General Secretary Xi Jinping once said: “Each generation of youth has its own chance.” Young students born after the year of 1990, or 1995, or even 2000 are dubbed the “strong country generation” and are granted the mission of strengthening our country.

How do TJU students understand the phrase: “strong country generation”? On the occasion of Youth Day, the TJU student reporters group conducted a questionnaire survey and randomly interviewed more than 200 TJU students both at the Weijin Road Campus and Peiyangyuan Campus. The survey showed that young students have strong confidence in the Chinese culture and the dream of building China into a strong country. And they believe that their generation is capable of assuming this task and that they believe in hard work.

With China’s growing national strength, young people are becoming more confident in China and Chinese culture. They also hope to develop Chinese culture and share Chinese culture through their own efforts.

Chu Aixuan, an undergraduate of Chinese Language and Literature in 2014, has been recommended to pursue postgraduate study in international Chinese education. In the coming year, she will leave for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to serve as a volunteer teaching Chinese to foreigners. “Every Chinese abroad acts as a ‘name card’ for Chinese culture. Volunteer Chinese teachers, as China’s cultural ambassadors, shoulder the responsibility of spreading Chinese culture to the world.” Chu said. In order to better perform the role of the “name card” and share Chinese culture around the world, Chu Aixuan has learned traditional cultural arts and crafts such as sleeve dancing, the Five-Animal Exercises, paper cutting, Chinese knots, calligraphy, and Chinese painting. In her future plans after graduation, she will continue to teach Chinese, or start her own business and establish a Chinese education agency. “Many foreigners lack an understanding of China and Chinese culture. So, we should build a bridge for communication between China and the other countries and help Chinese culture go global.” said Chu.

This generation of youth has grown up along with the growing of China’s national strength. They are proud of their country and are willing to contribute to China’s role on the world stage.

He Jian, a doctoral student enrolled as a Materials Science major in 2015, has industrialized his research project “aerogel insulation material” and founded his own new material technology company in 2017. “As youth in the new era, the country has cultivated us for many years and enabled us to have access to the most advanced technologies. We should put what we have learned into practice. The ultimate goal of science is to serve the community and it is also the ultimate mission and goal of every scientific researcher.” He Jian said.

The generation, born after 1995 and even 2000, is more willing to make contributions to strengthening the country through their own efforts.

As an outstanding volunteer in Tianjin, Xu Quanjun, a 2014 undergraduate of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Tianjin University, is committed to public welfare undertakings. In his view, the concept of building China into a strong country is realistic and it requires every ordinary youth to contribute his own strength. He was the head of the Volunteer Teams at the Tianjin Davos Forum in 2016 and the Tianjin National Games in 2017. Although his hard work was tiring and he often stayed up very late, he always upheld the dedication spirit of voluntary service and submitted a satisfactory answer sheet with zero errors. He plans to be a volunteer teacher at Burqin County, Xinjiang in the future. He said: “I am now young, full of energy and with time to give back to society and repay my alma mater for offering me a great development platform.”

"Striving" not only means high-spirits and courage, but also means sweat and tears.

Zhan Haomiao, a 2014 undergraduate of the School of Mechanical Engineering, entered the lab from the second semester of the freshman year and was awarded the 15th Tianjin University Student Science Prize in his junior year. Up to now, he has applied for ten patents and published two papers. On the road of research, he has taken firm steps and made solid progress. During the first summer vacation in the university, Zhan entered the State Key Laboratory of Engines and participated in the 973 project, “basic research on low-temperature ignition mechanisms and stability control of micro-ignition sources under high dilution conditions” under the guidance of his supervisor Chen Tao. In his sophomore year, he entered Prof. Li Minxia’s research team and participated in the project, “research of automotive air conditioning systems”. Zhan spent every summer vacation at the campus doing scientific research during his four-years of university life. He found that technological innovation is actually a long process and that being able to endure loneliness is a basic requirement for scientific researchers.

Qiao Tiancheng, the 20th captain of the TJU National Flag Guard Team, is a student of water conservancy and hydropower major in the School of Civil Engineering. From his point of view, “we young people should have a love for home and motherland and foster national pride”, which is what he has been committed to since he was nominated as the captain. The motto “love the university and guard the flag; make dedication with sincere hearts” are invaluable to the members of the flag guard team. The beliefs brought by the team also encourage him to assume the responsibility of inheriting the spirit of patriotism and passing it on to new team members. In the meantime, as a student of water conservancy and hydropower major, he is fully aware that water conservancy and hydropower is very important for China's strategic development. Therefore, in his pursuit of being a chief dam architect, he hopes to make contributions to the field of great benefit to the country, to the people, and to the development of society and work for the safety of the people and the development of the country. Qiao said: “The Chinese dream is historical and realistic. It is for the future and for our generation.”

Yang Liwen, a young teacher at the School of Marxism, holds the view that this generation of young people is the main force in building a new era of China. Contemporary youth should strengthen their studies, be free from arrogance and rashness, broaden their horizons, and should not limit themselves to professional-related knowledge. Moreover, they should better improve themselves so as to contribute their strength to national rejuvenation.