On the afternoon of September 6, the 2021 Undergraduate & Post-graduate Education Center (UPEC) Postgraduate Program Opening Ceremony was held in the lecture hall on the second floor of Li Dasan Building, Fudan School of Management. Leaders of the school executive team, project academic directors and administrative staff attended the opening ceremony.

With the pleasant melody of a harmonica, the opening ceremony kicked off. Everyone focused their eyes on the center of the stage. Several powerful singers enthusiastically performed a song "New Boy", which pushed the atmosphere of the scene into a climax. In a warm and harmonious atmosphere, Ms. Cui Tingting eagerly welcomes "new boys" and "new girls" to join the FDSM family. This year, the new members of the FDSM family are as diverse as in previous years: a total of 291 graduate students (including 75 in the MF program, 77 in the DDIM program, 50 in the DS&BA program, 39 in the GMiM program and 50 in the MPhil-PhD program and PhD program) who from 16 different countries. The domestic students come from 25 different provinces and cities.

On behalf of the School of Management, Dean Lv warmly welcomed the new students to join the school, and at the same time put forward three tips for the students: one is to have an international vision and learn to find your own development track in a changing environment; another is to equip yourselves with multi-subject learning ability and learn to use the school's rich resources to improve self-ability; the third is to think independently, embrace differences and learn to think, innovate, communicate, and cooperate. Afterwards, Dean Lv expressed his earnest expectations to the students: "The world is changing, but the world is yours", hoping that the students can grasp their own future and work together to study and progress in the Fudan School of Management.

Finally, Dean Lv invited all the new students to wear the school badge. This small golden badge carries the glory and pride of UPECers, and it also represents that the new students have officially become a member of FDSM.

Then, Mr. Mikai from UPEC brought a wonderful "talk show" to the students. After introducing the teachers and instructors of the Undergraduate & Post-graduate Education Center, Mr. Mi started a humorous introduction to the new students. He explored the shining points of the new students from different aspects including hometown, surname, constellation, birthday, interests, and specialties. Unexpectedly, Mr. Mi performed a rap, which made the hall full of laughter and applause. Finally, Mr. Mi also expressed his expectations for the students: if the youth are strong, the country will be strong; if the youth are wise, the country will be wise. Please be sure to cherish your time and study hard.

During the speech session of the freshmen representatives, Wu Yuezhi from the MPhil-PhD program shared why he chose FDSM and wished his fellow students to find their own happiness. Zhou Runqiu from the MF program expressed his vision and expectation for the future, hoping that students can choose to believe, stay curious, and move forward with determination. Guan Ruoxuan from the DDIM program recalled her experience in the summer camp and expressed her heartfelt thanks for the humanistic care given by the School of Management and the high-quality online activities held during the epidemic. Zheng Xiu from the 2020 GMiM program explained why she chose the GMiM program and shared her wonderful journey of studying in LBS in the past year. Zhou Ruimin from the DS&BA program analyzed the phenomena and problems existing in the data age from the perspective of data science, hoping that students can have "calm minds and fiery hearts" as Marshall said.

Then, Ms. Yan from the Development Affairs Office gave a brief introduction to the Student Growth Fund and iKwok Scholarship, and expressed sincere gratitude to the alumni who donated. As the founder of iKwok Scholarship, Ms. Guo Liangjieqin brought her new semester messages to the students via video. Ms. Guo recalled the difficulties and challenges she faced while studying in LBS, and hoped that the students could adapt to the trend of globalization and achieve self-growth in a diversified environment.

As a senior in the industry, Mr. Yue Kesheng, a part-time professor of the School of Management and former President of Guosen Securities, put forward five suggestions for learning management from a practical perspective: first, we must pay attention to the cultivation of intellectual thinking, learn the essence of thoughts, apply what we’ve learnt see through the essence and think in a systematical way; the second is to pay attention to the cultivation of risk management capabilities; the third is to learn to deal with difficulties, emergencies and failures with a calm heart; the forth is that we must love our motherland; the fifth is that we must cultivate an understanding of development economics and understand the state's macro-control mechanism. Finally, Mr. Yue wished the students a bright future and the ability to take on the important task of the rejuvenation of China.

Next came the most anticipated session: the speech from Dean Lu Xiongwen, the head of the School of Management. After congratulating and welcoming the new students, Dean Lu briefly introduced the history of FDSM, and felt gratified and proud for the students to choose Fudan School of Management. Afterwards, Dean Lu put forward ardent expectations to the students in three aspects. First of all, he hoped that under the diversified and international environment of FDSM, students can study hard, make progress together, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's top universities, so as to stand out. Secondly, this is the worst moment and also the best moment. The world economic landscape is undergoing profound changes, and technological development has brought unprecedented challenges to mankind. Students should cast aside the unknown fog, re-plan the future track, use youth as a bet, cherish the present opportunities, fully tap their potential, and face challenges fearlessly. The college will also do its best to support the growth of students. Finally, Dean Lu hopes that in the era of knowledge explosion, students can clarify the original purpose of learning, establish their own knowledge system, be designers and planners of their own lives, grasp the direction of the future, and do everything they can to the future; build their own judgment, respect science, explore truth, and fight pseudoscience. Dean Lu expects that the students will become useful talents to society in the future, or entrepreneurs leading the business world, or scholars exploring the forefront of science, or leaders of non-profit organizations for the benefit of society. In addition, Dean Lu also gave the students an exquisite message: "be self-conscious, self-disciplined, self-reliant and self-improving; grow, mature and become talented and achieve."

After the photo shooting of all UPEC teachers and students, Mr. Cao Neng from the Career Development Office introduced to the students the abundant resources of the Career Development Center and the employment statistics of the graduates of Fudan School of Management in recent years. He told his classmates, "You should fly to your mountain like a bird." In this era, we must find our own position and have our own understanding and insight into the industry. Mr. Cao invited students to actively contact with the CDO to plan for their careers in advance.

At the same time, Mr. Liu Bin from the Department of Statistics delivered a special introduction session for students of the MPhil-PhD program. Starting from his own experience and research interests, Mr. Liu introduced the scientific research track during the 6 years in detail from the three milestones: "before transferring to Ph.D.", "the qualification exam” and “after transferring to Ph.D”. Also, he shared "how to read papers", "how to improve essay writing ability", "where to find a job after graduation" and other topics of concern to students. The freshmen were eager to try and expressed their ambitions to make a big splash on the road of scientific research.

So far, the ceremony ended successfully. All the teachers and students went to the Danyuan restaurant to enjoy the dinner prepared by the school. From now on, the 291 freshmen will formally join Fudan School of Management and begin a new journey in life. We hope that the 2021 UPECers will be able to achieve success in Fudan School of Management. Today we are wearing the badge of Fudan School of Management; tomorrow, we will let the school take pride in us.