The President Chen Xiaohong Made a Speech on the 2016 Freshmen Opening Ceremony

2016-11-24

Dear students and teachers:

Hello everyone!

Today, students from all corners of the country come to the foot of Lushan Mountain and the bank of Xiangjiang River and the beautiful HNUC, here I give heartfelt congratulations and warm welcome to all freshmen on behalf of the university, secretary Yayang and over 20,000 teachers, students and staff, and also sincerely thank your parents hard cultivating all of you!

Looking at the students with youth and smiles, I feel that I face the sea with spring flowers blossoming! Our university is filled with infinite vitality now. At this beautiful moment, I am sincerely pleased because "get and cultivate talents all over the world" is the biggest happiness for teachers. Now, I want to recall the history and look forward to the future of HNUC with you. Because I know you will love our university when you understand it, and the university is worthy of being loved throughout your life!

Speeches delivered by representatives of older students, freshmen, teachers and parents just now are very good, our university has a glorious history for 67 years, was renamed for many times with address changed for many times during those years, and always shares a common fate and follows the fortunes with the country continuous development. Generations of members of HNUC take the responsibility of cultivating "economic Hunan Army" and also keep it in mind to drive spanning development of the university. Our university is an excellent university upon undergraduate course teaching level evaluated by Ministry of Education, which has cultivated many excellent entrepreneurs and outstanding professional managers during the 67-year teaching course, and over 100,000 students of HNUC become current leaders, make contributions during serving economic and social development and create anecdotes and legends. Now the university is coming toward us with sonorous footsteps based on glorious history!

Perhaps, you don't know the campus changes of HNUC in the past two years, especially, in this summer: The new dormitories have been built. Many dormitories are transformed with air conditioners and hot water supply; The colorful maker center has been built, therefore, you can realize your innovation and entrepreneurship dream here; In the function-upgrading library, warm and comfortable campus book bar and learning academy, you can freely swim in the knowledge ocean; In the entirely new basketball court and gymnasium, you can build your body and gallop at will. Of course, there are the brand-new one-card pass system, other intelligent campus projects, new bituminization roads, new leisure cultural square, new campus cultural wall, new canteens, etc. Due to these new devices, our campus becomes more greening, brighter, more beautiful and more intelligent!

When understanding the history, you can know today's beauty better and understand tomorrow's responsibility and goal better. What's the target of HNUC? Our target is to strive to build a high level university of financial and economics by reform and innovation, connotative development, quality promotion, establishing feature and creating brand. Thus, students shall realize the target in full sail with the spirit of seizing every minute in the future! I believe that the future Hunan University of Finance and Economics can arise in our generation!

Regardless of my short working time (only two years) in our university, I have considered the university as my home because I love the diligent teachers, students, and the constantly changing atmosphere in HNUC. In the next several years, you will live, study or work in HNUC because it is our common home, just like me. I hope that you will increasingly fall in love with it, love the better yourself, the better HNUC and the better motherland since today.

In my opinion, the main value of a university lies in training you to know yourself, interests, hobbies, personhood concept and behavioral norms in the university before stepping into society; Secondly, make you know the world, reconstruct the world and learn how to coexist with nature and society; Finally, inherit the accumulative knowledge of human beings, especially, master the lifelong learning method and cultivate the attainment and ability, which can make one person become more valuable. Standing on the new starting point of four-year college life, students, you have many longings and aspirations. Are you ready? As your president, I put forward three hopes for everyone.

Firstly, hope students to show high ideals and have sincere behavior.

As an old saying goes: "You won't be successful without ambition". Students, you must have a dream, faith and responsibility. It’s necessary to first show your high ideals to be successful and gaining notable success. General Secretary Xi said: "Stay true to the mission and firmly move ahead. The original intention of Party is to make country prosperous and strong and people happy. Now we insist on walking the road of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, which depends on guidance of original intention and we walk on the right road.

Students, what are your original intentions and ambitions? I have read an essay written by Taiwan proser Lin Qingxuan. He said: "return to the simplest original intention, leave the noise in the world alone, only hope we can be slightly delighted and see the world with lustration heart". I think that we need to be quiet and ask our original intention in the increasingly impetuous era with fast development and multiple choices, and don't forget our belief, lose our soul and direction for moving ahead due to walking too fast, and shall move ahead with soul and footprints.

In the above speech, the teachers and students' representatives have mentioned the setting of a small target. As you know, Wang Jianlin is the richest man in China. He also sets up a small target before making unremitting endeavors. The target of Ren Zhengfei, the president of Huawei, lies in keeping customer-focused concept, and promoting strivers make money as well as working hard ceaselessly because there is no choice but to struggle. I know you also have many great targets. Therefore, you shall set up many small targets and realize them step by step.

Of course, your targets cannot be too worldly or you cannot only pursue money and fame and gain, don't be an exquisite egoist or indifferent egoist. If you want to be a salesman, set the original intention of not selling forged and fake commodities or not swindling all your life. If you earn RMB 100 million, you shall think about how much money I can donate to repay the society, country, family and alma mater. It's the requirement of our school motto "Sincerity & Credibility". If you want to realize your targets, you shall work hard permanently because the great men always make success after arduous efforts. No one can succeed easily. I like a pair of couplets in the office of Li Jiacheng, namely: "Hold great ambition, seek for intermediate fate and live a normal life; take a broad and long-term view, handle affairs in low key and allow for unforeseen circumstances". There are many life philosophies. I hope you can stay true to the mission, capture your life orientation, fulfill your dream, obtain forward energy, revive your soul, make your spirit fly and ignite your faith!

Secondly, hope students to study hard and keep on thinking.

It's an era of information explosion with constantly changing conditions today. Internet, mobile internet, Internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, cloud computing and green technology, etc., are thoroughly changing the world and our life. We can't behave like the ostrich burying its head in the sand and we shall bravely adapt to change and embrace change during the changing world.

It's required that students must have system thinking, be diligent, be quick at thinking, find good interest, look for the truth, be innovative and learn to choose. Because only by constantly learning in such era, you can keep up with the pace of the era, be easy to deal with everything and won't be out and weeded out. The excellent schoolfellow Ning Songkai in Guangdong Class in 1996 of our university came back to the university some time ago and donated to found "Award Fund for Thanking Excellent Teachers". He once was a policeman, and later he came to our university for learning, and he said that he more deeply felt that knowledge changes destiny after more experience and struggle. Now he becomes elite with venture success in Guangdong, and also an entrepreneur understands thanksgiving well. Students, "an educated gentleman cannot but be resolute and broad-minded, for he has taken up a heavy responsibility and a long course", "God rewards the diligent" and "there is no difficulty if you are diligent enough”. I hope everyone can be a person studying hard all your life, continuously pursue new and grasp profound specialized knowledge, and keep curiosity and imagination to arm your brain full of knowledge first, and then make your pocket full of money and strive to become elites influencing Hunan, China and even the world.

Except for diligent studying, you shall make thinking, learn to make judgment, make efforts to cultivate your critical thinking, hold independent spirit and freedom thought, as well as check the existing conclusion with a critical eye. Of course, the parrot-like doubts are sequacious. The complaining grievances and query are treason. "I love my teacher, but I love truth more". You shall be good at finding out problems and utilizing scientific spirits and methods to solve problem and get answers. You shall develop a kind of habit of seeking for truth, innovation, factualism, goodness and estheticism to pursue new knowledge and truth ceaselessly.

Peter ·Salovey, the President of Yale University, spoke that we were enduring wanton and indiscriminate bombing about false statements every day, namely, we were likely to exaggerate, distort or neglect some important facts when we selected any standpoint to encourage the anger, fear and loth emotion in the new academic year opening speech. One of important education content of Yale University lies in learning how to identify and cope with "false statement" and enhancing discernment. Any simple, crude, inflammatory, distorted and misleading statement shall be greeted with doubt. There are many disharmonious sounds and negative news on the internet periodically, what's worse, some negative news are warmly received by the public, you shall enhance the discriminability and discernment, spend more time thinking about it, expand rational spirit, mould independent personality, continuously activate new thought, create new pattern, establish new concept and promote civilization progress.

Thirdly, hope students to be self-disciplined and positive.

Everyone shall be your own master. Self-discipline is a required course for life, especially in university. It says that forming thought can cause corresponding behavior; forming behavior can cause corresponding habit; forming habit can cause corresponding character; forming character can cause corresponding fortune and future. Cultivation of self-discipline ability is the key for forming good behavior and habit.

We think a good university shall have beautiful scenery and good atmosphere, which can cultivate excellent talents with good character. Therefore, don't be "smartphone addict", "Phone Freak" or "video game addict", read more classical works accumulated for a thousand years, "one who is filled with knowledge always behaves in elegance" and don't read box news formed in a rough way; Spend more time to participate in collective activity and club activity to exercise the ability of communication, and don't indulge in illusion of virtual world; Learn and cultivate more own scientific methods, just attitude and manful determination, and don't waste life in current games and having fun. Don't cheat on an examination, say goodbye to sluttery and indolence, don't allow making trouble out of nothing, talebearing, cyber-violence, selfishness or rascality by cultivating self-discipline ability. Hope students can strive to make diligence and excellence become a habit, have sincere, kind, upright and other good quality, and gather sufficient positive energy to make your life become different!

You shall take responsibility for yourself and keep independent without relying on others. According to the reminder of that mother’s speech, we know that she worries about the relationship handling failure of her child so that her child will feel melancholic spirit and enjoys unhappy life. Parents, please don't worry. The four-year life in university is the most important period for developing independent personality and self-reliance. All students shall handle with all affairs by themselves, instead of parents' reminding of getting up, the rice to mouth and clothing to hand. They shall be able to wash their clothes, clean the dormitory, take care of others and pass on a warm tea to teachers by themselves. I hope that you can hold the concept "To do something good even though it may be small, and not to do something wicked even though it may be tiny” to integrate knowledge and action all the time.

We say that: mentality decides horizon, horizon decides life pattern, and life pattern decides destiny and future. The ability of a person can decide his career scale, however, the personality will decide how far you will go in life. Therefore, you shall go high, regardless of others' go low. I hope that you can hold big mind, big horizon, big courage and big pursuit to bring your broad mind in your life. Everyone will be faced with all kinds of unexpected setbacks in life, however, you shall believe that the sun will rise tomorrow. You must keep upward passion, overcome difficulties and setbacks, as well as hold the tough universe. You will become the live stronger when you stand up in facing the difficulties and setbacks, and give sunny smiles in this way!

Boys and girls, the university life is opened for you. There is a long way in the future. You are the new owners of HNUC. Our university's concept lies in "for all students and all for students". We will continue to build our campus and make it become more beautiful. Your dormitories, teaching buildings, Laohuling Garden, the new practice buildings and teaching buildings are under construction and transformation. Xianjia Apartment will be equipped with air conditioners in the near future. I hope that you can inherit and develop the spirits of HNUC, participate in the reform innovation, make our campus become more beautiful, write and create the bright future of HNUC. We are also sincerely hoping that you can fight the sky and have a bright future after hammer harden in university. Make preparations to go ahead and stand in the stage center by right of sticking out your chest, seeking for excellence, holding confidence and daring to become pioneers. I have confidence in you!

Finally, I wish you will have sunny, passionate, friendly, vivacious, healthy, fashion, cheerful, happy and successful studying and life in HNUC.

Thank you for your attention!