Hello, everyone. I am Kong Xiangrui, a student in PPEenrolledat Xinya College in 2016. I am honored to make the speech on behalf of the graduates. Frankly speaking, I was very frightened and confused when I received the notice. Is the class a whole that can be represented? Four years ago, we came to Xinya from around China, and today we will go our separate ways with degrees in12 different majors. What does our class mean under the same term besides its academic status? Today, I would like to share some of my views on this subject.

The first keyword for the class is "brave". We are the first students taken by Xinya College through thecollegeentrance examination. I still remember that there was a program at the evening party to welcome newcomers during the military training, in which the names of all departments would bementioned and linked in the form of cross talk. Each time a name was mentioned, there would be a burst of cheers from the corresponding area. The over 60 of us were sitting there, holding both hands for several minutes and hearing the cheers from more than 20 departments, only to find that there was no Xinya at all. Since then, we embarked on the journey of sending emails to various places. The cross talk program was just a small episode. The real trouble back then was that there was no such an option of Xinya College in the questionnaires or systems of many departments at all levels in the university. All the colleges and departments didn't know how to make liaison with students from Xinya College. Though teachers at Xinya were already too busy to take care of all the details, many more problems had to be found and solved by ourselves. There was no student organization at Xinya College in the first place. Almost all the organizations such as the Academic Association,theYouth League Committee, andtheScience and Technology Association were founded or well developed by us. What about student festivals, Winter Solstice, and class activities? No one knew about it. We had a white piece of paper in front of us, and we needed to do all that clumsily with great efforts. Therefore, "we make progress together with Xinya" is not rhetoric, but a statement of facts. To a large extent, the "confidence, initiative, and communication" that Mr. Ruan Dong often stressed is not an option but necessity for us.

But surging forward recklessly does not work all the time. Compared with these chores, Xinya itself is the real test. Unlike most of our peers, we did not choose a major within the few days after the college entrance examination score was announced. We made the important choice in the second semester of the first year. It's not just a matter of time. The real problem is that we can no longer rely on the will of our parents or the contingency of test scores. We must directly face the uncertainty that always accompanies choices in real life, and learn to take responsibility for our own life. Working hard only functions to postpone, but cannot remove the confusion and fear of taking responsibility for our own life brought about by this great freedom of choice. We must think about what we want to do and who we want to be, and find our own interests because only when we think clearly about what we want can we have the courage to give up on other temptations and to face the uncertainty of the future. Therefore, I think the second keyword is "interest".

It is a personal thing though; it is by no means a blind act. It is figured out after we take the general and specialized courses and interact with peers and teachers. For that reason, it is different from a simple decision or desire and will accompany us into the fog of life like a compass in our hands. I have thus summarized the third keyword as "community". This is of course first a "community of love" and then a "community of learning". Although strictly speaking, we only took the same lessons in the freshman year, and read only a dozen books or so together, the general education experience did not influence us only by helping improve our literary and scientific knowledge or reading and writing abilities. Rather, it enabled us to know that human spirit can reach such a height by dint of teachers and classics, and that people can live this way. Even if we can’t reach it ourselves and even if we only get a glimpse of it at a certain moment in a certain class, some problems will no longer be problems most often as long as you see some people or things for yourself. The community of Xinya is a unique existence to embrace the differences, and encourage us to embark on our own unique ways. Although we have different aspirations, we share a spirit in us. In this sense, I think we can call it a "community of aspirations".

Of course, all of the above are not confined to our class. Courage, interest, and community may be common to all people at Xinya College to a large extent. Here, I would also like to tell lower grades on behalf of our class that we may serve as examples for you but it is likely to bring you limitations. I hope you will always know that the path in front of you is not a frame. Not long ago, it was a path out of the wilderness, but there are always infinite possibilities before you to be explored. Xinya should always be changing and elegant.

We will graduate and say goodbye today. Here, on behalf of the entire class, I would like to express gratitude to all teachers. Thanks to the school leaders and various offices for their great contributions for us. Thanks to teachers at the School of Architecture, School of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Electronic Engineering, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Department of Automation, School of Software, Department of Physics, School of Economics and Management, School of Humanities, School of Social Sciences, School of Law, Academy of Arts and Design, School of Life Sciences and other schools and departments, without whose cultivation and dedication, we would not be what we are today. Thanks to Zheng Li, Gan Yang, Ruan Dong, Cao Li, Zhao Xiaoli, Weng Hekai and other teachers at the administrative council of Xinya College, without whose fearlessness in founding a college and contribution to the administrative affairs at the expense of academic input, there would be no Xinya. We would like to thank form teachers Jiang Kaili and Gao Jin, and all the other teachers who taught the general courses for endowing us with a glimpse of the height of the human spirit. We would like to thank Mr. Jin Feng and Mr. Zhang Weite at the leading group for student work at Xinya, as well as eight counselors including Wu Jiayang, Liu Tuo, Zhu Xinyu, Lyu Yuxin, Guo Yutao, Xu Wangrui, Chen Hongzhong and Huang Peilun for blazing the trail along with us. We would like to thank Wang Liping, Zhang Jingfang, Wang Xiaojing, Zhang Wenjing, Liu Wei, Zhang Yu and other teachers from thedeans’ office of Xinya College. We know the fact that all of us can participate in the graduation ceremony today is not accidental, but the result of these teachers communicating with other departments in advance to avoid the coincidence of time. It is just one of the many things they did for us over the past four years. Thanks to the seniors and fellow students from various departments for accepting us and bringing us warmth. Finally, we would like to thank the parents and other elders in front of the screen. If it was held on the site today, I’m sure you will be sitting in the back row quietly as you did at the opening ceremony. You have been the strongest support for us away from home for the past four years.

Before parting, I must confess that we did not always meet the expectations of the teachers. We read the six novels written by Jane Austen in the first class upon our entrance. Mr. Gan told us to go on a date, but now many of us are still single including me (laughing). It is probably a tension in general education. Indeed, there is still a long way to go from learning to live and learning to be a good person in the classroom before we can truly turn ourselves into good persons and live a good life. Most of us are about to say goodbye to the status of an undergraduate and start a new journey. The year of 2020 has brought out the inherent uncertainty of life in extreme ways. Where will we go in the future? What would the class as a whole look like then? I have no idea. The road ahead is still long and full of uncertainties like never before, but we are ready.

Thank you all!

(It is the speech made by Kong Xiangrui at the graduation ceremony on behalf of graduates from Xinya College in 2020)