STL 2024 Commencement
STL 2024届毕业典礼
Shenzhen, China
中国深圳
Opening Remarks
开幕致辞
The STL Experience Mark Feldman* May 25, 2024
STL Founding Dean Jeffrey Lehman, Dr. Xie Chenyang, STL faculty, staff and senior administrator colleagues, members of the STL Class of 2024 and guests, it is an honor to open the 2024 STL Commencement ceremony.
Welcome.
尊敬的STL创院院长雷蒙教授、解辰阳博士、STL所有的教职员工、2024届毕业生们，亲爱的各位来宾，非常荣幸能为今天的典礼致开幕词。欢迎大家的到来！
Congratulations to the PKU STL Class of 2024. For our JD/JM graduates, you also might be seen as the PKU STL entering Class of 2020.
祝贺北京大学国际法学院的2024届毕业生。对于我们的JD/JM毕业生，你们也可以被看作是STL 2020年入学的一批学生。
2020 and 2024. Those are, for a law school experience, two noteworthy bookends.For our JD/JM graduates, you started at STL in the summer of 2020, during the depths of a pandemic. You are graduating in the spring of 2024, entering a challenging legal market.
对于你们在法学院的经历来说，2020和2024是两个不得不提的节点。就JD/JM毕业生而言，你们在2020年夏天疫情最严重的时候开始了在STL的学习，如今又在2024年春天毕业，即将进入一个充满挑战的法律职业市场。
I met many of you virtually in the fall of 2020, and then met many of you in person in March of 2021, in the classroom. In March of 2021, classroomsaroundthe world generally were not open for business. But ours was.
2020年秋天，我通过线上方式见到了你们中的很多人，2021年3月，我又在教室里亲自见到了你们。2021年3月，在其他学校还在线上授课的时候，我们已经恢复线下教学。
My travel, in early 2021, from the United States to room 301 of the STL Building was, let’s just say, a challenge. But the scale of that challenge made the experience in the classroom, at least for me, more memorable and electric.
2021年年初从美国到STL大楼301教室的旅程，说实话，是一场挑战。但正因为这段旅程的艰辛，使得我在课堂上的经历变得更加难忘和充满活力。
You all faced serious challenges throughout the pandemic, and now face a seriously challenging job market. But your STL experience, since August 2020, has been genuine and full. And your STL experience has prepared you for that challenging market.
你们在疫情期间面临了严峻的挑战，现在又面临一个极具挑战的就业市场。但自2020年8月以来，你们在STL经历是真切而充实的。STL的这段经历为你们应对这个充满挑战的市场打下了坚实的基础。
August 2020. Just think, for a moment, about August 2020. The NBA’s “bubble” season had just launched. Taylor Swift had just released Folklore. We would soon meet, through a viral TikTok video, a man on a skateboard, drinking cranberry juice, singing Fleetwood Mac.
回想一下，2020年8月发生了什么。NBA的“泡泡”（封闭的园区）赛季刚刚启动。泰勒·斯威夫特新发布了《Folklore》。不久之后，通过一段爆火的TikTok视频，我们认识了一位滑板上的男人（美国37岁的仓库管理员Nathan Apodaca），他喝着蔓越莓汁，唱着Fleetwood Mac的歌。
Think, for a moment, about how much you have lived, how much you have experienced, since August 2020. A good part of that experience has been your STL experience.
回想一下，自2020年8月以来，你们经历了多少，体验了多少。而这其中很大一部分是你们在STL的经历。
There have been deadlines, moot court competitions, study groups, case briefs, internships, covid measures, recommendation letters, PILF auctions. There has been anxiety, excitement and resilience. All of it has been memorable, and all of it has been STL.
你们经历过DDL、模拟法庭竞赛、学习小组、案例摘要、实习、疫情管制、推荐信、PILF公益法律拍卖会。有过焦虑，有过兴奋，也有过坚韧。所有这一切都令人难忘，所有这一切都属于STL。
Over the past few weeks, I have participated in STL roadshows in Chongqing, Chengdu and Guangzhou. At these roadshows, as many ofyou know from direct experience, students often ask questions about the STL admissions process, STL expectations, and the STL experience.
在过去几周里，我参加了STL在重庆、成都和广州的研招宣讲会。正如你们当中许多人当初参加宣讲会一样，在宣讲现场中，学生们经常会问关于STL招生流程、对STL的期望和STL体验的问题。
At these roadshows, I’m often asked about the kind of students STL is looking for. There are many different good answers to that question, of course. One answer that I could offer, and that I have offered, is that we are looking for motivation, we are looking for passion, we are looking for a sense of connection.
在这些巡讲活动中，我还经常被问到STL在寻找什么样的学生。当然，这个问题可以有很多不同的答案。我的答案是：我们在寻找有动力、有激情，并且能与我们产生共鸣的学生。
The STL experience is unique, powerful, memorable, at times overwhelming, and certainly not for everyone.
STL的经历是独特的、震撼的、难忘的，有时甚至是令人难以承受的，而且有一点可以确定的是它并不适合所有人。
But if the STL experience is for you, if you connect with us immediately, I suspect that you would not feel such a sense of connection with any other institution, anywhere. This is, at least in my view, what we are looking for.
但如果STL的经历适合你，并且你能立即与我们产生共鸣，我相信你在其他任何地方都不会感受到这种共鸣。而这在我看来就是我们正在寻找的东西。
And for our graduates, I hope that every one of you feels that kind of connection today.
对于我们的毕业生，我希望你们每个人今天都能感受到这种共鸣。
For our LLM graduates, you are, in a sense, early adopters. You recognized the value of studying law at Peking University, deepening your China networks, experiencing China as it exists in reality.
至于我们的LLM毕业生，从某种意义上来说，你们是先行者。你们认识到在北京大学学习法律的价值，深化了在中国的人际网络，切身体验了真实的中国。
Professor Jia Qingguo, who is based at Peking University’s School of International Studies, recently observed that the number of US students studying in China has declined by more than 90%.
北京大学国际关系学院的贾庆国教授最近观察到，在中国学习的美国留学生人数下降了90%以上。
Although the decline in US student engagement with China might be somewhat extreme, it does reflect a larger, concerning trend with respect to overall declines in international studentengagement.
尽管美国在华留学生数量的锐减可能显得有些极端，但这确实反映了国际学生整体参与度下降这一更大的、令人担忧的趋势。
But the opening of borders, the loosening of visa requirements, and the sharp increase ininternational events hosted in China almost certainly will lead to a reversal in that trend, at least to some extent.
但是，边境的开放、签证要求的放宽以及在中国举办的国际活动数量的迅速增加，一定会逆转这一趋势，至少在某种程度上是这样。
We certainly hope that our LLM graduates can contribute to such advances in international engagement by sharing details of their experiences with friends and colleaguesabroad.
我们当然希望我们的LLM毕业生能够通过与国外的朋友、同事分享他们的经历为这种国际交流的进步做出贡献。
To our JD/JM graduates, to our LLM graduates, congratulations. You are joining a formidable network of more than 1,000 STL graduates who are influencing the development of transnational law, international business and international policy at the highest levels.
不管是JD/JM毕业生，还是LLM毕业生，祝贺你们！你们将与千余名优秀的STL毕业生携手，在最高维度上影响国际法、国际商务和国际政策的发展。
* Interim Dean and Professor of Law, Peking University School of TransnationalLaw.
