The Global Business Journalism website is providing in-depth coverage of the 2024 Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communication commencement, including the celebration of the GBJ graduation. Today, we offer you the commencement address of Justin Olsvik of Canada on June 28 at the TSJC ceremony at Tsinghua's Old Auditorium.
Good afternoon fellow graduates, parents and professors. I actually started this program way back in 2020 and really dragged my heels through COVID so I could come back to China. So as perhaps GBJ’s slowest ever graduate, I’m happy to represent the international students today.
When I tell people from home what I’m doing over here, I’m met with a response that I think is probably relatable to my fellow international students. The raised eyebrows. The surprised expressions.
“You study journalism? In China?”
But I think it’s that exact skepticism that embodies the importance of this program. We have all come from different cultures, languages and political systems, some that might even sometimes be at odds with our new home here in China. And yet that you are all sitting here today is a testament to your open-mindedness, your curiosity, and your willingness to overcome preconceived notions.
Our world is a complicated one, but your motivations to honestly understand it from all sides in the hopes that you can make it a little bit better is something I think you should all be proud of.
So pat yourselves on the back. Crack the baijiu tonight if you’re into that kind of thing, and may we all take that same spirit of international bridge-building into whatever comes next.
Congratulations everyone.
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