U1T1

Good afternoon! As president of the university, I am proud to welcome you to this university. Your achievement is the triumph（努力的结果） of years of hard work, both of your own and of your parents and teachers. Here at the university, we pledge（承诺） to make your educational experience as rewarding as possible.（尽可能地收获满满）

In welcoming you to the university, I am reminded of（想起） my own high school graduation and the photograph my mom took of my dad and me. “Pose naturally,” Mom instructed（吩咐） us. “Wait!” said Dad. “Let’s take a picture of me handing him an alarm clock.（我么来拍一张我把闹钟递给他的照片吧）” The clock woke me up every morning in college. It is still on my office desk.

Let me share with you something that you may not expect. You will miss your old routines（习惯） and your parents’ reminders to work hard and attain your best.（竭尽所能） You may have cried tears of joy（喜极而泣） to be finally finished with high school, and your parents may have cried tears of joy to be finally finished with doing your laundry! （不再为你们洗衣服而喜极而泣）But know this: The future is built on the strong foundation of the past. （未来是建立在过去扎实的基础上的。）

For you, these next four years will be a time unlike any other. Here you are surrounded by great resources: interesting students from all over the country, a learned and caring faculty（学识渊博又充满爱心的老师）, a comprehensive library（藏书丰富的图书馆）, great sports facilities（完备的运动设施）, and student organizations covering every possible interest – from the arts to science, to community service, and so on. You will have the freedom to explore and learn about new subjects. You will learn to get by on very little sleep, meet fascinating people, and pursue new passions. I want to encourage you to make the most of this unique experience, and to use your energy and enthusiasm to reap（收获） the benefits of this opportunity.

You may feel overwhelmed（不知所措） by the wealth of courses available to you. You will not be able to experience them all, but sample（体验） them widely! College offers many things to do and to learn, and each of them offers a different way to see the world. If I could give you only one piece of advice about selecting courses, it would be this: Challenge yourself! Don’t assume（以为） that you know in advance what fields will interest you the most. Take some courses in fields you have never tried before. You will not only emerge as a more broadly-educated （博学）person, but also stand a better chance of discovering an unsuspected passion that will help to shape your future（成就你未来）. A wonderful example of this is Leonardo da Vinci, who originally studied painting and sculpture. Over time（随着时间推移）, Leonardo da Vinci paired（结合） his studies in art with his love of science and nature, which made him a famous painter, sculptor, draftsman（制图师）, engineer, scientist, and architect（建筑家）.

Here at the university, it may not always be pleasant to have so many new experiences all at once（一下子）. In your dorm, the student next door（隔壁寝室） may repeatedly play the one song, which gives you a giant headache. You may be an early bird while your roommate is a night owl（夜猫子）. And still（尽管如此）, you and your roommate may become best friends. Don’t worry if you become a little uncomfortable with some of your new experiences. I promise you that the happy experiences will outweigh the unpleasant ones.（快乐的经历会多余不快乐的经历） And I promise that virtually（几乎） all of them will provide you with valuable lessons which will enrich your life（是你的人生更加丰富）. So, with a glow in your eyes and a song in your heart, step forward to meet these new experiences!。（所 以，眼中有光，心中有歌，去拥抱这些新的体验吧！）

We have confidence that your journey toward self-discovery and your progress toward finding your own passion will yield（产生） more than personal advancement. We believe that as you become members of our community of scholars（学者）, you will soon come to recognize（认识到） that with the abundant（大量的） opportunities for self-enrichment provided by the university, there also come responsibilities. A wise man said: “Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.（教育代代相传，因此它其实就是社会的灵魂）” You are the inheritors（传承者） of the hard work of your families and the hard work of many countless others who came before you. They built and transmitted（积累并传递） the knowledge you will need to succeed（他们积累并传递给你们成功所必需的知识）. Now it is your turn. What knowledge will you acquire? What passions will you discover? What will you do to build a strong and prosperous（繁荣的） future for the generations that will come after you?

We take great pleasure in opening the door to this great step in your journey. We take delight in the many opportunities which you will find, and in the responsibilities that you will carry as citizens of your communities, your country, and the world. Welcome!

能为你们开启人生旅途中这一重要阶段的大门，我们为此而深感高兴。你们将发现很多机会，也将作为社 区、国家乃至世界的公民承担起应有的责任，我们为此而感到高兴。欢迎你们！