Liu Xuantong's Speech on 2009 ETIE graduate ceremony

Liu Xuantong

Good afternoon, my name is Xuantong Liu.  Today on behalf of 9 students from Central South University, I am very proud to be here to share with you some of my memories that I take with me as I finish my senior year in Purdue University Calumet.  As I think back on the past year I spent at Purdue Cal, my mind is filled with happy, proud, frustrating, and even humorous.

I take with me the memory of give the first presentation in one of my engineering class I took last semester.  Before that time I seldom talk to lots of people even the presentation is given in Chinese. I felt very nerves because it was my first time talking English in front of a group of American students. When I stood in front of the classroom, I could even hear my heart beating. When I was giving my presentation, I was extremely worried because I thought that my poor pronunciation would be laughed by American students. As you know in china, people always care about their faces. If people do anything embarrassing, they may think that they lose their faces.  Unfortunately, I was a member of that group of people. I clearly remembered that I made plenty of mistakes, but I found that no one laughed at me. I could even get powers given by not only my classmates but also my professor.  I felt that we were friends.  Magically, from that time, I have the confidence and do not nerves to speak publicly. I remember them proudly.

I take with me the memory of being a member of AIST, which stands for Association of Iron and Steel Technology, a very famous organization in steel industry.  Last October, I had a chance to join an international conference in Pittsburgher, PA.  I heard so many presentations about newest information of material science. Also every month this organization will hold a meeting in which many people from industries give presentation about material technologies. I had more chances to talk with technicians in social hours and my English improved step by step. I remember them impressively.

I take with me the memory of working in the heat transfer lab. This is really an experienced learning process, and I had benefitted a lot from it. For example, I had installed some light bulbs, made some modifications on some equipment, and did woodworking during the time. My mechanical skills had been improved a lot.  At the same time I had learned how to communicate with people in working environment. I remember them happily.

I feel lucky that I make the right choice to be here as an ETIE student because it gives us a great opportunity to pursuit our dream.  We must give many thanks to our chancellor, Professor Zhou, Marsha Gordon, and all the faculties and staff who gave us most help in the past year.  We especially want to thank Prof. Zhou. She really helped us a lot from study problems to daily life. We also want to thank Mr. Pierson and Mrs.Pierson for showing us the beautiful view of Chicago. Our gratitude also goes to Chancellor Howard Cohen. We really enjoyed ourselves in your home the Christmas day.  At last, I want to thank Mr. Parson, without your help I cannot learn so much advanced English words and get so much mechanical knowledge.  I want to give special thanks to my senior design advisor Prof. Abramowitz, and my partner Lingjun Zhang. Without your help, I cannot make this far.