For Immediate Release
Office of Mrs. Bush
January 8, 2003
Remarks for Mrs. Bush Renganaden Seeneevassen State Secondary Girls School
AS DELIVERED
Bon Jour, Hello, and Happy New Year from your friends in the United
States of America. As a New Year dawns, it brings renewed hope for a
better and brighter future. The key to a brighter future for each of
you is to do your very best in school.
With education comes greater self-respect, and respect for others.
With education comes greater understanding and acceptance. And a good
education gives you the confidence and skills you need for a lifetime
of learning and a lifetime of possibility.
Your love of learning will inspire you to share what you learn with
your brothers and sisters, and your parents and friends. You may even
become a teacher someday. As a former teacher, I know myself how
wonderful teaching can be. I commend your teachers for their hard work
and dedication. And for their commitment to bring the International
Studies Partnership with Fayette County High School to Mauritius.
Through this partnership, you will meet and share ideas with
students in the state of Tennessee in the United States. Tennessee is
more than 18 thousand miles away from Mauritius. It would take you 15
hours, nearly a whole day, to get there by airplane. But through
technology, you will be able to visit with other students anytime with
just a click of a button. And as you work and learn together, I hope
you will develop great friendships and a greater appreciation for the
diversity that make our countries so special.
As a symbol of our friendship and our commitment to learning
together, I am pleased to present you with a gift of beautiful, new
books. You may read these books in Mauritius, but their pages will take
you to many new worlds and on many new adventures.
For example, did you know that scientists found a human skeleton
that was more than seven million-years-old in Central Africa? You'll
learn about this and so much more through reading and books.
That's the true gift of education. It opens the world to us and a
world of possibility to every one who wants to learn. I wish you great
success, learning and happy reading in this new year. And I hope that
you'll share all that you learn with your new friends in Tennessee.
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