Dear faculty members, parents, friends and the class of 2013,

It’s my great honor to speak here representing GBJ alumni. And after working at People’s Daily for almost two years, I’m glad the school has invited me while I can still remember my English.

Working at People’s Daily is not a typical choice for GBJers, so I keep asking myself: What does this experience mean to me? The teachers at GBJ were from the West, but I work for the party newspaper. The courses were about reporting on economics and finance, but I cover politics.

It was only two years ago when I was sitting where you are, but the media industry has changed a lot since then. And I’m honored to be part of the change.

A few months after joining the paper, I told myself, "You need to do something." Nobody is reading print newspapers anymore. And I, in 20 years, might become a pathetic old man, hating the journalism school which might not even exist by then.

So what did I do? Together with a few colleagues, I created two new media projects. One is called 侠客岛, which focuses on China’s politics; the other is called 学习小组, which is about president Xi Jinping. It took us 15 months to attract more than 1 million followers on WeChat and more on Weibo, apps, and other platforms. Our articles appear on front pages and become headlines on China’s most-popular websites, Baidu, Tencent, Netease, and Phoenix. You name it. A quick reminder is they only use seven headlines per week.

So I found two jobs after graduation. One is working for People’s Daily, the newspaper, the other is working for People’s Daily, the new media. I’m quite familiar with this situation: sleepless nights, deadlines and tasks that you can never finish. That’s what makes us Tsinghua students, and GBJers. The secret reason for every success is a bunch of people working in their underwear at 2 o’clock in the morning.

The traditional career paths of journalism school graduates are shifting, and we are entering a new world which moves quickly. The world embraces changes, as well as brave people who can make changes. And you guys are lucky enough to have been trained by this great school, not just to be part of the changes but to lead it. And this is the most important lesson I’ve got.

Every year, we organize a GBJ alumni party and share what life has given us since we left Tsinghua. As one of the organizers, I warmly welcome you to join us. And remember, class never ends when we can hang around with those nice people.

This is your day, class of 2013. You've received flowers, applause, hugs, and maybe a drunk night ahead. I join everyone to give you the warmest congratulations. Thank you.