Speech by Dr. Yuzong Lu, Chairman of Guanghau Education
Dear students and teachers, friends and parents, distinguished guests:
Good afternoon! It’s a huge pleasure to be gathering with you to celebrate not only the GHCIS graduation ceremony, but also the 10-year anniversary of GHCIS.
Whenever it comes to the time of graduation, the campus is always filled with the atmosphere of fruition and separation, especially for our teachers, who watch as their students embark on a new journey confidently, they feel not only proud and ecstatic, but also sad. This year’s graduation season is ever more extraordinary, since what all the students here are witnessing, is the 10-year anniversary of GHCIS. You are special, not only because you produced the shiniest results for the past decade, but also because you guys endured rapidly changing global situations, as well as the impact of COVID-19, these are all historical events that are closely related to the destiny of humanity. In this uncertain world, we fought relentlessly for a certain target. To our joy, you were given huge expectations, and you delivered beyond everybody’s imagination. Here, I’d like to represent all staff members of the Guanghua Education Group, to congratulate the achievements of all the students, and also sincerely thank the parents that accompany you for choosing us!
As I walk into the building, I see confidence and joy on everyone’s face, without a trace of the sorrow of separation. I can’t help but think of the day I graduated out of high school, when everyone was in tears, because we thought it would be near impossible for us to meet again after we part ways. Nowadays, you may be amused to hear this, but this is the truth, back then, we didn’t have the convenient transportation we have now, not to mention wechat. Graduation and leaving home, typically means losing contact for a long time. But today, we live in a world where travelling is so easy, and technology is so advanced. Even if we are on two ends of the world, we can share our lives and keep precious friendships through the internet, which reminds me of quantum entanglement. From this perspective, you are a lucky generation. But on the other hand, you also face the most complicated challenges, and bear the heaviest duties. Look around us, not only is the coronavirus pandemic still raging on, but there’s also regional conflicts, racial and sexual discrimination, environmental damage, and all other ugly things are still happening non stop around the world.
As a result, every graduation season is also an exam season for the teachers and staff of Guanghua, including myself. Because at Guanghua, we are always thinking, what kind of education are we doing, what kind of knowledge we are going to teacher our kids, how can they fearlessly face the future? I believe, with over 10 years of practice and thoughts, we may have found some answers. I’d like to share with you today:
First and foremost, it’s the global vision. Graduating from Guanghua means that you will step outside the country to face different cultures, as well as social and political systems. This is both an impact and challenge for everyone, but also invaluable experiences. Here, I’d like to remind everybody that whether you return home in the future or not, and no matter what industry you will be in, the trend of globalization is irreversible. In this process, apart from solid academic knowledge, I would also recommend everyone to get exposed to history, politics, philosophy, and even religion knowledges, so that you can learn from different perspectives and broaden your visions. Please remember, only after accepting different opinions, can one develop an independent and open mind, forgiveness for cultures, stay true to your principles, and be flexible when dealing with problems. This is the core of Guanghua’s global vision. Developing a global vision will give us confidence when facing the sophisticated multi-dimensional world.
Next, I want to talk about civic awareness. Repaying the society is not always a grand topic. In fact, at Guanghua we have a long history of that. For instance, our volunteer teaching society has been established since a decade ago in 2011. Teachers and students’ footprints spread all over Yunnan, Ningxia, Jiangxi, Gansu, Anhui province and more; Last year during the pandemic, many teachers, students and parents actively donated money, the total donation surpassed 2 million, we gathered the power of Guanghua to fight alongside the rest of the world; This May, we just donated another 10 million, to set up the Tongji University Guanghua education innovation foundation, which aims at promoting humanism, education innovation, building a prominent think tank, aiding the high quality developments of Tongji, and making the light of humanism shine over Tongji university. Our students come from different backgrounds, but where you come from is not of my concern. What I care about is what you will become after arriving in Guanghua. I hope, your experiences in Guanghua, will give you a new identity, that is Guanghua people. This name represents valor and responsibility. I hope all Guanghua people can proudly say that they are qualified global citizens!
Lastly, I want to emphasize the spirit of innovation. Professor Qian yingyi, who was once the director of the Tsinghua university management school, said that the most valuable aspect of fundamental education is to keep students’ curiosity and innovativeness. Actually, fostering innovation has always been Guanghua’s endeavor. We have various societies, competitions and events, ranging from academics, sports, arts and so on. These are seemingly irrelevant to graduation, but they are a stage for you to show your personalities and discover your potentials. Today, the speed, broadness and depth of technical advances far exceed our wildest imaginations. The knowledge and skills we are learning today, as well as the profession and expertise that we are familiar with, may be replaced or completely overhauled at any time by the ever-evolving technologies, this will present a big challenge for each and every one of us. However, the advantages we have over machines, is that we have the ability to innovate. Innovation can let us break the norm, and leap forward; Innovation can help us look far into the future that is yet to come. This year, we revived the ‘Dream lab’. This is one of the most significant education innovative measures we have taken, it gathers elites and resources, creates and imports the most prestigious education and innovation services in the world, for the sole purpose of providing a career platform for Guanghua graduates and young talents! We know that, a lot of the parents and guests sitting below are outstanding figures in your respective industries, many of you have witnessed and even shaped the unbelievable reforms and developments that China has gone through in the past four decades. We sincerely hope more people could join forces in the various innovative education activities we have, including but not limited to online and offline courses, lectures, or themed seminars, innovative training, project revision and so much more. We wish you can contribute cutting-edge innovative practices and thinkings, pass on your rich life experiences and lessons, and let’s utilise these most precious wealths, to awaken the innovative power within the young generation, let’s witness and guide their continuous growth!
Dear students! After you leave Guanghua, you will venture into an unfamiliar country, and welcome a new chapter in your lives. But please remember, you are always Guanghua people! Your alma mater will keep an eye on you, what you do will shape the future of the world. As such, I wish you all stay curious about the world, stay respectful to the nature, stay responsible for the society. I believe, Guanghua people will not be absent in building a better future.
The other theme today is the 10-year anniversary of GHCIS. I still remember the scenes from my first conversation with Dr. Lei dongdong, common educational ideals and visions tie us closely together. Since the inception of GHCIS, the team led by Dr. Lei worked tirelessly, kept exploring and overcame tremendous difficulties to achieve such spectacular results, they fought their way through an utterly competitive environment, and discovered their own development path, they perfectly summed up our slogan “To be the best of yourself”. On this occasion, I’d like to thank all staff members for your hard works and contributions on behalf of the Guanghua Education Group, and I hope you can go a long long way.
GHCIS is the most critical component of the Guanghua Education Group, its growth is also a reflection of the developments of the Guanghua Education Group. Over a decade, with the joint effort of all Guanghua people, we evolved from 11 students in one campus into over 10,000 students in more than 10 campuses, our targets are clearer, educations are higher quality, our social influence and core strength keep improving, the education business of Guanghua has gone a long way. Looking ahead, we are full of confidence that we can keep moving forward consistently in terms of delivering better education.
Now, before our kids make their voyages, I want to again give thanks to all the teachers and parents, because of you, you made Guanghua stand today, and it will always be home to our kids. Let’s wish all our kids a healthy life and a bright future. And let’s build a warm harbor together for them to come back and visit!
Dear students, today I’m privileged to be with you, you are the pride of Guanghua! For the next decade, let us work together, and run towards our ideals!