Seize the Day

——Freshman Address to the Class of 2022

October 7, 2018

Zhang DONGMEI

Dearfreshers of 2018,Class of 2022,

Good evening.

It is my privilege as dean of thecollegeto welcome you toCollegeof Foreign languages: I welcome you most cordially, both personally and on behalf of faculty and the student body. We are glad you have come to us and hope you will find this college a place where you may spend four satisfactory years. These will be years of self-development---self-development alongintellectual lines and as human beings.We greet you as the present and the future ofCFL.

Today is an important dayforyou; it issomething that I know you’ve worked hard to achieve.Today is an important dayforyou; it is a day when youcross into a new stage of your life.Today is more thanimportant: it is critical to the rest of your life and, by implication, to generations of your family who will follow you.

I would likeyouto start things off by takinga quiet moment to acknowledge your privileges and your blessings, and be sure to thankpeoplewhoarehere ornot here fortheircommitmentsto your success. You have all been blessed numerous times over with remarkable abilities. You might excel atcreative writingorpublic speaking. You might have a gift topaintorsingordance. That aside, these blessings brought you here … but only in part. But what you also have to realize is how others,within andbeyond your family, had a role in your success. I’m sure that with little effort you all can make a long list of people who deserve some recognition and appreciation:parents, grandparents, teachers,best friends, neighbours,guidance counselors, chess club instructors, principals. On this special day that is all about you, do the proper and generous thing and make someone else’s day special by thanking them, in writing.

As you count and share your blessings, reflect for a moment on who you are,how far you have travelled to get here, what you are supposed to do,and who you are to become.Today you are going to make a decision, either consciously or by default, about how you are going to approach the next 4 years of your chosen undergraduate course. And that choice willaffect you for the rest of your life as well as, as I said, generations to come.

Distilled down to basics, you have a choice between just two alternatives: On the one hand, to recognise and accept that an investment of your intellect, diligence and sense of duty to your family will bring you a sense of inner satisfaction, impossible to experience elsewhere, as well as bring value to your family and to our Nation,

or

On the other hand to decide - actually to ‘not-decide’ - that this investment, which sounds like hard work, can be delayed for a few weeks or months while you have a chance to enjoy the many interesting activities, diversions and pleasures of life on campus, free and away from home.

Let me say right away that our experience in the teaching staff, which we share in common with other Faculties, other Universities in our Province or in our Nation or within in any nation with an advanced education system is that new students who choose, usually not intentionally, but by default, not to commit themselves fully to their course of study from the very beginning, find themselves swimming against a tide which grows relentlessly stronger with each week that passes. Even as you grow in ability to handle the course work, there is always a steadily growing “bow wave” of outstanding assignments to complete. You will always be late. We increase the demands on you in this way because you are growing intellectually stronger through the teaching you receive. We expect you to be able to carry an increasing burden of learning. In this way we are able to cover the field of knowledge that you requite to allow you to compete, to make you successful, in the world of work—locally, nationally and internationally, within what you will find to be but a brief period of your life. It is a challenge for us as well as you.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to make the right decision – the decision to commit yourself to your chosen course of study – right from the start. This opportunity will not come to you again. Already for many of you, your family has made a huge sacrifice in enabling you to continue your education at University. They have chosen to forego many pleasurable and interesting activities that would normally come to parents at their age. They have not done this solely because they cherish you dearly but because they want to secure themselves and yourselves and future generations against the challenges of the future.So make your decision wisely and make it very soon.As the Latin saying goes: “Carpe Diem” which literally means ‘seize the day’. ‘SEIZE THE DAY!’

As foreign language majors, we are going to develop anability to ensurethat useful, correct, accurate and culturally respectful words are used in our and other languages, whichhas an important role to play among the peoples of earth as we seek to move to our future.Wewill be dealing with words, and words arepowerful as well wasdangerous: they have meanings, often powerful meanings which can be chosen unwisely or mis-applied, resulting in avoidable conflict, pain and suffering. Those unintended meanings might not be benign and docile creatures; more often they writhe and thrash around in word-space, seeking to satisfy the secret desires of those who utter them and those who consume them. It may well beourduty one day to enter this hostile word-space environment to ensure that the words and meanings exchanged between communities, between companies, between countries are helpful to the human race, rather than hurting, as is so often the case today. Acquiring that ability is a great challenge.

The duty to produce words with helpful meaning in our and other languages is one of the highest callings we can aspire to. We can make or destroy worlds through our words. Perhaps words should be licensed, to be used only by those who have proven their ability to handle and control them, in front of independent and qualified assessors. It is part of our mission to equip you with these skills by creating an environment in which you can learn and acquire skills, knowledge and wisdom.Yes, here in University—by sitting at the feet of great teachers, absorbing the ideas of great thinkers from history through their writings, doing your own research, discussion and debating with your fellow students within an environment of healthy critical thinking.Herein this university, we havebuiltan academic echelon which takes both young and middle aged teachers to share a strong effect on development and a constant flow of a spirit of innovation. This is for your significant benefit; exploit it. We have assembled outstanding software and hardware tools to enable your learning; learn to exploit them too. The degree to which you are successful in this complicated and confusing world is very much dependent on your commitment to your studies, on how wisely you use your time and resources. Carpe Diem!Seize the day!

Welcome to the start of your University life; make it a satisfying one!