Distinguished officials and guests, Proud families, and Graduates,
Everybody enjoys a graduation! That’s true in America as well as in China.
Graduates, YOU DID IT! Now, what have you done? Have you FINISHED something or STARTED something?
Even though graduation is an occasion to mark the COMPLETION of some course of study or training, it is extremely common for speakers at graduation ceremonies to describe the graduation as a BEGINNING.
Graduation as an end and a beginning—does this make sense? Most things—including life itself—have some beginning, some middle, and some end.
Winston Churchill, making the announcement of the invasion of Europe in World War II, said, “This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end. However, it is the end of the beginning.”
If graduation is a beginning, when does the end start?
If you ask a biologist, “When does a person start to die?”—the biologist will answer: “A person starts to die when the person stops growing.”
If you ask a philosopher, “When does a person start to die?”—the philosopher will answer: “A person starts to die when the person is born.”
If you ask a teacher “When does a person start to die?—the teacher will answer: “A person starts to die when the person STOPS LEARNING.”
And THAT, new graduates—THAT is the message that I deliver to you today from the faculty.
As long as you continue to learn, you will be looking ahead, growing, beginning; when you stop learning, you will be looking back, declining, ending.
The whole world—including the business world—changes. Leaders—including business leaders—keep up with the changes by learning. Learning is a mindset, an outlook, a goal, a value.
We faculty members have done our best to give you the education and training for leadership in today’s business world, and for as much of tomorrow’s world as we can see. Beyond this, it’s up to you.
A common American expression is, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
If this graduation marks only the awarding of the M.B.A. degree, then “Congratulations, for today you reach the summit of a course of study”—but that’s an ending.
If this graduation marks one of many steps in a lifetime of learning, then “Congratulations, today you reach a new plateau from which to move upward”—and that’s a beginning.
On behalf of the entire faculty, we sincerely wish that today will be for you—a TRUE BEGINNING, in a LIFETIME OF LEARNING.
Thank you.
项目简介
上海财经大学-美国韦伯斯特大学合作举办工商管理专业(MBA)硕士学位项目，即上财商学院国际MBA项目，创办于1996年，是最早获教育部批准的中外合作学位教育项目之一，已连续20年招生。采用美式申请制，项目自主招生，无需参加全国联考，全面考核学员的综合素质，管理经验及英语应用能力，择优录取。 毕业后获美国硕士学位，中国教育部学历学位认证。
【2017第一批次入学考试】2017年3月12日
【招生电话】021-55968289 / 65443025
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