【Highlights】NTOU Online Farewell Gathering 2021
The Office of the International Affairs (OIA) on Thursday, July 8, 2021, gave a farewell party and tribute to the international students graduating class of 2021. The said event was graced by the esteemed university officials headed by the university president, staff from the OIA, and international students; a total of 53 individuals attended the online event.
Hui Wen Lee from Malaysia is from the Department of Aquaculture is the host of the event. She appreciated and thanked NTOU, the professors, and advisers for helping the students to achieve their academic milestones. She also acknowledged the President for the university’s generosity by providing gifts to all graduating students.
NTOU President Tai-Wen Hsu gave his congratulatory remarks and inspirational message to the students. He extended his thanks to those who attended. He was indeed delighted and honored to see everyone in a virtual environment to celebrate and honor the success of all graduating students. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, he acknowledged the hard work and efforts of the Office of International Affairs thru the dean, directors, and staff for making sure that international students are in good condition and their needs are well-provided and attended. He also applauded the effort in coming up with this activity to pay tribute to the achievements of this year’s graduates.
President Tai-Wen Hsu, as he continues to deliver his speech, encouraged all students to be positive, to strive, and work harder to achieve their dreams despite the challenges of this pandemic. He also emphasized the value of hard work, and he quoted Thomas Edison’s statement that there is no substitute for hard work. He also shared some learning principles from the ocean – its strength yet calm, its steadiness but yielding, its subtleness yet beautiful. He also described the ocean’s characteristics: its saltiness that gives flavors and perseveration, the ocean’s wideness and depth to reach and influence more people, and the calmness or strong ocean’s waves and currents to help bring forward to a better future and direction. He encouraged everyone to be purposeful, plan a career, to be a person with a purpose and meaningful life. The University President also emphasized remembering the wisdom from these characteristics; use it to inspire, encourage, and pursue life and its future. Lastly, he addressed the graduates to cherish their NTOU life and academic endeavors. He wished everyone to have a career, good life, and good health.
Vice-President Ming-An Lee also gave his special greetings and praised the remarkable journey of each student. He remembered that a few years ago when they came to NTOU to study. Today is a special today to pay tribute and celebrate their success and hard work, as the graduates are now officially part of the NTOU alumni. The students’ dedication towards pursuing higher academic grounds will help them in future endeavors, and everyone has the best potential in their respective fields. Vice President Lee is excited to look forward to hearing their excellent efforts in their respective fields as they make NTOU proud. He stated that though dedication is relevant to achieve success, it cannot prevent someone from making mistakes. But this should not stop someone from going forward; instead, mistakes should be used as a valuable learning experience to reach higher grounds and never give up on achieving dreams.
Professor Hsian-Chun Tseng, Director of the Division of International Student Affairs, is very grateful for the opportunity to share moments and get to know the international students. She expressed her appreciation for sharing their cultures as part of the international community of NTOU and Taiwan. She is overjoyed for everyone’s achievement and wished everyone’s success on their next adventure. For some, in concluding their academic journey, it is hard to say goodbye. Instead, she wanted to say, see you later. Professor Tseng looks forward to meeting up with everyone next time.
Professor Feng-Ming Tsai, Director of International Information & Planning Division, facilitated the announcement and awarding of the winners for the 2021 Video Contest. The videos are available on the homepage of the OIA website.
The student representatives from India (Jiji Kannan), Indonesia (Nafis Putra), Philippines (Rodolfo Dela Pena), and Saint Vincent and Grenadines (Janika Williams) extended their congratulatory messages and best wishes to Batch 2021 graduates.
Also, some of the graduates shared how NTOU became an instrument and a big influence on their academic journey. Those who shared are Phat (Vietnam, Department of Aquaculture), Gokul (India, Department of Computer Science and Engineering), Nathalia (Panama, Department of Marine Engineering), and Mila (Fiji, Department of Aquaculture).
The Dean of OIA, Prof. I-Shiung Chen, acknowledged the President for investing in the overseas scholarships. He also acknowledged his efforts to look for more funding to support and accommodate more international students to study in NTOU. Prof. Wen shared some of the plans and accomplishments to enhance the quality of service and academic environment for NTOU to provide the best education for overseas students. He also acknowledged the OIA Vice-Dean and the staff for their efforts and dedication. He encouraged students to pursue a higher degree in NTOU if they still wish to study further. The University also plans to provide more English courses at the graduate level to make learning more convenient and easier for overseas students. He wished everyone better job opportunities thru their academic achievements and research publications.
Lastly, the University President appreciated those who participated in the online event and OIA’s effort for this warm and successful event. He also extended his thanks to the graduates for choosing NTOU as their university choice. He encouraged everyone to continue sharing about NTOU with schoolmates and friends and encourage them to study at the university. He also affirmed that NTOU is proud of the graduate’s achievements and hopes that everyone is also proud of NTOU. He wished everyone to have a good job, successful career, best of health, and safety.
The videos can be watched below and the powerpoint presentations can be downloaded from the link provided at bottom of this page. Here are some of the snapshots during the online event.
