My Graduate Speech

My dearest professors, schoolmates, friends, faculties and parents,

How far we have gone through together to reach today!

The world has been changed a lot. Just four years ago we went into this campus, as young freshman, wandered through the empty streets, imaging we are in Hogwarts. We struggled to meet those thousands of deadlines, getting through all the projects and reports, consuming all of our passion dealing with team project, working just as the continue of our high school life, or even more exhausted. Besides, Covid-19 wrapped over the world, making us despite passing common exams, also need to pass thousands of COVID tests.

But despite all of these, we manage to be here. So, congratulations to us all!

It’s hard to find another school like ours in China or even in the world.

We study in English on the land of China, and learning from both schools, UIUC and Zhejiang University. These give us chances to explore the world from a real “world vision”.

As we all can feel today, enormous powers try to separate the world apart, and quick developing internet is demoralizing some individuals. When the covid-19 making people putting on masks, keep social distance, separated the world further, we still obtained the view to study globally, thanks to the platform provided by our college.

We know that many of us have cooperation projects with professors from American, Singapore, Italian and so many other countries and needless to say we cooperate with our classmates from UIUC, all over the world. There is a belief inside, conveyed by our campus. It’s what we can do and just do as we want. Since we are the ones who have the energy and can make a difference to the world.

We speak up and give Chinese voice in the projects. And many of us have taken part in the most advanced projects and directions of the world’s development, without even noticing it.

As Shakespeare put it, someone born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

In life, we cannot count on being born great, or having greatness just thrust upon us, But we should always remember that we have the opportunities to be great, or just make changes.

We may not have noticed yet that we have already had the ability to do so.

Dear my schoolmates, we are the pioneers of this college.

When we made the choice to study here, there were only over two hundred students and no graduate.

we have taken steps onto the undeveloped roads, being the pioneer to start a new age. We have this courage.

So, now it’s times for us.

To do what we just want to do, do not wait for the others to take action, do not trapped in self-doubt that, “do I deserve it?” , and also that’s why I am here, Just going forward to make changes through our own action, Chasing our values, not only for ourselves, but really take the world going forward.

What will we do in the future?

Now, after graduation, we will go to purchasing master and doctor degrees, or starting career in different parts around the world.

But I remember the time when our team volunteer teaching in Guizhou province. The students we taught there were just 12 years old, and what their teachers do is pleading them to go to junior high school rather than just staying at home to farm.

Please always ask ourselves, what can we do and should we do, to the world.

We never farm, but we enjoy the food. We never weave, but wearing new clothes, catching on fashion. In our campus, we just go to classroom day by day to have our classes. Laboratories, playground, discussion rooms, they are waiting for us just if we need. We can form the clubs just as we want, and just the same for starting research projects which just in our interest. We can gain the thoughts that we can do just as we want to do with fully support by our back, to pursue our craziest dreams. And meanwhile, to solve problems using our most powerful tool, knowledge and skills.

As we all known, the problems we face today, for our generation, are shared developing problems for the world, for human beings. Disaster, War, those things cannot separate us apart. These cannot stop us learning from each other, to unify the world to a better future.

Now, we will go to different parts of the earth. We take our place in the world, to show our ability and tell our stories. We can speak up our voice and solution to the shared problems which human beings are facing all over the world. Combining with the characteristics of education here, we can make use of our Chinese thinking style, leading the world to agree or disagree.

That’s what we dream the world to be.

Needless to say, the road forward may not as smooth as we wish to be.

It may take decades to reach the breakthrough we want especially for us who will go onto the research path.

The common and repeated days will sink our passion.

We may have soul crushing debugging nights over nights.

Trust the wrong person, take mistakes, facing injustice.

The challenges of life will bring us much confusion, even doubt on our believes.

But once we encounter such a day, please believe that we all have the ability to make changes. Please review the golden ages we have spent here, ask ourselves again, what am I going to do? Who am I going to be? Why do I choose to be a pioneer? Why do I choose the undeveloped road? Just as Chu kochen, our old principle of Zhejiang University and our schoolmate from UIUC, asked us to keep in mind since our first day here.

These four years will undoubtedly take place whenever we look back our life.

The friendship we formed here will always be supporting us.

Wonderful parents have supported us in our pursuit of educational enrichment.

So now, let us take steps to the future.

May the passion, determination and belief always be inside our minds.

May us pursue the truth, make innovation, and unify the world to the shared future.

Thank you all for taking the time to be together.

Thank you all for the four years we share together.

Thank you.