Dean Professor Shi Anbin, Prof. Hang Min, Prof. Rick Dunham, honorable school administrators and faculty members, distinguished parents, friends, guests, fellow graduates, I am honored to stand before you today for the Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication graduation.

Two years ago when we gathered to inaugurate the Global Business Journalism class of 2013, the dean called this eclectic group the United Nations of journalism, highlighting the diversity in the room. Some of us scoffed then. I mean, we were missing 180 countries, give or take, and we often had some petty arguments, but UN members also disagree. And if you think about it, none of us have ever banged a shoe on a table to get a point across, so you could say we’re actually better than the UN.

Kidding aside, I believe it is ultimately our differences that have made our time here unique and worthwhile. We all came here with different goals. Presumably we came to learn more about China and its rapid economic ascent, though some had already spent several years here. Others came because the program sounded like a good educational opportunity, or to travel abroad and see new places and meet new people. Now as we prepare to leave Tsinghua, we are taking with us more knowledge and more experiences that will help us communicate new ideas to people back home and abroad. And ultimately, communicating new ideas is what journalism is all about; it’s what our time here has been about.

Why study journalism if not to be a better communicator and to communicate ideas to people wouldn’t encounter them otherwise? The mark of a good journalist is to be able to dive into new experiences and bring back what he or she has learned. And I know that not everyone here is going into journalism, but we are now all carrying within us a more nuanced story of China than anything we read before we stepped foot on Chinese soil. Like traveling anywhere, China has likely played into some of the stereotypes for most of us. But we also now have a better understanding of the innovation that’s been happening all around us, like all the start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs milling about just up the road in Zhongguancun. We may have heard people from past generations talk about the dramatic transformation of China from a country where most lived in poverty just a few decades ago to a place where people across the country are actively participating in creating China's future. Rural China continues to be transformed at a rapid rate and at this very school there are some people who are not just the first in their families to go to college, but the first in their towns.

Some of these stories get told in various ways abroad, but you now have more knowledge, and in some cases, firsthand knowledge, of what is happening here. You are the human face for friends and family back home for what China’s rise means. More than that, we have been communicating and exchanging ideas with people from around the world. What we have gained from studying in at Tsinghua is not just knowledge of what is happening here and how it affects our own countries, but how it affects people all over the world and how people think about issues of global importance, including, of course, global business.

It is written that Chinese philosopher Mozi once said, "Few are those, who, neglecting the virtuous and slighting the learned, could still maintain the existence of their countries." Well, here we are, all now more virtuous and learned, I hope. Mozi also preached about universal love and understanding, including between nations. We are now all able to take back what we've learned here, inside and outside the classroom, not just for the sake of our own countries, but the relationships between them that the people of whom they consist. I know, at least for myself, that I have learned from everyone here, and I hope you have learned from me at least something beyond some of the more boorish American stereotypes. For this, I'm grateful for my experiences here. So thank you and congratulations to the Tsinghua Global Business Journalism Class of 2013.