Practice and Patience｜国际教师代表Lee Miller毕业典礼致辞

6月26日上午，清华大学新闻与传播学院2026年毕业典礼在清华大学蒙民伟音乐厅举行。学院外籍教师代表、清华大学高级访问学者、彭博新闻社亚太地区资深主编Lee Miller教授以“Practice and Patience”为题发表致辞，结合Michael Jordan的成长故事与自身职业经历，勉励毕业生在不确定的职业道路中保持耐心、持续练习、勇于接受挑战，在行动中证明自己，创造属于自己的高光时刻。

以下为Lee Miller致辞全文：

 Lee Miller致辞

恭喜大家。

When I arrived at the University of North Carolina to study journalism, the school was riding high. The men's basketball team had won the NCAA championship two years earlier, and nearly did it again the next season, and again when I arrived. I had nothing to do with those victories — though I did work as a reporter in the intramural sports department. In that role I bumped into a guy named Michael Jordan a few times. He was certainly a star. But on that championship team, he was only the second or third-best player, behind James Worthy and Sam Perkins.

It wasn't until years later — after his Chicago Bulls kept losing to the LA Lakers and to my hometown Detroit Pistons — that Jordan became undisputedly the best player in the game. He was talented at North Carolina. He told a story every time he touched the ball. But it still took him years of practice, patience, and losing before he became the GOAT.

That's my theme today: practice and patience.

For most of you, the next step is an entry-level job at a media company, a government agency, an international organization, or a corporation. Someone will tell you when to show up, how much you can spend, and when to have lunch. The people around you won't all be your age. Some of the people you think are less skilled than you will be your managers.

The first year — maybe the first few years — may be a shock to your system. Here you are, with a master's or PhD from Tsinghua, one of the world's great universities, and suddenly you're being pushed around. Don't they know who you are?

The answer is no. Not yet. But the solution isn't frustration. It's proof. Work smart. Build relationships. Accept criticism. Try something outside your comfort zone.

My first job after my bachelor's degree was as a banker. I was a lousy banker. Then I went to journalism school, and my first job was at a newspaper specifically about banking. I couldn't escape the subject — but I could change what I did with it. Later, after years as a banker, journalist, PR manager, and advertising creative, I stumbled onto a startup media company called Bloomberg that also focused on finance. By then I was more ready. More experienced. Better able to lead. I've now been telling stories about that world for 35 years — longer than most of you have been alive.

That path eventually brought me here, to Tsinghua, since the very start of the Global Business Journalism program in 2007. Teaching people like you has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Some of you took my entry-level newswriting course as first-year undergraduates and are now ready to face the world as journalists, diplomats, filmmakers — shout out to Andy — or entrepreneurs — shout out to Shane.

I am one of the oldest people at this ceremony. Experience helps me make decisions. But ask anyone — I still make plenty of mistakes. I always will.

Here's what those years have taught me: the arc of a career is long. It bends. It surprises you. When I was a junior at Michigan State, my accounting class was one of the first where students were allowed to use calculators on exams — because the technology had dropped from thousands of dollars to a few dollars almost overnight. Then came the internet. Then smartphones. Then those two letters everyone talks about now — the ones that make your work faster and easier, and that some of you worry will take your job.

Maybe. But every generation has faced that fear. The ones who survived — and thrived — were the ones who stayed patient, kept practicing, and stayed open to learning from people they didn't expect to learn from.

You have been trained at one of the world's great universities. You are smart, skilled, and ready. But readiness is just the starting point. Jordan was ready at North Carolina. The GOAT came later.

Your GOAT moment is out there. You don't have to be number 23. You can always be number one.

Be patient enough to find it.

恭喜你们 — Class of 2026.

文字｜Lee Miller

编辑｜宋佳琦