dear freshmen, ladies and gentlemen:
good afternoon!
it’s a big ceremony for our school today: it’s joyous and memorable, for you, the new students, young and fresh, have come to join us. the constant leave and arrival of students verify the unique vitality of the university. here on behalf of our school--- school of international studies, i extend our warm welcome and express our gratitude to all the freshmen, no matter whether you willingly or reluctantly chose to come to our school, to become members of our big family.
you may have assumed that the university is the place where you are to be prepared for your future career, just as james duderstadt, professor, educator and former president of michigan university claims: one of the university’s aims is to equip the students with knowledge and ration, in order to make them fine citizens and enable them to have a meaningful , the university does that thing. but more important, as mr liang qichao explained, what an university really does is to have students “learn to be a man”, that is , to be “a knowledgeable man free from perplexity, a benevolent man free from worry, a courageous man free from fear” . to him, all the disciplines and knowledge the university provides for you are “just means for the makings of man, but not the end in themselves”. then, a question may be asked: how to be a man free from perplexity, worry and fear, a man useful for human kind, the country and your family?
in chinese culture, the traditional value has it: aspiration makes a man. my first word of advice to you, therefore, is asperation. wang yangming, a chinese scholar of ming dynasty, believes : “without aspiration, one can reach no where.” mr. yang changji, teacher of mao zedong, told mao and his classmates: “one’s final achievements depend largely on his aspiration. aimless, a born-talent will end up a mediocrity; aspirated, a common person can turn into a great man.” all of us have witnessed their final accomplishments. young learners as we are now, we should also set up great aspiration for our life , as early as possible, for ambition can guide us forward toward our goal despite any obstacles, distractions and difficulties, so that we can make best use of university stay time, during which we are supposed to be most vigorous in vitality, thirsty for knowledge, powerful in creativity, and flexible in character shaping, to enrich ourselves by reading as much as possible, to achieve “great knowledge”, and form “great vision”, so as to lay a sound foundation for our future career. yu guangzhong , well-known chinese poet, believes: “aspiration makes a man outstanding”, which was proved by mr. ma yun who once told the students of qinghua university when he was making a speech there: congratulations to you, for you were taken in by a very good university in china--only second to hangzhou teachers’ college. ma set up his ambition when he was a student at hangzhou teacher’s college, and finally rose to become one of the most successful businessmen in the country. this proves a fact: success belittles one’s background. now, as students of sis, we might as well cherish such lofty conviction: “we are mere students of foreign languages today, we are certain to bring honour to our alma mater someday.”
the actualization of aspiration calls for perseverance which is my second word of advice for you. benjamin franklin wrote: “i have never seen a man who is up early in the morning, hard-working, prudent and honest complains that the fate is unfair for him. the one who has fine characters, good habits, and strong will-power can never be defeated by such thing known as ‘fate’.” again, ma yun met his failure 16 years ago at new york, but he did not give up his effort, and 15 years later in XX, he brought the biggest transaction of ipo to new york stock market ever in its history. perseverance is the driving force for the realization of one’s expectation. confronted by today’s materialistic trends and temptations of all kinds, the more determined one is with his aim, the more likely he is to be successful. perseverance means constant effort, which finds no substitute. success of any sort can be obtained only through hard work, just as nietzsche put it: “if there is really a miracle in the world, it is only another name for exertion.” one’s patience can predetermine his pursuit level: he who expects immediate return of his every effort can only be suitable for hourly worker. perseverance also means some abandons: to give up those things or doings that hinder the achievement of one’s goal. let’s review the the teaching of makarenko, famous educator of soviet union: “strong will does not necessarily mean the ability to acquire what one desires. it also means the ability to force oneself to give up something when necessary.” we may ask ourselves, therefore, whether such bad habits of procrastination, idleness and undue hedonism, commonly seen among youngsters today, have been corrupting our will and forming obstructions to the realization of our aspiration?
学识谷
