English translation (AI-generated)

Today I officially graduated from Imperial College London! Although I couldn’t attend the graduation ceremony — there was simply too much going on with experiments and coursework — I must thank all the friends who kept me company through these three years! Three years flashed by in an instant, and looking back now, what happy times they were!

I spent five minutes watching the recording (forgive me — I’ve been so busy!). To be honest, back in my first year I used to imagine that at the third-year ceremony I would win that “Award winner” honour, and put a full stop to my undergraduate years with the applause of the whole hall. And indeed, had I attended today, I really could have. But looking back now, my undergraduate degree was only a beginning — there is still so much I have to learn, and so many shortcomings. My results only prove that I’m rather good at exams? That I do presentations and essays well? But that is only the tip of the iceberg of research. Today my experiment kept getting stuck at one point, and with every step of troubleshooting I realised how much there still is that I don’t know. I had grown used to always being the top student — but truly, “top” is only a label. Stripped of the label, is the self that remains still an excellent self?

These past few days I’ve slowly come to understand. Real progress does not come from others’ praise, nor from comparing yourself with others, but from making yourself better. Real excellence is not never making mistakes, still less sailing through smoothly all the way, but being knocked down again and again and still climbing back up to walk on.

A PhD is exactly this kind of tempering. No more marks, no more rankings; your effort is not for others’ eyes, and you cannot let yourself be worn down inside just because an experiment fails. From the beginning of my PhD until now, I have often been very anxious; the difficulty of the coursework and daily tasks (especially the standard!) is orders of magnitude higher than in undergrad. But come to think of it — isn’t discovering your own shortcomings itself a blessing? In my PhD I have also met wonderful friends and mentors. There are so, so many people I ought to thank!

To end, a few lines from the poet Xi Murong:

Life, in the end, can always become a poem.
After the pouring rain,
my soul will be all the more pure.
If you are willing to wait,
all the drifting, wandering clouds
will, in the end, converge into a river.

Happy graduation! We are graduated from Imperial College London!

16 October 2024, in London

今天正式从帝国理工大学毕业了！虽然因为实验和课程事情太多不能参加毕业典礼，但我一定要感谢所有陪伴我三年的朋友们！三年一晃而过，现在回想是多么幸福的时光！

花了5分钟看了下录播（原谅我太忙了！）。说句实话，在大一的时光，我也想过：在大三毕业典礼上，一定要拿到那个 “Award winner”的荣誉，用全场的掌声来为本科画上一个句号。的确，我如果今天参加了毕业典礼，真的可以实现。但现在回想起，本科其实真的只是一个开始，我还有很多很多的东西要学，还有很多的不足。本科的成绩只能证明：我比较会考试？Presentation和论文做的好？但这只是科研的冰山一角。今天的实验一直stuck在一个地方，而每一步troubleshooting，我都意识到原来还有这么多东西不知道。以前习惯了自己一直是top student，但真的，top只是一个名号。脱去名号的自己，还能是优秀的自己吗？

这几天是慢慢有体会了。真正的进步，不是靠别人的赞赏，不是和别人比较，而是让自己变得更好。真正的优秀，不是不会犯错，更不是一路一帆风顺，而是一次次的被打倒，却能继续爬起来往前走。

博士就是这么一番磨练。不再有分数，不再有排名，你的努力不是为了别人的眼光，你不能因为实验不成功而内耗。博士一开始到现在，我经常为了一些事情非常焦虑，课程和平常事情的难度（特别是 standard!)比本科也是数量级的提高。不过想一想，发现自己的不足何尝不是一件幸事？博士也遇到了很好的朋友和导师。有太多太多我应该感谢的人了！

最后来几句席慕容的诗

生命，其实到最后总能成诗
在滂沱的雨后
我的心灵将更为洁净
如果你肯等待
所有飘浮不定的云彩
到了最后，终于都会汇成河流

毕业快乐！We are graduated from Imperial College London!

2024年10月16日于伦敦