Good afternoon faculty, parents and most of all students.

Today you finally get to leave high school. As I look out at all of you this afternoon, I am filled with conflicting emotions, for some of you it is happiness, for some fear and some of you worry.

Over the last 3 years you have been sheltered in a cotton wool ball, protected by your parents, relatives and teachers. However as Mark A. Cooper once said, ‘Life has no remote, get up and change it yourself.”

Doing what you love, pursuing your own path is often the most unsettling option at the outset.

The paths that others have traveled before you…those are the paths that have greater visibility, they appear lower risk, they play better in conversations with the Aunts, Uncles, and neighbors.

But don’t fall for it. You are better than that and have the strength to go your own way. 

So when you get to your prospective university, DON’T stay in your microcosm of Chinese friends and experiences.

GO out and meet different people, have new experience and do everything and anything, just don’t get arrested on your first day like a previous student, who called an old teacher here to ask for advice as he was in the campus jail.

That student now is studying an MA in finance and economics at Berkley.

Last of it has been an honor and a privilege to teach and mentor all of you, thank you, and I am rooting for each and every one of you when you go out into the world.

亲爱的老师，家长，同学们，大家下午好今天你们即将迈出高中的校门，可面对你们，我的心情是复杂的，有喜悦，同时也有顾虑。在过去的三年里，你们或许就像摇篮里的孩子，有家长，朋友，老师一直在旁边守护着你们。但是，事实却如Mark Cooper说的一样，“人生没有遥控器，你必须自己站起来做出改变” 可能刚开始，你们还不适应做出改变，亦或不敢去做自己真正喜欢的事你们可能会选择那些从亲朋好友嘴中说出的，别人眼中“正确”、“保险”的道路但是，你要做最相信自己的那一个。你要坚信，你的潜力是无限的，你有这个能力去开辟属于真正适合你的道路。所以，当你真正走进大学的那一天，不要总和其他中国学生扎堆约在一起。走出去见见不同的人，尝试些之前没有尝试过的经历，任何你感兴趣的事情。但是不要太能作，之前我们有个学生开学第一天被警察抓了，然后在看守所打回电话来寻求帮助。但是人家现在是伯克利的高材生学习金融和经济。最后我想说，很荣幸也很感激能够与你们所有人成为师生，无论你们走到世界的哪一角，我都会永远支持你们，谢谢！