上周末，2016“新东方杯”英语口语大赛全国总冠军——朱子曜Jason导师在美国马里兰大学史密斯商学院，代表商学院全体研究生、MBA、博士生发表毕业演讲。现场观众评论这个鼓舞人心的演讲“brought the house down”（炸裂全场），在“空气甜”的闹剧一年之后，终于有中国人在同样的场合，给祖国争回了一口气！
Dean, faculty and staff, proud parents and above all graduate MS MBA and PhD students of class 2018, congratulations! This is your day!
Before thanking UMD and the Smith School, I want to be honest about one thing: I always have random questions in my mind. For example ‘If anything is possible; is it possible for something to be impossible?’ I don’t normally ask for answers. But there was another question I had the first day I learned about UMD: why is our mascot is a turtle? Many other schools pick fierce and mighty animals or figures: Princeton has a tiger, Uchi has a Phoenix,and Duke has the ‘blue devil’. This question was not solved until I came to UMD and met the people here.
My first several months in Maryland were a sheer nightmare. Fresh off the boat, I had no friends here. I didn’t know how to drive so I could only lock myself in my room. I started to have a hair loss issue due to academic pressure since I had to spent 3 hours figuring out the most basic concept! I even thought of running a model to predict in which year I would lose all of my hair. But ironically, I didn’t know how-- due to my lack of skill in coding. Worst of all, I attached this label to myself: a slow learner and an underachiever.Just like a turtle-- slow, obscure and definitely not the smartest.
It was Professor Zhang at the Smith School who helped me realize that the way to success is never easy. She told me that she had been there. Under unimaginable pressure during her PhD life in Harvard, she had to get up at 4 every morning and every single day she doubted her ability, her choice and her future. But she decided to accept the challenge and move forward /step by step. Eventually she became the Wonder Woman in the field of statistics/ and inspires hundreds of students like me. Just like a turtle with a tough shell, bearing all the pressure and hardships, still moves forward.
Then I learned more from my classmates. Some pulled an all-nighter on a daily basis due to irrelevant academic background, some were also taking the MBA program while pursuing a master’s degree,some were already married and had mouths to feed and diapers to change. But none of them raised the white flag easily. Now, many of them earned excellent grades and have already found satisfying jobs. Just like turtles,when the chaos of life surrounds them,they still know their directions.
This experience made realize/ what we are all made of. When push comes to shove,when the rubber meets the road,when the chips are down, I realized what lies at the very core of every person in UMD.
We are all turtles. We know life is not a sprint, is not even a marathon.Life is a triathlon. We know/ we might be not as super talented as the lucky ones,but we don’t belittle ourselves. We might start things slow and be constantly discouraged by setbacks, but we know we choose to do things not because they are easy,/ but because they are hard. We might not be the first ones crossing the finishing line/, but we are surely the ones knowing where we are going and why.
This is the Terrapin spirit, which could be interpreted by these 3 amazing letters that I will never forget: UMD, that is U Must be Determined.
Terps, The steps you are taking today might seem small, but someday you will see the big picture, as long as you are moving forward fearlessly, no matter fast or slow. And please remember, UMD and the Smith will always be there for you.
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