Peking University, July 4, 2017: On July 4, Class of 2017 undergraduates witnessed their commencement ceremony at PKU Gymnasium. A warm up video brought students back to four years ago when they made their first encounter with PKU till now when they are all leaving PKU for their next journey. Vice president Gao Song hosted the ceremony.
Hao Ping
Hao Ping, chairman of Peking University Council, congratulated class of 2017 for successfully finishing their degree. PKU will always be home to them, encouraging and supporting them, Hao said.
Song Xueyang
Song Xueyang from the School of Physics gave her speech as representative of class of 2017. She shared two stories from her lab and voluntary work, and said that be true to oneself is what she believes the key to overcoming obstacles.
Yu Miaojie
Professor Yu Miaojie from the National School of Development encourages students to insist on their dreams and beliefs. He quoted from a student representative at NSD commencement ceremony that there are so many talents at PKU and always there will be people better than you. What matters is that one learns from others and continuously improve oneself. He also shared his understanding of “guarding the righteousness”. The righteousness, he believes, means authenticity, be true to oneself, and integrity, be true to the external world.
Sun Taoran
Sun Taoran, alumnus from the Guanghua School of Management shared his experience after graduating from PKU more than twenty years ago. Confidence, knowledge, coterie and the ability to learn are the four things he treasures most through his study at PKU. To think clearly and to hold on are the two elements of a successful life that he summarizes from his past years. Also, like the other speakers, Sun emphasized the importance of being authentic to oneself and insist on their own moral standards.
Lin Jianhua
President Lin Jianhua gave his speech before officially granting the bachelor’s degree to thousands of undergraduates. He titled his speech “to suffer losses at sometimes is to gain profits at longer terms”. He said that the line separating good and evil lies in our own heart. He hopes that PKU graduates will always hold on to their values and standards even if it means that sometimes their profits may suffer. Lin emphasized again the importance of guarding the righteousness and leading the innovation.
The commencement ceremony ended by all class of 2017 at present singing Yanyuan Qing. After the song, each department left in sequence to have their tassels turned by their professors.
Reported by: Yan Shengnan
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
