Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
A beautiful dance performed to the song of “Flaming Youth” ignited the atmosphere of the audience. Once they were done, the dancers bowed to the teachers and students before they exited the stage.
A red curtain opened and a big line of text appeared in the center of a big screen.
[Sincere and majestic, Courage and learn.]
That was the University of Jin Ling’s school motto.
The school motto was more than 100 years old.
The first person to speak on stage was an old man with glasses.
His figure looked thin, but he stood up straight like a flagpole.
Lu Zhou had only seen this old man’s face a few times, but he remembered him.
He was none other than University of Jin Ling’s Principal Xu!
Before he became the principal, he was an academician in the Chinese Information Technology Science Department. He had undertaken more than 20 national research programs and had made great contributions to China’s information technology and network security.
Principal Xu’s speech was very scientific, and he spoke specifically and concisely. Within five minutes, he finished his speech and conveyed all of the necessary information.
At the end of his speech, he said thank you and the audience gave him warm applause.
Lu Zhou stood behind the curtains in a suit and as he held the script tight in his hand, his palm was sweaty.
There were at least 2000 people sitting in the audience. Not only were there undergraduate students from various departments, but there were also graduate students, PhD students, leaders from various departments, and etc. At the side, there were cameras from Jin Ling TV Station and Suzhou TV Station as they live broadcasted the award ceremony.
Professor Tang stood beside Lu Zhou. With his arms behind his back, he smiled and said, “Nervous?”
Lu Zhou coughed and said, “It’s alright.”
Professor Tang laughed and said, “Alright is good. You’ll have many chances to speak on stage in the future. Use this as a practice. It’ll help your future development.”
Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said seriously, “I understand.”
The award was divided into three parts. The first was the introducer(supervisor) speech, then the winner speech, and finally, the award was given to the winners and the winners would then take a group photo.
When the host saw that the principal’s speech was over, he announced the beginning of the next stage.
On the big screen in the center of the stage, a paragraph of text appeared and it summarized the honor of the winner.
[Lu Zhou, male, mathematics department class of 2013, class one. Total of 13 theses published, covering mathematics, computer science, and computational materials. Used innovative methods to solve “Zhou’s conjecture”, a world-class mathematics problem, invited to participate in the 2015 Princeton Mathematical Academic Exchange Conference. 2014 national mathematical modeling competition “Higher Education Society Cup” winner, founder of the university student entrepreneurship project “Campus Assistant”.]
The audience looked at the paragraph on the screen and lightly exclaimed in surprise.
For a normal person, anyone with those achievements would be spectacular.
As Lu Zhou stood behind the curtains and looked at his achievements being displayed in front of everyone, he felt pretty good.
The only downside was that his photo was not attached.
If they would capture his handsomeness and showed it to the school, that would be even more perfect!
Professor Tang then walked onto the stage and the host respectfully helped him to adjust the microphone.
Gradually, the audience in the venue became quiet.
The professor then gently coughed before he spoke with a voice that was different from his teaching voice.
“If you asked me, for the past thirty years, which student made the biggest impression on me, it would be Lu Zhou.
“A thesis on functional analysis that attracted the attention of the Courant Institute of Mathematics in New York. A thesis that provided new ideas for the field of computational materials, and the birth of the Zhou’s theorem… I feel like I’m repeating the content listed in the PowerPoint.”
Professor Tang took a pause before he said with a smile, “My time is limited, so I won’t repeat them one by one. From my evaluation, his research achievements have already surpassed most PhD students. His most valuable skill is that he can quickly find and solve the scientific problems he finds interesting.
“He is also only twenty years old.
“The future road is long, there are many challenges in the distance. Whether it is to use mathematical tools to solve practical problems, or challenging the Fields Medal, I believe that the Hall of Mathematics has a place for him.
“Thank you.”
Clap clap clap…
The applause of the audience was like thunder.
During the round of applause, Professor Tang smiled as he handed the microphone to Lu Zhou. He then placed his hands behind his back as he walked behind the curtains.
Lu Zhou stared at the audience members.
He thought back to the sweat and tears he sacrificed for the past six months…
The countless days and nights that he spent studying…
When Lu Zhou took a deep breath, his heart felt as if it was nearly beating out of his chest.
He spoke to the microphone with an excited but stable voice.
“Thank you, University of Jin Ling, for giving me the chance to stand here. Also, thank you, students, for giving me the opportunity to speak. Of course, I’m most grateful to my parents that raised me, and the teachers…
“Functional analysis is my main field. My first thesis was inspired by Professor Tang. In Professor Li Rongen’s research team, I have cultivated my research thinking by using mathematical tools to solve practical problems. That was a valuable experience for me…
“As for the study of the distribution law of the Mersenne prime numbers, and the proof of Zhou’s conjecture, I prefer to describe it as an accident. It was like a moment of inspiration that I caught…
“Also Campus Assistant wasn’t just my work, it was the power of my team…”
From his academics to entrepreneurship, from scientific thinking to team spirit, Lu Zhou talked about it all.
It was true that his success was also because of luck, the system, and various other factors.
However, it did not mean that he did not work hard.
Working hard was the key.
Even if he did not have the help of the system, if he concentrated and focused, he still might have the opportunity to stand on the podium.
Furthermore, he still might have those achievements.
It was just that he could not have obtained the achievements that fast, and it would take ten or even twenty years. He would have to persevere, like the thousands of people who failed did…
The audience was listening very intently. Especially those new students that had not gone home yet. They even took out their notebooks and started to meticulously write notes.
Lu Zhou estimated that he did not have much time left, so he took a deep breath and had a genuine expression on his face.
“… Finally, please allow me to cite out school motto as a concluding remark.”
“Sincere and majestic, Courage and learn.”
“Thank you for listening!”
“Thank you!”
A brief silence went by…
Then, the raindrops of applause gradually became a thunderstorm.
As Lu Zhou stood on the podium, he felt as if he was being rained on by the thunderstorm.
Clap clap clap!
Clap clap clap!
Lu Zhou bowed slightly and nodded to the host before he walked behind the curtains.
