At 4:30 P.M., August 30, the opening ceremony for 2017 postgraduates of the School of Social Sciences was held in the multi-function hall of Xiong Zhixing Building. Members of school affairs meeting such as Peng Kaiping, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Liu Taoxiong, Secretary of the Party Committee, along with teacher representatives from departments and institutes attended the ceremony. Over 200 postgraduate freshmen in 2017 of the School of Social Sciences and some parents also attended the ceremony. This ceremony is hosted by Zhang Chenggang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Social Sciences.
In his speech, Peng Kaiping welcomed and congratulated on the arrival of the 2017 postgraduate freshmen, and introduced the skills, requirements, responsibilities and visions necessary to becoming a “young social scientist”. Peng said that with a long and glorious history and a tradition that gathers talents, the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University is independent, practice-oriented and responsible. Peng believes the basic sense of responsibility students should nurture includes knowing how to make choices and having the willingness to bear responsibilities. He told students to respect fact, reason and logic and encouraged them to be open to criticism and have a sense of ownership. Lastly, Peng urged the audience to see the world with a clear mind, calmly analyze basic laws of human activities, and assume the mission vested by the era and the future.
The opening ceremony officially kicked off with the accompany of the national anthem. Firstly, Zhang Chenggang briefly introduced the overall situation of the 2017 postgraduates: a total of 204 postgraduates from 12 countries, of which 29 are overseas students, are enrolled in the School of Social Sciences for the year 2017.
Then, Zhang Xiaoyu, a sophomore postgraduate at the Institute of Economics of the School of Social Sciences delivered a speech as a current student representative. Zhang welcomed the freshmen on behalf of the current students and encouraged them to find preciseness, innovation and life-long guidance in the beautiful Tsinghua and the both ancient and modern School of Social Sciences. She hoped everybody may march towards a promising course of life with determination and courage.
Jing Wenkai from the Department of International Relations delivered a speech as a freshman representative. Jing also gave a speech as a freshman representative at the opening ceremony for 2017 postgraduates of Tsinghua University this morning. He shared his thoughts as a freshman to Tsinghua and promised to nurture courage during the process of defeating setbacks, assume responsibility with actions rather than words, and employ emotions in the process of achieving ideals. He also called upon students to embark on a new academic route at Tsinghua with an earnest heart towards social sciences.
David Heiner from Colombia delivered a speech in Chinese and English as an overseas freshman representative. He said studying at Tsinghua is a common hope of domestic and overseas students. He also thanked leaders, teachers and students for their help to overseas students. David shared his very own recipes of “self-studying”, “doing as the Romans do” and “making the most of every opportunity Tsinghua offers”, and hoped he may learn and make progress together with the audience in the following days.
Luo Jiade from the Department of Sociology gave a speech as a teacher representative. He send the message “do your best” to the freshmen and urged the students to do their best. In referring to his own working experience, Prof. Luo advised the audience to be down-to-earth and perseverant. He also advised students to become better at cooperating in the current environment where social science research theory and method are sharply changing.
The opening ceremony is an important lesson for the 2017 freshmen of the School of Social Sciences at the beginning of their arrival. It is an enlightening, motivational, beneficial and inspiring lesson. May every freshman set a clear dream, march forward bravely and harvest greatly with the soon-to-begin new school life!
