by the Förderverein der Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz e. V. for outstanding academic achievements, which was presented for the first time this year as part of the disenrolment (from university) ceremony.
All six faculties have the opportunity to nominate a student for this award. The prize is awarded for the best academic achievement based on the grade point average, with special consideration given to the final thesis. The criterion is a grade point average of better than 2.0. An overview of all award winners, their theses and supervisors can be found here.
Following the farewells to the graduates of the individual faculties, which were accompanied by music from the "Mandau Quartet", the gathering in Zittau Student Park followed at around 3:30 p.m. for the joint naming of the graduates' tree.
The mountain maple, which was christened by the Vice President Education and International Affairs, Prof. Christa Maria Heidger, is now the 39th tree to be planted in the student park since its foundation in 2009.
Despite the occasionally stormy weather, hundreds of green balloons were released into the Zittau sky for the fourth time, allowing former students of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences to send their wishes and dreams.
From 6 p.m., the doors of the Zittau Volkshaus opened for the first time to the graduates and their companions. After the last faculty photo had been taken and the sumptuous buffet had been stormed, the Liberec "Big 'O' Band" took over the musical helm in the ballroom. With a mixture of swing, funk rock and pop, the band ensured that all generations represented in the hall had a pure joy of dancing and living, before the party continued deep into the night to DJ music.
We congratulate all graduates of this year's graduation ceremony and wish them all the best for the future.
Text: Cornelia Rothe, M.A.
