张化成执行院长在2013级新生开学典礼上的讲话
2013-09-13 16:30:07
“Ithaca”
Vincent Chang, Executive Dean
Peking University HSBC Business School
Opening Ceremony
September 4, 2013
Vincent Chang, Executive Dean
Peking University HSBC Business School
Opening Ceremony
September 4, 2013
We have a very diverse group of students this year. Here are some statistics:
We have in total 313 new students. Among whom, 259 are domestic Chinese students, coming from 27 provinces, representing 102 different undergraduate majors. In addition, we have 54 international students, literally from all corners of the world. We have students who travelled from the North: Moscow to Shenzhen, 7,000 km; from the East: Canada, the US and the Bahamas to Shenzhen, 15,000 km; from the West: France, Belgium and the Continental Europe, 10,000 km; from the South: New Zealand and Australia, 10,000 km; and from the South West: South Africa, 12,000 km. By far the longest distance traveled is from the South East: by a student from Chile and another from Argentina, 20,000 km.
We’ll soon find out about them later in the new students introduction. But before their self introduction,
I’d like to say a few words to our new students.
Although you have chosen the school, do not forget it’s also the school that has chosen you. Why did we choose you? Excellent grades, true. Good extracurricular activities, yes. But most importantly, we chose you because you all have the potential to become a leader. And we expect you to become a leader.
In the meantime, for the next 2-3 years at PHBS--
First, I expect you to do your part by studying hard. PHBS has been famous for its “9-3 Society”. What is a “9-3 Society”? It refers to a group of students who study every day from 9am until 3am the following morning. At PHBS, there are no short days. Every day is a long day. Long day for studying.
Second, I expect you to serve. I expect you to serve in the school activities and various community activities because a business education is not just about sitting in the classroom, and also because leadership is not only about yourself.
I visited several high schools in the US last summer. I have found two that share the same motto--“Non Sibi.” It’s Latin. In English, it means “Not for Self”--you shall not consider for only your own; you shall consider for others too. And as far as I know, two recent US presidents and one recent Silicon Valley billionaire have graduated from these schools.
Third, I expect you to do the right things and make the right decisions that demonstrate your integrity even at difficult times. Your decisions shall not be based on net present value calculation, or utility maximization. Instead, they shall be based simply on that they are right.
In the past I have shared with our students many stories. One of the stories is about a 12-year old kid who did the right thing by giving away a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to play in his dream games for the world championship. I have also shared with our students about an entrepreneur who chose to do the right thing that would result in his promising company going bankrupt.
Today I am going to tell a story that involves one of our own students. When she applied for a PhD program in the US, she told the schools she applied to that she would receive both her Hong Kong University and Peking University degrees by a particular time. After a long wait, happily, she received an admission offer with full scholarships from a prestigious university. But shortly afterward, she found she had failed a class from Hong Kong University and could not receive her Hong Kong University degree by the time she promised in her application material.
She then came to ask me what she should do. Imaging that she had received an admission and full scholarships, but the problem was that her application material did not reflect her actual qualifications, I thought she was asking me whether she should notify the university that had accepted her of her failed HKU course. If she would do so, she might run into the risk that that university would withdraw its offer of admission and scholarships to her? But what if she would not?
After a long sigh and perhaps a short hesitation, I told her, “Just do the right thing.” And then what surprised me was that she replied to me immediately in a very peaceful, clam tone: “Professor Chang, I have actually already done so.” I was moved. She represents one of the finest students our school has ever had. I am very proud of her. We all should be.
Finally, I urge you to think of one thing that is important to you and pursue it. What is that one thing? I cannot tell you. That’s for you to figure out.
But perhaps I shall read a poem written by a great Greek poet. It is called “Ithaca,” named after a Greek island. This poem is the celebration of a well-lived life as a journey of discovery of that one thing in life. I have made some alterations to the original poem. So here we go:
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As you set out for Ithaca,
hope your journey is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
May there be many summer mornings,
with pleasure, with joy,
when you come into the harbor you’re seeing for the first time;
Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better it will last for a long time,
so that you’re old by the time you reach there,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way.
Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her, you’d have never set out.
Wise as you will have become,
so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then
what Ithaca means.
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So what does Ithaca mean? I believe Ithaca is that one thing in life that is important to you, that you are most interested in, or care the most, or treasure the most. It’s that one thing that I do not have the answer for you and you have to figure it out by yourself, perhaps during the next 2-3 years at PHBS.
On that, I wish you a rewarding PHBS experience ahead. Thank you. Good night.
