袁士然
Good afternoon to Professor Yau, the Professors, and the Faculty of Qiuzhen college, and to my fellow students. It is an honor to be speaking here, as we begin our journey of curiosity, exploration, and growth.
Though this journey only officially starts today, I believe we have all walked a long way to reach here, dealing with undergraduate studies, grad school applications, research, finding an advisor, etc. etc. along the way. But now here we are, standing at the crossroads of life, looking at the unknown, stressful, yet exciting paths ahead. This is also an especially big day for me personally, as this is not only the first day of my PhD, but also my 18th birthday. I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak at this ceremony on my coming-of-age day –– I’ll definitely remember this for the rest of my life. And I believe this is an as important turning point for most of you as well –– a new mindset towards studies, new research directions, new opportunities… and it is only natural, in such a situation, to feel overwhelmed. What should we do, so that we can steer through the unknown landscape ahead?
Of course, it is way beyond my abilities to offer an answer. What I would like to encourage all of us to do, though, is to look ahead, and see what our guiding goal can be. We can see that we are not the only ones at crossroads –– all of humanity are. As our chancellor said at the convocation ceremony, we are at a time where multiple crises are converging, with volatile change consuming every part of life as we once knew it. With change comes uncertainty, and our era has brought to us uncertainties shared by all humans alike.
With these crises also comes roles to fill: the ones who contribute the keystones to the next innovation; the ones who ground current hypotheses in rigorous theory; the ones who make the next foundational advancements that will fuel centuries of future technology. And this is an opportunity for us all. Fellow students, I urge that we take up this opportunity the world has handed to us, and make it our goal to step into the roles the world now desperately needs.
A few days ago, with great awe we watched the Victory Day parade together, and we were all especially surprised to see our Professor Yau on the reviewing stand at Tiananmen. After the ceremony, when being interviewed about it, Professor Yau advised us to learn from both the scientific culture of the West and pioneer our own Chinese scientific path and direction. And I am glad to hear this advice, for it is the goal I am in the process of pursuing. I did my dual undergrad at Duke University and Duke Kunshan University –– in computer science –– and then did my Master’s at UC Berkeley –– also in computer science. So, many people have asked me, why pursue a PhD in math back home in China? Because, in the process of researching AI, I felt the importance and power of foundational theory in groundbreaking innovation. Hence, I hope that by learning more math here, I would be able to create wider impacts in a broader range of fields.
Fellow students, while we research very different areas, I believe that by advancing foundational science, we are all brightening a guiding light for the future of technology and life. This way, we, bringing humanity as a whole with us, can escape the crossroads together. This is a wish that I hope can guide us through the unknown ahead.
I would like to summarize this speech with an inspiring quote from our beloved Professor Yau: “be someone who contributes to the nation’s development and the progress of human history. (做一个对国家发展、人类历史发展有贡献的人)” Thank you for listening.
文字 | 袁士然
排版 | 郭悠然
审核 | 王小芳 谢卢芳
