“Every story has an end, but in life, every single end is a new beginning.” I personally love this phrase and I share it with you because in the academic field, a graduation ceremony might be the end of your studies, but it definitely also marks the start of the next stage of your life.
On June 17 2017 the graduation ceremony of 7,651 students from bachelor, master and doctor degrees from all faculties in Xiamen University including the School of Economics and the Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics took place.
Among these graduating students were nineteen WISE-SOE international students from Bulgaria, Chile, Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, and the USA, all proudly satisfied to reach an important step of their life plan.
What is next then? Some of them will pursue a Doctoral degree, some of them will stay in China working for Chinese companies, and others will go back to their country to make their own plans. No matter what they do next, they had this day to grace the stage to receive their diploma; a moment to reflect on their accomplishments.
After the graduation ceremony, Xiamen University offered the graduating students and relatives a delicious traditional Chinese lunch and in the evening WISE and SOE organized a graduation dinner ceremony, where Ms. Helena Puig Ferrer from Spain received the Best Thesis Award, for her paper titled "The impact of EU membership on trade. Evidence from the European Union and Spain," and Mr. Andreas Thull from Germany received the Excellent Thesis Award, for his paper titled "Foreign Investment and Pollution in China."
Congratulation to all the International Masters students who graduated this Spring 2017. I wish them a great future as proud WISE-SOE Master of Economics graduates.
By Marco Daccarett - Student Assistant
Master of Economics in International trade
