院长新年来信

院长来信

SEVENTH COLLEGE

Letter from Maria

亲爱的第七书院同学们，

2024年已经开始了！新年伊始，想和大家聊聊创新。徐校长说，创新需要勇气，创新是悬崖上开出的海棠花。我也觉得创新是花，是绚丽的花，是因爱而得自由，因自由而生出的勇气在爱的土壤里开出的绚丽的花。这花绝对值得你一欣赏，二探索，三拥有。

国家主席习近平2023年末在人民日报发文说，世界百年未有之大变局加速演进，创新是人类共同应对风险挑战、促进和平和发展的重要力量。对于国家，创新促进和平，拉动发展；对于个人，创新何尝不是带给我们无穷的喜乐和拉动我们前进的动力。2023年末 “神仙湖教育论坛” 邀请到的主讲嘉宾，罗纳尔多维克也指出创新是人工智能引发的教育改革的突破点。创新让一些人可以不必遵循传统教育轨道，去追求自己的梦想，去实现自己的创意，而这些人通常具有创新思维和创新精神。

如果你是正在读硕士的同学，你可能已经开始思考，如何使用你的才干，为公司或者机构创造价值来实现你的社会价值。拥有创新思维，会让你无论是在现有的工作轨道上，还是自主创新的轨道，都脱颖而出。如果你是在读博士生，你可能需要找到你的专业发展的边界，并且真知道你的专业发展的方向。拥有创新思维，你会才思不竭，能提出独到的，富有创新的有意义的和实操性的问题，为你的领域发展不断创造新的价值。

那你可能要问，发自心底的创新力和想象力是从哪里来的呢？我想是来自爱，也要回到爱。爱的力量能够让我们抵御眼前的舒适或满足的诱惑，因为寻求长远的利益，而有不同的心志；爱的力量也是应变的灵活性和能力的源头。休谟说：“环境适合于其性情的人是幸运的，但是更卓越的则是能够使其性情适合于任何环境的人。” 这就要求一个人不要人云亦云，要心意更新而变化，随时，随事，随地做出调整，给出方案。我们书院建设以爱为核心的书院文化就是希望为同学们的创新思维的培养提供沃土和生态环境。或者换句话说，为你们的创新和想象力提供一个场景，让你们可以自由地探索我是谁，我的内心的火在哪里，我的使命和梦想是什么，并且安全地全力以赴。

亲爱的同学们，选择港中深，你已经选择了一条新路。这条路没有人说是容易的，但是可以让你的未来有多种可能，因而充满欣喜和盼望。你们是我们七书院的黄埔一期，风鹏正举，未来可期！

爱你们的，

Maria

Dear Seveners,

2024 has already begun! At the beginning of the new year, I would like to talk to you about innovation as it is so important for us to prepare ourselves both for the immediate future and the long after. Principal Xu said that innovation asks for courage, and it is like a begonia blooming on a cliff. I also believe that innovation is like a flower— a vibrant flower that grows in the soil of love, born from the courage that comes with freedom. This flower is worth our sincere appreciating, deep exploring, and profound embracing.

At the end of 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote in the People's Daily that the world is undergoing unprecedented major changes, and innovation is an important force for humanity to collectively address risks and challenges, as well as to promote peace and development. For our nation, innovation promotes peace and drives development that cannot be achieved otherwise. And I believe for individuals, innovation brings us boundless joy and serves as a driving force for progress. The keynote speaker invited to the "The Fairy Lake Education Forum" at the end of 2023, Ronaldo Wick, also pointed out that innovation is the breakthrough point for the educational transformation embarked by artificial intelligence. Innovation allows at least some people to pursue their dreams and realize their creativity without having to follow conventional collective educational paths. These individuals usually possess innovative mindset and an entrepreneurial spirit.

If you are a master's student, you may already be thinking how to use your talents to create value for companies or organizations and fulfill your social worth. Having innovative mindset will set you apart whether you are on an existing career track or forging your own path of innovation. If you are a doctoral student, you may need to find the boundaries of your professional development and truly understand the direction in which your expertise is heading. With innovative thinking, your intellectual capacity will be endless, enabling you to pose insightful, innovative, meaningful, and practical questions, constantly creating new value for your field.

You may wonder where genuine innovative power and imagination come from. I believe they come from love, and they must also return to love. The power of love enables us to resist the temptations of immediate comfort or satisfaction because the loving capacities in us will enable us to seek long-term benefits and have different aspirations. The power of love is also the source of adaptability and flexibility. David Hume said, "The person suited to their environment is fortunate, but the one who can make their environment suit them is even more exceptional." This requires a person to avoid conforming to the views of others and to constantly renew their mindset, adjusting and providing solutions at any time, in any situation, and in any place. The core of our college's culture is a love-centered environment, which aims to provide fertile soil and an ecological environment for the cultivation of your innovative mindset. In other words, it provides a scenario for your innovation and imagination, allowing you to freely explore who you are, where the fire in your heart lies, and what your mission and dreams are, all while feeling safe to give it your all.

Dear Seveners, by choosing the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, you have chosen a new path. This path may not be easy, but it can offer you multiple possibilities for the future, filled with joy and hope. You are the pioneers of our seven college, and the future holds great promise for you! Seveners Up!

With love,

Maria

图文 | 第七书院办公室

编辑 | 王添锦 道扬书院 人文社科学院

电话 | 0755-23517380

邮箱 | 7thcollege@cuhk.edu.cn

办公时间 | 8:30-12:00; 13:00-17:30

（周一至周五/工作日）

第七书院

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