On August 30th, 2019, Tianjin University held the Freshman Inauguration Ceremony to welcome the Class 2019, including 5,000 undergraduates and more than 7,000 new graduate students.
The ceremony is held on Weijin Road Campus and transmitted live to the new campus.
Freshmen on the new campus attend the ceremony through a live programme.
At the ceremony, Jin Donghan, the president of TJU, urged the freshmen to push hard toward their life goals. “College is the starting point for your dreams. You will face fierce competition. No progress or slow progress simply means regression.”
Jin Donghan suggested four things that undergraduate freshmen should learn by the end of their college life. First, become better citizens who are upright in character and act with decency; second, be passionate and ardent learners who are always keen to learn new concepts and technologies; third, be humble and hard workers who are good examples in word and deed; and finally, be cooperative with a good sense of community.
Jin Donghan, President of Tianjin University welcomes the new students.
Jin encouraged the new graduate students to keep their inner tranquility in the hustle and bustle and to aspire to be great and real scholars. He said that whether the students would "make a living by research" or not, they should be devoted to their research, cultivate their characters and nourish their lives with rich knowledge and a noble personality.
“As long as we are confident that solutions always outnumber difficulties and are ready to accept new ideas, we are bound to find solutions.” Jin told the students.
Kong Junying and Kong Saiying, twin sisters from the 2019 Economic Management Pilot Class of the College of Management and Economics, spoke on behalf of the freshmen. They expressed how they had longed to study at Tianjin University, the first modern university in China and their ecstasy over their admission. The sisters called on all new comers to abide by TJU’s motto of seeking truth from facts, carry on its tradition of patriotism and promote the spirit of innovation.
The twin sisters speak on behalf of freshmen.
At the ceremony, Deng Yaping, the Chinese Olympic champion and grand slam winner in table tennis was invited to deliver a keynote speech. Deng set a record by retaining the title of world No. 1 ranked female table tennis player for 8 years, which is still unbroken at home and abroad. After she shared her life story with the students, she said,“I hope that all of you keep pace with the development of our country and the age. Sports teaches us never to give in but progress persistently. Swimming upstream fearlessly, everyone is the champion of his own life.” Deng Yaping communicated face to face with the present post-2000s, encouraging them to fly high.
Deng Yaping delivers a keynote speech.
By Jiang Yan & Bu Xiaoke
Editors: Eva Yin & Doris Harrington
