At 2:30 pm on June 8, the graduation ceremony for 2020 graduates of School of Economics and Management (SEM) of Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) started as scheduled. Affected by the epidemic, the ceremony was broadcast live online and hosted by Yang Hongyi, Deputy Secretary of SEM Party Committee.
After the commencement of the ceremony, it entered the first agenda. All the teachers and students stood up and sang the national anthem. The passionate and surging melody stirred every student's mood.
After the singing, Dean of SEM delivered a speech. He expressed his congratulations to the graduates and gratitude to the teachers and parents who had always been hardworking and dedicated. He expected the graduates to keep moving on and strive for excellence; be diligent in study and brave in practice; to take and have the courage to take responsibility. He insisted that “one could always go wherever he wants to go”. He wished that the students would set sail on the new journey, cherishing SWJTU spirit of “Rigorous Scholarship” and “Stringent Requirements” and inheriting SEM motto of “Exploring the nature of things to acquire knowledge and encouraging collegiality and cooperation to make progress” and with the expectations of the University.
The parting message of the Dean was profound and thought-provoking. During the short journey in university, many students had been adhering to the university spirit, studying hard and diligently as he expected, and had achieved a lot. On the third agenda of the ceremony, the host read out the winners of 2020 Undergraduate and Graduate “Rigorous Scholarship” and “Stringent Requirements” Medal, Provincial Outstanding Graduates and University-level Outstanding Graduates of SEM. Among them, Li Jiale, Wang Weitao, Gong Le received the Medals; Zheng Shuwen, Zeng Yu, Zhang Xinxin, Li Cheng, Wang Weitao, Shi Chunlai and Xiong Lujie were awarded the honorary title of Provincial Outstanding Graduates; Deng Shuwen, Xie Shujun, Gao Ruolan, Feng Gejian and other 48 students won the honorary title of University-level Outstanding Graduates.
Then, Li Jiale, the representative of outstanding undergraduate students, made a speech. He expressed his most sincere thanks to the University and the School for creating a good learning environment for students, teaching them the spirit of “Rigorous Scholarship” and “Stringent Requirements”, and letting students' youth dance in their dreams. Every dawn and dusk spent in SWJTU and every moment accompanied by his classmates and teachers was the most precious treasure in his memory. Shortly followed was the experience-sharing speech by outstanding graduate students’ representative Yuan Yun. He pointed out, as a graduate student, one first of all should establish a clear goal, determine the direction, grasp the main line so as to take his time and be targeted. Secondly, while maintaining full research enthusiasm and independent thinking, graduate students should also strengthen the communication with the supervisor. Finally, graduate students should always keep a keen interest in research with a relaxed attitude and strong action abilities so that they can handle every research task well. Only by accumulating step by step can they achieve ultimate success.
After the two wonderful speeches, Liu Jicai, the faculty representative, and Wang Xiaoqiang, one of the first SEM Engineering Management undergraduates, director of Architectural Decoration and Design Institute of China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute, outstanding alumni, respectively expressed their sincere wishes and expectations to the graduates.
Afterwards, the ceremony entered the interactive session and was hosted by Pei Mengting and Xiong Lujie in turn. Though videos, undergraduate tutors Chen Jianqi, Lu Jiao and Wang Ke showed their daily work, while tutors Li Pangfeng and Mi Yi sent wishing messages to the graduates. In addition, the monitors showed a MV in which they collaborated with the tutors. After that, undergraduate tutor Chen Jianqi and graduate tutor Jia Jia shared their experiences and perceptions as a tutor during the live broadcast. “On the heels of the wind, the rain slips secretly into the night; Silent and soft, it moistens everything.” The tutors' meticulous care and instructions comfort the hearts of the students as the spring rain moistens everything, and accompany them forward. At the end of the interactive session, students watched a video of the photo album of graduate students. As time flying away, those smiles and tears were engraved in students' minds and became their exclusive memories, while some beautiful moments were preserved in the photos and would keep alive forever.
At the end of the ceremony, all the students rose to sing the school anthem: “Shining as gold melting, sparking as jade colliding”. The feast will come to an end, but the sound lingers around the beam. Even though the college life is coming to an end, the students will never forget the university spirit and school motto and will march as SEM graduates towards their great future.
Finally, the host read out the closing remarks, and the graduation ceremony for 2020 SEM graduates ended.