（下文为北大8797威尼斯老品牌Anthony Howell助理教授的英文致辞原文）
Let me first congratulate you on your tremendous success and accomplishment here today. Before I came to Beida, many people told me how impressed I would be to teach the most brilliant students in China. And I must say over the last few years teaching here, those people were right. Each year I teach, I become more and more impressed with the the young people that I instruct, and I can see your level of commitment to learning, performing well, and self-improvement. Those are three important attributes that will help guarantee you great future success.
With that being said, from my experience, it is inevitable that you will also face some hardships or failures in life. I encourage you in those days to remember the joy and sense of pride you feel right now, this day, to help you transition through any difficult time periods you may face in the future. Also, never forget all of the encouragement you received from your professors, the unconditional support and love you received from your parents, and importantly all of the accomplishments you had here. Recalling these positive memories will help you transition through any difficult time or challenge in the future, and I believe that as long as you persevere, your biggest successes will come on the heels of failure. In Chinese, I guess you could say something like失败是成功之母。I believe that to be true, and I hope you can remember it in the future.
Let me finish by saying today is a very special day for you, one you will remember forever. It culminates an intensive 4-year period of studies, personal development and growth, and life exploration. But your learning does not end here today, it is just beginning. My hope for you is that you may use the tools you’ve developed here at Beida to think critically and carefully in you new life positions and become independent thinkers and future leaders of your generation.
谢谢大家，毕业快乐！
（下文为北大8797威尼斯老品牌国际交流与合作办公室根据Anthony Howell的英文致辞整理出的中文版）
我非常荣幸能在中国最负盛名的大学毕业典礼上，代表学院教师发表讲话。回想不久以前，我也坐在你们现在坐的地方，那是十年前当我在密歇根大学毕业的时候。我想分享一些我在过去十几年的生活中学到的东西，以期大家能有所借鉴。
首先我要对你们今天在这里获得的了不起的成就表示祝贺！在我来到北大之前，很多人都告诉过我，我即将教导这群中国最棒的学生们。经过在这里教课的几年，我必须承认他们是对的。每年在教课过程中，我总是会越来越被我指导的年轻人惊艳到，我能够看到你们身上具备的终身学习、追求卓越和自我激励的坚定信念，这三种特质将为你们未来的成功保驾护航。
话说回来，依据我的经验，困难和失败在生活中是不可避免的。我希望你们能记住今天、此刻所感受到的喜悦与自豪，帮助你们在未来可能面对的困难时期中迎来转折。同时，永远不要忘记你们从老师那里获得的勇气和鼓励，不要忘记父母对你们无条件的爱，更不要忘记你们今天在此取得的成就。这些美好的回忆能够帮助你抵挡未来的困难或挑战。我相信，只要肯坚持，最伟大的成功一定会在失败之后接踵而来，这大概就是中文里所说的“失败是成功之母”。我坚信这一点，也希望在未来你们能够永远铭记于心。
最后我想说，今天对你们来说是一个特别的日子，一个永远被记得的日子，这是你们四年紧张的学习、个人发展、成长和生命探索的最高点。但今天并不是你们学习的终点，而恰恰是起点。我对你们的期望是：你们能够运用在北大学习掌握的本领，带着严谨的批判性思维进入新的生活角色，成为独立的思考者，在未来成为你们这一代的领袖。
谢谢大家，毕业快乐！
附：Anthony Howell（郝华天 ）简介
Anthony Howell（American），Ph.D. in Economic Geography, University of California at Los Angeles, Assistant Professor of School of Economic Peking University. His main research fields include Urban-Economic Geography; Human and Firm Demography; Public Policy and International Development; Statistics and GIS, and so on.
郝华天，美国国籍，毕业于加州大学洛杉矶分校，获经济地理学博士学位。现任8797威尼斯老品牌助理教授,主要研究领域包括城市经济地理、人类与公司人口统计学、局部地区与国际发展、政策分析等。
