Distinguished guests, dear colleagues, dear students, and their loved ones,
As Chancellor and a proud representative of the NYU Shanghai community, let me begin by extending my heartfelt congratulations to the Class of 2025. Today marks the culmination of four years of dedication and growth, and the beginning of an exciting new chapter in your life’s journey.
This year, for the first time, we are holding commencement on our own campus. You are the first undergraduate cohort in NYU Shanghai’s history to graduate in the very place where you began your journey at Orientation. For that, I offer you my sincere congratulations as well.
Taking part in a commencement in the very place where your academic journey began reminds me of a recent experience I had cycling around Yuan Dang Lake, on the border of Shanghai and Suzhou. As I approached the end of the ride, I found myself gradually circling back to where I started—completing the journey not just with a sense of closure, but also with a quiet sense of ‘fulfillment.’
Strictly speaking, the idea of life’s ‘fulfillment’ may forever remain an ideal, something we strive toward but never fully attain. Yet this does not diminish the value of the moments along the way when the path of our journey briefly folds back upon itself, and two seemingly distant points converge.
These moments are neither mere repetitions nor simple returns. They are, rather, instances of deep reflection—like seeing a familiar place with new eyes, or recognizing the past from a higher vantage point. It is precisely for this reason that these moments in life tend to bring us joy or move us deeply.
This ‘overlap’ can be temporal. Consider how we mark ‘birthdays’—whether personal, collective, or even historical. We return to the same date each year, each decade, or each century, not to relive the past, but to deepen our experience of it.
This ‘overlap’ can also be spatial. By revisiting familiar places, the present self meets the past self in the same location. By visiting historical relics, we imagine ourselves meeting people from previous generations who once stood where we now stand.
Sometimes, the reunion of two otherwise distant points along life’s path can be both temporal and spatial. This year marks the 50th anniversary of my time spent working at a farm in nearby Chongming Island. Just two months ago, I made a journey back there. As I walked along the same ditches and ridges I had once traversed countless times as a young rice field manager, I was deeply moved.
Today is a day to celebrate your successful completion of four years of study. On such an occasion, I should have spoken less about myself. Yet as Chancellor, I feel a responsibility—and a privilege—to share a few heartfelt reflections. And so, if you’ll allow me, I would like to offer four thoughts drawn from my own experiences, in the hope that they may resonate with you.
The first idea I wish to share is the importance of always striving forward, no matter the circumstances. Many of you are likely familiar with Albert Einstein’s famous words: ‘Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.’ As a cyclist myself, I not only agree with Einstein’s insight but would like to add a personal reflection: life is like cycling around a lake. Only by continuing forward can we truly appreciate the sense of fulfillment.
Moving forward is essential to experiencing a sense of ‘fulfillment.’ However, true fulfillment is only possible when there is a meaningful point of origin—something worthy of our efforts to return to and reflect upon. In fact, every moment in life has the potential to become such a point of origin for the journey that follows.
The second idea I wish to share with you today is that at every moment, strive to make today—this very moment—a place worth ‘overlapping’ in the future; a milestone in your life that will continue to inspire and propel you forward as you move ahead.
But let us not mystify every single stop along life’s journey. Being obsessed with never wasting a moment can transform those very moments—each valuable in its own right—into a mere means to an end.
The third idea I wish to share with you is that the effort to create a meaningful point of origin—one worthy of future reunion—is certainly best begun early, but it is never too late to begin and to begin again. The small efforts we make each day, each hour, continually reshape the path we have already traveled, redefining the footprints we leave behind.
Of course, effort is important—but effort alone is not everything. If ‘fulfillment’ came simply from trying hard, then it would be too easily won. What moved me most as I walked once again along the ridges I had traversed fifty years ago was not only my efforts but also the chance and fortune I encountered along the way.
Therefore, the fourth idea I want to share with you is that when it comes to life’s encounters with chance, we should neither place too heavy a burden on them—allowing ourselves to be at chance’s mercy—nor dismiss their significance entirely, attributing all success or failure solely to our own effort. Life’s journey will not always be filled with serenity and sunshine. What we must do is cherish chances, enjoy learning, and transform fleeting moments of chance into lasting personal growth. In doing so, even negative experiences will become part of a positive and meaningful harvest.
Speaking of the challenges and setbacks you may encounter ahead, I’m reminded of a Norwegian proverb I love: ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.’ Over the past four years at NYU Shanghai, your professors—together with your families, and with support from across the community—have endeavored to fully prepare you for the journey of life, equipping you with the warm, resilient clothing that will help you in whatever weather lies ahead. But today, our work comes to an end. From this day forward, I hope you’ve learned how to clothe yourselves for the road ahead—how to adapt, to persevere, to grow. More importantly, I hope that when you leave this campus, you not only have the strength to shield yourselves from the storm but also the wisdom and courage to help make the climate better for the general public.
And what I hope most of all is this: that every time we meet again—especially on your graduation anniversary or on NYU Shanghai’s birthday—I will find you even stronger, even happier than you are today.
Thank you all!