Hello everybody, and thank you for having me speak today at our opening ceremony. It’s an honor to be able to welcome you to the second semester on behalf of our teaching faculty. 

I hope everybody enjoyed their Spring Festival holiday. During my travels, I had an interesting experience. While I was on my scuba diving trip, I met multiple people who were taking long, extended holidays–some two to three months, some longer. I met one couple in particular, Samuel and Catherine, and they told me they were on a “gap-year” – taking a full year off, no jobs, no work, just traveling. 

While that may sound good, believe it or not, at that moment, those long holidays actually sounded less than ideal to me. Because towards the end of my two-week trip, I found myself feeling a bit anxious and somewhat restless. 

Why did I feel this way? 

Strangely, I found myself feeling like I needed to do something productive. It wasn't that I felt guilty about not working, but after enough time passed, I was feeling compelled to simply do something, other than go diving and lie on the beach. 

That being said, of course, I think holidays and time off can be extremely valuable. But through this experience, I realized that we all have this same desire, or really, a need, inside of us – to work, to create, to produce, and to have our own purpose and meaning in life. 

When we’re students, sometimes I think we forget exactly why we are in school. We’re not in school to simply study and submit homework assignments. We’re in school to uncover our purpose, to find meaning, and to learn more about who we are and what we believe. 

So as we begin our second semester here at SHBS I do not want to challenge you to study later, to work harder, or to read more pages; instead, I want to challenge you to find your purpose, to find your meaning, to find your drive and motivation in life, and to learn more about who you are as a unique individual. 

To do this, ask yourself questions. Questions like: 

What are my goals?
What am I interested in?
What are my skills and strengths?
How would I describe my own personality? 

Where do I derive meaning from?
What could my purpose be in this life? 

How can I make an impact on the world? 

This one is maybe the most important: What gives me joy in this life? 

If you don’t know the answers to these questions yet, that’s ok. Many of us in this room would likely have trouble with some or even all those questions. The good news is that for you, as a student, your daily life here at SHBS can help you to find answers to all of those questions. 

But, you have to start somewhere. I encourage you to take a moment later today to pause, and to ask yourself some of those questions. Take time to reflect, and think deeply. While you may not know the answers right now, my hope for each of you is that by the end of this school year, the answers to those questions will be just a bit more clear than they are right now. 

Thank you so much for your time today, and let’s have a great semester together.