Secretary Fang Ping talks with SPSIR students about “Dreams and Responsibilities of Youth”

On December 29, 2020, Professor Fang Ping, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee of Tongji University, and student representatives from the School of Political Science & International Relations (SPSIR) participated in the 2021 orientation meeting on the theme of “Dreams and Responsibilities of Youth”. Professor Xu Hong, Secretary of the Party Committee of SPSIR, Chen Jin, a teacher in charge of the Sociology class of 2018, and Wu Xiaoli, an assistant for political and ideological work at SPSIR, joined the meeting.

 This meeting began with student representatives’ presentations. The first speaker was Zhu Zhe, a 2018 undergraduate student in Sociology. She vividly introduced her social research experience, shared her growth and gains in the study of sociology, and looked forward to the study and life in 2021. Based on her experience in serving as a monitor and working at the university students’ union, Chen Siyao said that there has been a great positive change in her personality during the exercise. Lu zhaowei shared her volunteer teaching experience in the summer vocation, showed her care for left-behind children, and expressed her compassion as a major in Sociology. Jigme Tsering looked back on his experience of “walking out” from his hometown of Tibet, and imaged “going back” in the future to support the construction of his hometown. Wu Fan, a postgraduate representative and a 2020 postgraduate student in Chinese and Foreign Political Systems, shared her story enthusiastically. She recalled her undergraduate experience at Tongji and how she received a postgraduate recommendation from Tongji, and talked about the difference in study and life between the stage of postgraduate and that of undergraduate. She is determined to serve the people more directly after entering the society, because she thinks that young talents should soar to great heights. Secretary Fang highly recognized their insights in study, life and growth, rich practical experience and language competence.

In the teacher-student interaction session, the students asked Secretary Fang questions on discipline construction, study plan, interdisciplinary communication, career planning, and EQ vs. IQ. Secretary Fang said that as a comprehensive university best known for its science and engineering, Tongji is also committed to developing high-quality liberal arts. He hoped that the students would focus on communication with science and engineering and interdisciplinary integration while extensively reading humanities and social science materials. Speaking of EQ in the workplace, Secretary Fang believed that the most important thing is to treat people with sincerity, work seriously, start with the little things around them, and gradually gain others’ recognition of their abilities. He added that in today’s highly diversified social environment, young students should hold on to their dreams. In most cases, people are not suffering from nowhere to go, but from no direction, so one must set a goal that he wants to pursue in the first place. He urged the students to have a dream, since only a life with a dream will be meaningful.

 Secretary Fang presented Three Books on Historical Study to the students and took a group photo with them. Encouraged by Secretary Fang, the students put down their notes and opened their hearts to the teachers. They raised hands to ask questions ranging from study to career planning and development, life dream, and eventually the responsibilities of young people. All the students have benefited a lot from this event and are looking forward to the upcoming 2021. They will work hard to make their dreams come true and bravely shoulder the responsibilities of young students!