Strive to be a "big man" who learns, does things, and is a person
——Speech at the 2024 Opening Ceremony and Military Training Summary and Report Conference
Peng Shuangjie, President of Central China Normal University
September 22, 2024
Dear Students, Dear Instructors and Teachers,
Good morning! The grass and trees are dyed green and yellow, and the cinnamon fragrance is colorful. On this beautiful day, we gathered together to hold the opening ceremony of the 2024 freshmen and the military training summary and report meeting. Here, on behalf of Secretary Lixin and all teachers, students and staff, I would like to extend a warm welcome to the 12,114 new students! I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the teachers and parents who have worked hard to nurture you! I would like to express my high respect to the heads and instructors of the Air Force Early Warning Academy who undertake the task of military training!
As a century-old school with a glorious history of 121 years, Central China Normal University has been singing songs and producing many talents. Chen Tanqiu, Li Hanjun and Liu Renjing, representatives of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Zheng Kaiqing, the first member of the Communist Party of China, Lin Yunan, an outstanding leader of the Chinese labor movement, Guang Weiran, the lyricist of the "Yellow River Cantata", Shen Zurong, the "father of Chinese library science education", Wan Guoquan, former vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Ying Chongfu and Chen Qingxuan, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wang Jinquan, the first "national model of teaching and educating people", etc., are all outstanding alumni of the school. They are the monument of ECNU and the pride of our pride.
Each generation has its own responsibilities, and each generation has to experience its own growth. Whether it is never giving up and fighting tenaciously in the Olympic arena, or standing up and fighting hard in volunteer service, or overcoming obstacles and riding the wind and waves in scientific and technological innovation, the self-confidence and calmness of young people come not only from the thriving country, but also from the struggle to persist in their dreams and have the courage to fight. I believe that with your joining, ECNU will be even more brilliant!
Today's new classmates, tomorrow's "Mr. Big". On the occasion of the 40th Teacher's Day, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the National Education Conference, pointing out the way forward for building a strong country in education. It is the mission of Central China Normal University to train a large number of high-quality and professional future teachers for the country and the nation. Regardless of whether students are normal or non-normal students, undergraduate or graduate students, and whether they will be engaged in teaching or other professions in the future, they should make the spirit of educator a cultural belief and value pursuit, and strive to be a "great gentleman" for learning, doing things, and being people. This is not only a high degree of condensation of the spiritual portrait of educators, but also a vivid guide to the life goals of every new student. Here, I would like to share three experiences with my classmates.
First, cultivate solid knowledge in learning and pursue "university knowledge". Learning is the ladder of life growth, the way of civilization inheritance, and the key to the prosperity of the country. With the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, the updating of knowledge is accelerating, the social division of labor is becoming more and more refined, new technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things are emerging in an endless stream, and new forms of employment such as flexible labor relations, diversified work content, and flexible working methods are in full swing, which puts forward new and higher requirements for the ability and quality of young people. "There is no way to broaden talents without learning, and there is no way to learn without ambition". Students rely on learning to get to where they are today, and they will inevitably rely on learning to move towards the future. When he was in college, alumnus Wang Yanan, a well-known economist, translator of Das Kapital, and former president of Xiamen University, "set up various forms of reading clubs with each other to enrich themselves" and posted a post on the door of the dormitory that "visitors will be interviewed for ten minutes, and they will not be accompanied after the time", encouraging themselves to "have the mentality of taking advantage of advantages and taking advantage of shortcuts in research".
Professor Liu Shouhua, the "Lifetime Achievement Folk Artist of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles", has only done one thing in his life, devoted himself to the study of folk literature, especially storytelling, for more than 60 years, devoted himself to the study of folk literature, especially storytelling, and made "university questions" in "small disciplines", wrote "big articles" in "small worlds", and brought out "big teams" in "small buildings", forming a theoretical system, discipline system and discourse system of Chinese folk tales with the characteristics of Chinese Normal University, and becoming the flag-bearer of Chinese folk tales. The acquisition of knowledge is by no means an overnight achievement, and it can only be accumulated over time. Learning is the duty of students, students should do a good job in career planning, strive to be studious, happy to learn, good at learning, professional learning, deep learning, academic strengthening, learning as a hobby, a habit, a way of life, not only to learn from books, but also to learn from practice, truly to apply what they have learned, to promote learning, to learn from each other, and strive to become a pillar of great use and responsibility.
Second, we should cultivate benevolence and love in our work and cultivate "great feelings". The avenue is not lonely, and the love is boundless. The more the era of change, the more we call for the responsibility of the world. Today's world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, and human society is facing unprecedented challenges. In the face of the world's questions, historical questions and questions of the times, such as "where is humanity going" and "what is wrong with the world and what should we do", building a community with a shared future for mankind has become China's answer. Whether it is a city or a village, whether it is China or other countries and regions, it is a community that is closely related and shares a common destiny.
Over the past 26 years, 417 volunteers of the graduate student teaching group of our university have gone to Qinghai, Xinjiang, Guizhou, Ningxia, Yunnan and other provinces to carry out relay teaching activities, "doing an unforgettable thing in one year", and contributing the strength of Chinese teachers and youth to the cause of education in the western region. I have visited these students in Xinjiang, and I am very touched by the stories they tell about their teaching and the heartwarming stories they have told. After 26 years of hard work and 26 years of sowing, tens of thousands of children in the western region have strengthened their yearning for university under the influence of volunteer teachers, so that the seeds of their dreams can take root and sprout, blossom and bear fruit. Only with love can there be responsibility, and only with responsibility can there be dedication. I hope that the students will be self-reliant, help the world, have a share of heat, win-win cooperation, beauty and beauty, and strive to become a person with great love and character, and make unremitting efforts to illuminate and warm the way forward for more students and make the world a better place.
Third, we should strengthen our ideals and beliefs and establish "great ambitions" in life. Ideals and beliefs are the spiritual pillars and the "calcium tablets" of a nation's spirit. "Wandering the rivers and lakes and traveling in the past, so people live and die for thousands of years. has abandoned the ordinary things and left the pride as a prisoner. Premier Zhou Enlai transcribed this poem in 1953 to remember his close comrade-in-arms and alumnus Yun Daiying. Yun Daiying adhered to the revolutionary belief of "benefiting the society, the country, and the world" throughout his life, and was praised by Premier Zhou as "a model of Chinese revolutionary youth". He made a grand wish, willing to send out more heat and light, burn the old China, and give birth to a new China! Chen Jiapeng, a 2021 sports training major from the School of Physical Education of our school, in the men's 4×100m final of the Hangzhou Asian Games, faced the unfavorable situation of two positions behind the Japan athletes in front of him, he gritted his teeth, tried his best, reversed and won the gold, adding glory to the country and the school. Only by strengthening ideals and beliefs can we have a higher ideological starting point in the struggle of life, and only then can we have inexhaustible spiritual motivation to start a business. Students should integrate the "small self" into the "big self", release the passion of youth in the struggle, chase the ideals of youth, and use the self of youth and struggle to pave the way and build bridges for the rejuvenation of the nation and contribute to the construction of the motherland.
Students! The "greatness" of Mr. Big lies in having academic knowledge, great feelings, and great ambitions, and lies in being a scholar and a model in his behavior. Absorb spiritual nutrients from the spirit of educators, "seek hardships for yourself" at the age when you can endure hardships the most, stimulate the spiritual strength of self-improvement and perseverance, temper the excellent skills of facing difficulties and taking responsibility, and cultivate the broad feelings of the family and the country, the people and the people, and strive to write a chapter of youth without regrets, which is the most beautiful youthful appearance.
Finally, I wish you a fulfilling and loving university time! The future belongs to you! Glory to you! Thank you!
Central China Normal University Convergence Media Center
Source: Student Affairs Department of the Party Committee
Editor: Wang Shiwei
Photo: Chen Xichang, Lin Zihan, Yang Wenxin
Editor in charge: Mao Guozhang
Reviewer: Qin Heng, Ma Jun