2009 Kochi University Entrance Ceremony Address
Congratulations to all new students on your admission.
We are delighted to welcome all of you who have successfully overcome these challenges to our university. Your fresh, youthful energy will help revitalize our campus and contribute to the development of the talent our times demand, as well as to the advancement of research and scholarship. The entire faculty and staff of our university extend a warm welcome to you all.
I am sure your family is also delighted and deeply satisfied.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our distinguished guests for joining us today.
Now that you have become university students, on this day of the entrance ceremony, I hope you will bid farewell to the familiar surroundings and the days of exam preparation that were part of your lives until yesterday. I urge each and every one of you to take this opportunity to reflect on yourselves, to take responsibility for your own development, to freely cultivate yourselves, and to strive to acquire habits that will hold significant meaning in your lives.
In other words, now that you have transitioned from being pupils to students, I want you to be keenly aware that you have entered a period in which you will be laying a solid foundation for your future lives.
I want you to realize that the student life you are about to experience at Kochi University is a precious and truly luxurious time that will never come again in your lives.
I hope that during your time at this university, you will take on challenges that no one else would attempt. This is a uniquely exceptional period in your lives—a time when even failure will not deal a fatal blow to your future. Today marks the beginning of a life worthy of the elite, a life in which such challenges are permitted.
Take a moment to reflect on your life as a student preparing for entrance exams up until yesterday. Your exam preparation was, after all, nothing more than a series of days spent doing exactly what everyone else was doing. Make a conscious effort to break free from the habit of simply following others, and instead live a life grounded in true freedom and discipline. By the time you graduate, you should be able to clearly reflect on the significance of the challenges you have undertaken.
Kochi University, a National University Corporation, is committed to meeting the demands of our time by nurturing the elite who will lead Japan into the 21st century. We fully recognize the university reforms—or CHANGE—that society requires, and view this moment as a unique and unparalleled OPPORTUNITY. Without hesitation, we boldly take on these challenges—or CHALLENGE—to CREATE a Kochi University befitting the 21st century,that is, to create a Kochi University worthy of the 21st century.
Please keep in mind that today is the day when, as members of Kochi University, we take that first step together—to create a new version of ourselves and to build a new university.
As I conclude my address as president, I hope that you will take responsibility for shaping your own campus life from today onward, so that it may be filled with hope and fulfillment.
April 3, 2009
Kochi University, a National University Corporation, President Yusuke Sagara