Dear graduates! Congratulations on your graduation! I give a big hand to the significant achievement that you have taken so far. It’s already our second year that we have virtual commencement ceremony, being unable to meet you in person. I’m giving this speech at SNU gymnasium where we normally hold the commencement ceremony, because I really wanted to let you begin your new chapter at this place even in a time of unprecedented challenge.
You must have gone through many things until this moment. It will be nice if you look back the time. Some of you may be satisfied with what you have accomplished, while others may regret that you could have worked harder. However, I ask you to commend and encourage yourself today. The commencement ceremony is an occasion to praise and finalize your accomplishments, and at the same time, it is a starting point to encourage yourself to go forward to the future.
Graduation honors the commitment of the students and the school. However, I ask you to acknowledge the support and love of the family members that have perhaps contributed and made your success possible all the way. We truly appreciate you parents for the support. You can be proud of your children. We also appreciate the faculty members, who have guided and supported the students, and the alumni for always paying loving attention to their alma mater.
COVID-19 is lingering more than we expected; it seems that the pandemic will continue to trouble us for some time. But if we stop and think about troubles, COVID-19 is not the only one. In a long-term, climate change is giving a huge task to the future of humankind. In the near term, the changes of the international affairs, like a new version of cold war, will give difficult issues to Korea, more than any other countries. Also, if the chronic confrontation within society and the subsequent political behavior do not change, it will aggravate the hostility and division among the community members. Moreover, the social and economic situations that we witness now hardly allow for optimistic and hopeful future. So, in reality, the world that you are stepping in right now is not so much bright.
Dear graduates! We understand that neither the human history nor the personal life is completely free of difficulties. Well, I should say difficulties are necessary for us to grow. In a way, our history or our life is the records of the process through which we have overcome trials and difficulties. The history teaches us three different courses to confront difficulties. The first is that you are overwhelmed by the approaching difficulties, afraid of them, and eventually defeated by them. Civilizations and societies that have taken this course have vanished in the history. This kind of personal life would never be dignified. The second is that you bear the difficulties and return to your original position. It is highly evaluated that you do not give in to the difficulties, but we should not be content with that.
The third is that you find out breakthroughs and make a new leap forward in the difficulties that you encounter for the first time. The unexpected difficulties are so harsh, but, strange to say, they can bring opportunities and breakthroughs for making a new leap that you could not have discovered in the peaceful time. The history and life are determined depending on whether you break through the difficulties and trials and take the opportunities to leap to the next level. I truly hope you do not give in difficulties or run away from them, but face them to find out new possibilities.
Dear graduates! After entering the top university in Korea, you must have been so busy studying, and you must have lacked the time to look around you. Now, just stop and think. You are now enjoying the glorious moments because of your outstanding capabilities and utmost efforts. However, is that all? You have been supported by your parents, family members, colleagues, and teachers. Furthermore, the citizens in our society who have supported Seoul National University also have a share in the glory that you are now enjoying. I’m sure that you know the high level of interests and expectations that the citizens have on you, the graduates from Seoul National University. In a sense, they are sincerely asking you to play the leading roles to cope with the difficulties of our society that we talked about earlier.
No matter how many talented people a society may have, if the human resource lacks the ‘spirit of public duty,’ the society can hardly be operated in a normal way. Compared to the past, our society now has more excellent human resource in terms of quantity and quality. Are the Korean citizens happy now with the elite group, fully trusting and supporting them? Sorry to say, but it seems that Korean citizens have a colder attitude to the elite group than before. While we are living in an ‘age of the public,’ there are still the duties that should be carried out by the experts and intellectuals of various fields. Why don’t Korean citizens trust the upgraded elite group? It’s probably because the elite group has failed to demonstrate their due ‘spirit of public duty.’ Of course, intellectuals of the older generations are more responsible for this than you are. However, I ask you to bear the ‘spirit of public duty’ from the moment you leave the Gwanak Campus. I sincerely request you to think deeply about the roles that you have to play in our society.
Before long, a new government will start their term after the presidential election. Like that, please pull up your anchor at Seoul National University and hoist a sail to launch a new journey. Seoul National University will always remain as your ‘anchor of heart.’ Like sailing before the fair wind, we pray for you to go forward with your heart full of dreams and hopes.
Once again, I congratulate your graduation from the bottom of my heart. Thank you very much!
February 25th, 2022
President of Seoul National University Se-Jung Oh