Congratulations, Class of 2022！
It has been customary for the dean to address the graduating class since the founding of School of Foreign Languages, Xinyang University. I’m greatly honored and thrilled to have the opportunity to represent all faculty members of SFL to deliver this commencement speech. It is a privilege to be here today with your classmates, your teachers and your friends on such an amazing and important day. Today is about celebration. You have so much to be proud of. You come from all parts of our country, your family backgrounds are diverse, yet you have spent four years learning and working together. In this vast cosmos, isn’t it a miracle? Isn’t it destiny that ties you together? Isn’t it something you should cherish about?
In the past 1460 days, you have proved your diligence, your intelligence, your perseverance, your tolerance and all other intangible power to us. As the saying goes, he laughs best who laughs last. You have shown that you are all winners! As your dean, I have grown and progressed together with you through thick and thin. This is really a great feeling! You have made our teachers’ life colorful, meaningful and wonderful! Thanks for your company, promising young fellows!
As you leave here to start the next stage of your journey in life, there will be days when you ask yourself, “Where is this all going?” ”What is my purpose?”“What I should do and what I can do?”To be quite honest，I asked myself the same questions and it took me 37 years to answer them.I still haven't found a satisfactory answer. A life without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder. Please aim high, meanwhile, be a down-to-earth person. The message I’d like to send here is that, no matter where you came from in the past, no matter you are still nobody at the present, you’ll be somebody in the future---You will be the salt of the earth, the great talents of our nation and the pillars of our country. Just as John Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Always hold the tender feelings of home and country, exhibit global vision at the same time. A foreign language is a weapon in the struggle of life. Make good use of foreign languages to tell Chinese stories well and spread Chinese voices well. Find who you are, accurately position your role on your career path and always do the right thing. Have high regard for yourself. You’re unique. Be open to different opinions, yet when you are convinced that your cause is proper and right, you should have the courage to maintain what you believe in. Even if you are strong enough to remove the obstacles of life and work, sometimes you will encounter an adverse event that will completely knock you on your back. You are not living alone on an island. You should cultivate team spirit, learn to cooperate with others. Use your minds and hands and your hearts to build something bigger than yourselves. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “All life is interrelated. We are all bound together into a single garment of destiny.” If you keep that idea at the forefront of all that you do, if you strive to create the best, give the best for everyone, not just for some, then all of humanity has good cause for hope.“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted”.
For most of you, in your future life, there won’t be so-called curriculum, classroom, reading-room or dormitory anymore. Please remember what the famous futurist Alvin Toffler has said: “The illiterate of the 21stcentury will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” There is no end to learning. You should keep the concept of life-long-learning in heart. You should continue to learn from books, friends, colleagues and society. Society is also a book, you need to read, to learn, to adapt. You should consciously integrate into society, to do a good job of identity transformation and role transfer. Knowledge is soft power, so you should always arm yourself with knowledge and be keen on learning new things and new technology. Wisdom in hold, elegance in mold. Keep up with the time & be a trendsetter of the time.
The future is full of uncertainties. Though people dislike uncertainties, yet uncertainties provide opportunities for both personal and professional growth. Don’t despair when you encounter difficulties and setbacks. Refuse to let worry and stress dominate your life. Adversity makes a man strong and wise and fortune favors the bold. Things will eventually sort themselves out. Come what may, heaven won’t fall. You’re the designer of your own happiness. You’re the master of your own life. If you desire to succeed in something, you must pay the price and stick firmly to it. Love what you do, be passionate about it and make the uttermost efforts to do it.
As Heaven keeps vigor through movement, a gentleman should unremittingly practice self-improvement. Strife and hard work is the theme of life. Be confident. Make the impossible possible. Believe that God helps those who help themselves.
I hope that you will always be enterprising and ambitious. Have a thorough knowledge of Chinese and western culture, get refined and cultivated internally and externally.
I hope that you’ll continue to pursue, to innovate and to surpass yourselves. Actions speak louder than words. “But to act, that each tomorrow find us farther than today.”
I wish you a safe journey.
I wish you all a bright future and all the best!
Welcome back from time to time to your Alma Mater and let us know of your progress and achievements in career and life.School of Foreign Languages, Xinyang University is your cozy haven & spiritual home forever and ever!
Good luck to you all!
By Luo Dexi (Dean of School of Foreign Languages)
May 23rd, 2022
