Opening Ceremony Speech for Freshmen of 2018

6 September 2018

Tao Wenhao

Good morning!

Boys and girls, faculty members, ladies and gentlemen.

First of all, congratulations to each one of you. Over endless tests, eagerly waiting and cross-country travelling, you have finally arrived at the School of Foreign Languages, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai. On behalf of the faculty members, I am extending my warmest welcome to all of you.

I think all of you must have had a remarkable summer vacation because you had been enrolled by BNUZ. Now you are here, which is the reward after your years of industrious learning and hard work. I assume many of you have travelled half of the country to get here. I hope you and your parents refreshed yourselves from the exhaustion of the journey and took the opportunity to tour around this beautiful city. I am pretty sure that many of you are very much impressed by the beauty of our scenic campus and what it represents. This is where you will spend the next four years or two years of your life. This is where your new dreams are realized and your potentials are explored. This is where your personal transcendence will be achieved.

Today marks a new chapter in your life, as well as once again a big step forward of the development of our school. Now I would like to make an introduction to the School of Foreign Languages, BNUZ.

The School of Foreign Languages was founded in 2003. There are about 80 teachers and faculty members, which makes our school one of the biggest in BNUZ. The achievements are inseparable from years of effort and commitment of all staff members. Our excellent teachers all have been dedicating themselves in teaching and in helping students in every possible way.

Over half of the teachers are native speakers. These native teachers are here by travelling across the oceans for their love for education, for Chinese students as well as for Chinese culture. They share their passion by fulfilling teaching practices and offering alternative insights in the School of Foreign Languages. The Chinese teachers also have sweated away at construction and betterment of our school. I am happy to tell you that more than 80% of Chinese staff members hold an overseas degree. Their understanding of both Eastern and Western cultures helps to create an open and resourceful learning environment, thus making our language programs and courses more diverse and rewarding.

The School of Foreign Languages has been carrying innovation of language and teaching as her mission since the day it was founded. Now this fast-developing world and ever-changing market only reinforced my belief in this mission more than ever, which brings me to introduce to you our programs highlighting bilingual orientation such as English-French orientation, English-Portuguese orientation for English majors to expand their language capabilities to meet their future challenges with a winning edge. For Japanese majors, their program is complemented with the most widely used language as Japanese-English orientation for the students’ competitiveness against their peers on both job market and Master program application. The employment rate of this year, 2018 graduates scaled new heights by reaching 98.61%. Almost 20% students have been admitted to Master programs that they dreamed of. The fulfillment of these dreams relies on the school’s full-around support, on faculty members’ tireless guide, but most importantly, it relies on students’ own effort and perseverance.

Indeed, we have come a long way to be where we are today, but today is about you. Today, you embark on a new journey to explore the unknown of the school, of the world and of yourselves. As your dean who has witnessed thousands of students going through this phase, I would like to offer two suggestions:

First, respect your time. You are at the prime of your life. Every hour, every minute, every second is precious. Your time should be spent in expanding your knowledge, cultivating your interest and nourishing your soul. You yourself are the most valuable assets of investment. As the old saying goes, “As a man sows, so he shall reap.” You are here today because you worked hard before, where you are four years later lies in every minute you are willing to invest in yourself. Unfortunately, in a society flooded with multimedia and mass information, we are surrounded by instant chatting, celebrity gossip and live-streaming. Time easily slips away as our fingers casually slide across the mobile phone screen. Even in this efficiency-worshiping culture and era, where “Time is money” is like a propaganda, people often find their attention stolen by their phones, got away from their families and friends, away from what is truly meaningful to the growth of one’s heart and soul, away from one’s dreams. And it is such a waste of the gift equally endowed to each of us. Respect your time, make wise use of it. Forget “time is money”, as it is more precious than any type of currency or jewelry.

My next suggestion is to embrace the fun of reading. I am not talking about textbooks today so you can relax. I am talking about other books as the refinement of human knowledge, the books of human wisdom from generation to generation. With over a million of paper books and two million E-books, our library is on your side. As it is said, “Books are the best friends. No matter what difficulties you will meet with in life, you can turn to them for help and they will never discard you”. For confusion, reading will lead to solutions and show you the struggle for a solution is what truly count; for sadness, reading will bring comfort and condolence and expose you to the complexity and beauty of human emotions; for loneliness, reading will serve as the best companion and enlighten you. Reading is the best way to understand yourself and see clearly who you are.

Boys and girls, this is maybe the first time for some of you to be this far away from your home, and maybe the first time to be away from your parents. You will meet new challenges; and you will meet new opportunities at the same time. You will make new friends; and you will make new progress. There is much to look forward to, and I look forward to your growth and maturity in the next four or two years. Today, it is time to weave your own dreams.

Thank you.