Greetings Chancellor Hai Wen, Dean Cen Wei, distinguished faculties, fellow members of class of 2015 and 2016:

It is my privilege to be here tonight to extend warm greetings to the incoming underclassmen and women on behalf of class of 2015. Today marks an important day in your lives. It is the beginning of an adventure.

Let’s first talk about this place you have landed. PHBS is a community of learning, dedicated to the restless pursuit of truth and, at the same time, devoted to the betterment of humanity. With a goal of personal, social as well as intellectual transformation, students of diverse backgrounds study together and learn from one another. The school nurtures the ability to interpret, to make critical judgments, to dare to question.

Enough good words about the school, what about the students? Fulltime students made a resolute decision to pause their career in pursuit of education and knowledge. Part-time students are committed to forego their weekends and strive to balance between work and school for the next two years. We all took a chance and left our comfort zone. Why did we make that choice?

Lots of us here tonight are expecting or currently going through career transitions, and expecting the prestigious name of PHBS would vouch for a brighter future. But what PHBS shall leave us is beyond a well-recognized name on the resume.

First of all, in the words of Steve Nowicki, a good university teaches its students to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, to embrace the unknown and uncertain. It is often said that many of the jobs our generation will hold have not even been conceived of yet. If so, how should we prepare for professions that don't yet exist?

PHBS provides the answer: instead of training its students with specific knowledge and skillsets, the school gives us practice in maintaining an open mind that will continue to absorb new ideas and adapt to new ways of thinking throughout our life. A PHBS education is never about securing a job or promotion. Drew Faust once addressed to her students, too narrow a focus on the present can come at the expense of past and future. What is an innovative mind if it is incapable of dreaming up a world different from the one he lives in?

Here at PHBS, the school strives to cultivate a mindset that is flexible, alert, imaginative, and dissatisfied with the mundane. We are told to seek answers not by following prescribed paths, but by finding the right question. The university does not just store facts; it teaches us how to evaluate, test, challenge, and refine them. We learn to question the set conclusions, the pre-arranged courses, and answer questions with more questions. As Faust said, truth cannot simply be claimed; it must be established. Ideas most fully thrive and grow when they are open to challenges. The diversity of ideas makes us all wiser. True leadership is not running away from those who disagree with you, but to embrace the difference.

The second reason has less to do with our professional trajectory and more with our future life. Ultimately more important than the brief two years at PHBS is what we will do with our degrees and our lives. Of course, the school expects that our education will send us off to a successful career and help us sustain that success as we immerse in the complexity of business world. But it’s also the school’s mission not just to help us launch a satisfying and rewarding living, but also to help us maintain the intricate balance of professional success and personal satisfaction.

PHBS encourages its students to be individuals of character as well as of learning. Its curriculum and myriad extra-curriculum opportunities enable us to expand our knowledge beyond what we think we are interested in, to pursue our passions in a kaleidoscope of subjects that may not seem immediately useful, and to broaden our experience of what it means to be human.

My fellow classmen and women, the PHBS years shall become a memorable gem for your tapestry of life. In this night of celebration, I wish you all the best in setting out a journey and getting ahead of the change.

Thank you.