Good afternoon President Tang, distinguished guests, professors, family and friends, and graduates of the Class of 2019. My name is HUANG Dongzi. I feel humbled and honored to stand here today to speak on behalf of the Class of 2019. When I drafted this speech, I was flooded with memories of the past four years.
I remember on the first day of our university life, we lined up in a long queue at the gate of the student cultural village on the old campus to complete the registration. With the help of the administrative staff and the peer mentors, we established good friendship and felt at home rather quickly. Two years later, in 2017, we were all part of the inauguration celebrations when UIC reached one of its milestones of relocating to this state-of-the-art new campus. During the past year, my peers and I seemed to have lost balance with the Final Year Project, two QP exams, numerous major courses, final exams, and group projects, plus the time-consuming process of selecting and applying for graduate programs.
But the fact is, ladies and gentlemen, we made it, and many with flying colours. With the achievements that we have today, we should express our gratefulness to our parents for supporting us financially and spiritually, our gratitude to our professors for teaching us patiently and inspiring our interests and curiosity, our thankfulness to our fellow graduates for encouraging and motivating each other, and our appreciation to UIC and HKBU for maintaining the education quality and grooming us into well-rounded, bilingual, and resourceful individuals with an international mindset.
UIC is accomplishing its mission of guiding us in attaining a whole-person and liberal arts education. There are many extracurricular activities that provide opportunities for us to fully explore our interests and develop our potentials. UIC allows us to see the infinite possibilities in ourselves. After four years of studying and exploring, my peers and I have developed a high sense of our own value and worth as individuals.
Many students from the Class of 2019 and I will be pursuing our graduate studies in the U.K., Australia, the U.S., Hong Kong, and other countries and regions, and some will be joining the workforce. More and more of UIC graduates are being admitted to world-class universities and hired by multinational companies. We will be embarking on a life that is filled with challenges and purposes, while leaving our footprints around the world. For what UIC has given us, I think we should extend UIC’s alumni network and be actively involved in the long-term well-being of UIC.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, for attending this graduation ceremony. My dear fellow graduates, please enjoy today’s satisfying and memorable moments. I believe that we will meet someday, somehow, and somewhere, and that UIC will become one of the prestigious educational institutions in China and the world.
