畢業(yè)典禮上的演講丨啟培菲爾德學(xué)校常務(wù)副校長(zhǎng)John Liu：抱“因真理、得自由、以服務(wù)”宗旨，砥礪前

畢業(yè)典禮上的演講丨啟培菲爾德學(xué)校常務(wù)副校長(zhǎng)John Liu：抱“因真理、得自由、以服務(wù)”宗旨，砥礪前行

領(lǐng)導(dǎo)們、同事們、家長(zhǎng)們、同學(xué)們、2019畢業(yè)生們：

大家好!2019屆的畢業(yè)生們祝賀你們!

每年的畢業(yè)典禮總是熱點(diǎn)，政要、富商、明星紛紛登場(chǎng)，或煽情、或勵(lì)志?？墒牵裉旌苓z憾，你們卻要來(lái)聽(tīng)我講，因?yàn)槟銈兊漠厴I(yè)文憑上中間的簽字是我的。

那么，我跟你們講些什么呢?告訴你們這還真的讓我為難了好久。因?yàn)槟銈兪俏覀儭皢⑴喾茽柕聦W(xué)校”在中國(guó)的學(xué)生，作為我們學(xué)校國(guó)際教育的總負(fù)責(zé)人，我是你們的校長(zhǎng)。所以我，也常常要求我的同事，經(jīng)常為你們禱告。特別是在確定你們可以畢業(yè)以后，我常常按手在你們的名字為你們祝福，為你們祈求。要說(shuō)的都說(shuō)了，以致學(xué)校決定要我來(lái)跟你們講話(huà)后，我真是為難。那現(xiàn)在我就跟你們講講“抱‘因真理、得自由、以服務(wù)’宗旨，砥礪前行”吧。

今天應(yīng)該是特別用來(lái)“感恩”的日子，多向的、交叉的“感恩”(學(xué)校、老師、家長(zhǎng)、學(xué)生)。

2019屆的畢業(yè)生們，你們準(zhǔn)備好了嗎?當(dāng)然!準(zhǔn)備了什么?

上大學(xué)的目的?“抱‘因真理、得自由、以服務(wù)’宗旨，砥礪前行”?

西方最著名的教育家之一，約翰·亨利·紐曼樞機(jī)曾經(jīng)這樣說(shuō)："若大學(xué)課程一定要有一個(gè)實(shí)際的目的，我認(rèn)為就是為了培養(yǎng)良好的社會(huì)公民……這種教育能給人以對(duì)自己的觀點(diǎn)與判斷的真理，給人以倡導(dǎo)這種觀點(diǎn)與判斷的力量。它教他客觀地對(duì)待事物，教他開(kāi)門(mén)見(jiàn)山直奔要害，教他理清混亂的思想，教他弄清復(fù)雜的而摒棄無(wú)關(guān)的。"

美國(guó)的教育特別是大學(xué)教育：有三個(gè)C---CRITICAL、CREATIVE、CITIZEN。

CRITICAL/CRITICAL THINKING：1941年哈佛大學(xué)教授愛(ài)德華(Edward Maynard Glaser)首先提出了這個(gè)概念，他聲明【批判性思維】必須具備三個(gè)特質(zhì)：1.傾向以審慎的態(tài)度思慮議題和解決難題;2.對(duì)理性探索與邏輯推理的方法有所認(rèn)識(shí);3.有技巧地應(yīng)用上述的方法。

CREATIVE：involving the use of skill and the imagination to produce something new or a work of art. (牛津詞典)

CITIZEN：a person who has the legal right to belong to a particular country. (牛津詞典)是相對(duì)于“奴隸的”、“奴性的”而言的，“有擔(dān)當(dāng)?shù)摹⒂胸?zé)任的”。

陳寅恪先生言：大學(xué)培養(yǎng)的人才應(yīng)該具有“獨(dú)立之精神，自由之思想”，支撐每個(gè)青年作出判斷選擇的，應(yīng)是積極的人生觀和批判性思維。

我把這些歸納為上大學(xué)的目的：“因真理、得自由、以服務(wù)”。(根據(jù)美國(guó)1828年版《韋博斯特大辭典》)

真理：Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. The truth of history constitutes its whole value. We rely on the truth of the scriptural prophecies.

自由：A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious. [See Liberty.]

服務(wù)：[From Latin servitium.] 1. In a general sense, labor of body or of body and mind, performed at the command of a superior, or the pursuance of duty, or for the benefit of another. service is voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary service is that of hired servants, or of contract, or of persons who spontaneously perform something for another's benefit. Involuntaryservice is that of slaves, who work by compulsion. 就是有擔(dān)當(dāng)，是愛(ài)的完美表達(dá)。

如何服務(wù)呢?首先你們要“認(rèn)識(shí)并帶領(lǐng)你的時(shí)代”。今天你們要畢業(yè)了，我送你們錢(qián)穆先生的一番話(huà)“認(rèn)識(shí)你的時(shí)代，帶領(lǐng)你的時(shí)代”?！澳銈円粋€(gè)人怎么樣做人，怎么樣做學(xué)問(wèn)，怎么做事業(yè)，我認(rèn)為應(yīng)該有一個(gè)共同的基本條件，就是我們一定先要認(rèn)識(shí)我們的時(shí)代。我們生在今天這個(gè)時(shí)代，我們就應(yīng)該在今天的時(shí)代中來(lái)做人、做學(xué)問(wèn)、做事業(yè)。”每一個(gè)時(shí)代應(yīng)該有它一個(gè)理想，由一批理想所需要的人物，來(lái)研究理想所需要的學(xué)術(shù)，干出理想所需要的事業(yè)，來(lái)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)此社會(huì)，此社會(huì)才能有進(jìn)步?！蔽覀冞@個(gè)時(shí)代的理想就是“實(shí)現(xiàn)偉大的復(fù)興夢(mèng)”。你們有幸生于這樣一個(gè)偉大的時(shí)代，參與這“復(fù)習(xí)夢(mèng)”的洪流中去創(chuàng)造輝煌。

這是一個(gè)怎樣的時(shí)代?

這是一個(gè)個(gè)人主義抬頭的時(shí)代：個(gè)人利益凌駕于群體福祉，個(gè)人意見(jiàn)往往成為唯一能接受的意見(jiàn)。但海納百川，有容乃大。我們不應(yīng)只顧自己的利益，不要過(guò)于自以為是，而要學(xué)會(huì)多聽(tīng)別人意見(jiàn)，考慮各方看法，協(xié)力實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想。

這是一個(gè)資訊爆炸、是非難辨的時(shí)代：每日在網(wǎng)上流傳的資訊，媒體發(fā)放的消息，為我們帶來(lái)不少?zèng)_擊。但事情往往不是表面看來(lái)那么簡(jiǎn)單，是非黑白往往需要仔細(xì)分析，深入了解。大學(xué)教育的目的，是培養(yǎng)獨(dú)立思考。

這是一個(gè)利益在前，道德在后的時(shí)代：金錢(qián)、地位、權(quán)力，已經(jīng)成為世人追逐的唯一之物，道德和價(jià)值觀的培育，卻漸漸被人遺忘。壁立千仞，無(wú)欲則剛。但愿你們不要讓利益掩蓋良心，以厚德載物自許。我們所追求的，理應(yīng)是較名與利更能持久的東西。我盼望2019屆畢業(yè)生能虛懷若谷，以遠(yuǎn)大眼光，包容態(tài)度進(jìn)入大學(xué)，將來(lái)帶領(lǐng)我們的時(shí)代。

也許大家覺(jué)得，我講到這里就可以結(jié)束了，對(duì)不起，你們還有忍受我一兩分鐘。

“砥礪前行”：砥礪，拼音dǐlì，是一個(gè)漢語(yǔ)詞語(yǔ)，砥指細(xì)膩的磨刀石，礪指粗糙的磨刀石。砥礪合指磨刀石，也指磨煉、鍛煉，用來(lái)表示革命意志，也可以表示相互之間勉勵(lì)。詞語(yǔ)出自《山海經(jīng)·西山經(jīng)》。我的理解是：迎接困難、挑戰(zhàn)失敗、堅(jiān)韌不拔、勇往向前!

你們從這里出發(fā)，少年意氣，孩子們，父母?jìng)?，你們?zhǔn)備好了被困難包圍，被失敗打倒嗎?人在順風(fēng)順?biāo)臅r(shí)候，你往往看不出他的差別。只有遇到挫敗時(shí)，才能看出人的偉大。這就是我們?yōu)樯杜宸?原)紅塔山董事長(zhǎng)褚時(shí)健的原因，他在四個(gè)行當(dāng)都有挫敗，但是他最后都站起來(lái)了，而且站得很高很高。

我初到美國(guó)不久去學(xué)了柔道，第一課就是學(xué)會(huì)摔倒之后不受傷，你首先必須不斷被人打敗，然后你會(huì)滾翻、用特定姿勢(shì)確保你倒下之后，傷不了你。這是最重要的一課。

孩子們，失敗之后不受傷，在失敗后看還能看到光明、保持信念、繼續(xù)努力。這就叫做“砥礪前行”!

2019的孩子們，我祈禱你們都有美好的人生，幸福的生活。我更愿看見(jiàn)你們 “以民族、國(guó)家、世界為己任” ，孜孜不倦地去共建一個(gè) “更美好的世界” ，“抱 ‘因真理、得自由、以服務(wù)’宗旨，砥礪前行”

所以，2019屆的畢業(yè)生，這就是我給你們的最后一課，主題就是：“抱‘因真理、得自由、以服務(wù)’宗旨，砥礪前行”。愿你們以夢(mèng)為馬，不負(fù)韶華，歸來(lái)仍是少年。

謝謝大家，愿上帝祝福你們!

Dear all teachers, parents and students, and 2019 graduates,

Good morning to all of you. And big congratulations to our 2019 graduates,

Often time, we see a lot of gradation speeches on media from the end of April to early July every year. People pay a lot attention to the speaker of the graduation ceremony. Schools often time invite famous people to give touching or encouraging speeches. Today, you will hear a speech from me who is the person to sign your graduation certificate.

I had difficulty considering what to tell you in my speech. You are students from Chapel Field High School. The only difference is that you live in China. As the Director of International Education for Chapel Field, I am your Principal. I pray for you, which is also my request for our colleagues. Especially after confirming that you are qualified to graduate, I often pray with my hands on your name for blessing. It was hard for me to make this speech. Now, I would like to talk with you with a topic: Moving forward with the tenet: For Truth, gain freedom, to serve.

Today should be a thankful day. We have schools, teachers, parents and students. We all should feel thankful to each other.

For our 2019 graduates, are you ready? Sure, ready for what? The reason for college study? Moving forward with the tenet: For Truth, gain freedom, to serve?

John Henry Newman, a famous western educator, said：If the university curriculum must have a practical purpose, I think it is to cultivate good social citizens... This kind of education can give people the truth of their own opinions and judgments, and give people the power to advocate such views and judgments. It teaches them to treat things objectively, to go straight to the point, to sort out chaotic thoughts, to understand complexities, and to reject irrelevant matters.

American Education, especially college education, has three Cs: Critical, Creative, Citizen.

CRITICAL/CRITICAL THINKING, A professor from Harvard University, named Edward Maynard Glaser first mentioned this concept. He claimed that Critical Thinking must have three aspects: 1. Careful attitude towards questions and solutions. 2. Knowledge of the methods for Rational Exploration and Logic Reasoning. 3. Skillful application of the above methods.

CREATIVE：involving the use of skills and imagination to produce something new or a work of art. (Oxford Dictionary)

CITIZEN：a person who has the legal right to belong to a particular country. (Oxford Dictionary), opposite to“slavish”、“servile”

A Chinese educator,Tschen Yin, said: The talents cultivated in universities should have “the spirit of independence, the idea of freedom”, and it should be a positive outlook on life and critical thinking to support every youth in making judgment choices.

I summarized all these together as the reasons for college education: "For Truth, gain freedom, to serve"

? Truth：Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. The truth of history constitutes its whole value. We rely on the truth of the scriptural prophecies. (1828 Edition Webb West dictionary )

? Freedom：A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious. [See Liberty.]

? Serve：[From Latin servitium.] 1. In a general sense, labor of body or of body and mind, performed at the command of a superior, or the pursuance of duty, or for the benefit ofanother. service is voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary service is that of hired servants, or of contract, or of persons who spontaneously perform something for another's benefit. Involuntary service is that of slaves, who work by compulsion. That is to have the responsibility, to express love in a full way.

How to serve? First of all, you must "know and lead your era." Today, you are graduating. I’d like to send you Mr. Qian Mu's words "know your time and lead your time."“How to be a qualified person, how do you learn, and how to achieve your career. I believe there should be a basic condition, that is, we must understand our time first. We are born in today’s era and we should be today’s people, keep learning and try to achieve our career in this ages.” Each era should have its ideals, certain groups of people are needed by the ideals, to figure out what do we need for the ideals, and to shoulder the responsibility of leading the society. Thus, our society may make progress. Today, our target of this era to fulfill thedream of the great renewal of the Chinese nation.

What kind of era is this?

This is an era of individualism: we put personal interests above group welfare, personal opinions tend to be the only acceptable one.But all rivers run into sea, its greatness contains everything, there is plenty to be had.We should not only focus on our own interests and be supercilious, but learn to listen to others' opinions more, consider the views of all parties, and working together to realize our dreams.

This is an era of information explosion and hard to distinguish right from wrong. Information from the Internet daily, from social media, they all bring us so many impacts.But things are not always superficial, stop defining yourself by what you see — or what you think you see. You need to think it critically.The purpose of collage education is to cultivate independent thinking.

This is an era of interests come before morality: Wealth, status and authority become the only things people pursue. But the cultivation of morality and value, they were gradually pale into insignificant.

Thousand cliffs all stand here,it's firm without any desire. Only when profits cannot obscure your eyes anymore, you then can stand at the peak. I sincerely hope you will not let desires cover your conscience and allow yourself to be worthy. Meanwhile, please always remember, a virtuous man could bear everything. What we really should pursue, ought to be something more lasting rather than fame and profit. I expect, all the 2019 graduates, could be very modest, integrate yourself intocollegeswith open-mind, then lead the world. My children, I pray you all have a beautiful and blissful life. And I'd rather see you shoulder the responsibility of making your nation, your country, even the whole world a better place. With the aim of "believe in truth, get freedom, to serve", we forge ahead.

You might think I’m going to end here, but sorry, please allow me two more minutes.

Forge aheadtowards all kinds of difficulties. This comes from a Chinese idiom. (砥礪前行) Di Li is a Chinese word, it refers to 2 kinds of Sharpening Stones, which means to temper oneself. It could be used to express revolutionary will, also, it refers to show encouragement between each other. This word comes from Mountains-Seas Book. My understanding towards this word is face difficulties, challenge failures, be gritty and forge ahead! Your journey starts now, from here where you are standing. My dear students, please be energetic and fearless; dear parents, are you ready to be surrounded by difficulties and defeated by failures?

You can't tell the difference when everything is well. The greatness of a man can only be seen in defeats. This is the reason we admire Mr Chu Shijian who is the former President of HongtashanCigarets Group. He failed his business, but eventually, he stood up, stands on the top of mountain in the end.

When I firstly arrived in America, I learnt Judo. The very first lesson is how to avoid being hurt after a fall. You have to be defeated constantly, Afterwards, you will learn roll over or use certain positions to avoid being injured. It is also a momentous lesson.

My dear kids, make sure you don’t get hurt after failure, still see brightness after failure, have faith and keeping trying. This is called forge ahead! So, My dear graduates, this is my final lesson for you. The theme is: With the aim of "believe in truth, get freedom, to serve", we forge ahead!

Thanks for listening, may God bless you all!