An inspiring speech for middle school students

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This post was last edited by atkqn0030 on 2012-4-25 at 14:29. An inspiring speech for middle school students: Chasing dreams with youth. Distinguished classmates, teachers, and leaders: Good afternoon! The topic of my speech is \"Chasing Dreams with Youth.\" There is a kind of pursuit that may seem ordinary and insignificant, yet it leads to extraordinary achievements; there is also a kind of pursuit that appears simple and unadorned, but it illuminates a person’s entire life. That pursuit is: labor creates value, and labor creates beauty. I am an employee in a corporate setting; I graduated from Harbin ** University in 1999. I have worked at Beijing Mould Factory, Xiangtan Motor Factory, and ** Company, and currently serve as the chief engineer at ZZ Company. Today, I am extremely grateful to my leaders for giving me and everyone else the opportunity to share our insights. Here, I would like to share with you a few personal reflections on life and work: responsibility, action, gratitude, and perseverance. I. Responsibility is the foundation of existence. There is an old saying in our country: \"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the nation.\" Today, we should change it to \"The rise and fall of the nation is my responsibility.\" If 20 points are added to all candidates’ scores in this year’s college entrance exam, doesn’t that mean no increase at all? “\"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the nation\" doesn’t mean that no one has any responsibility? I greatly admire Mr. Fan’s mindset of \"worrying about the troubles of the world before others, and enjoying pleasures only after others do.\" Such a mindset should also be the most fundamental quality that we, as the masters of New China, ought to possess. It is under the guidance of this mindset that I repeat myself day after day in my ordinary work. Working in a company on construction projects is a tough job; there are many tasks to handle, no holidays, and hard work during the construction phase, with additional pressure once the project comes online. Over the 14 years since I started working, I have participated in six major corporate technological upgrades, and I have evolved from a newcomer to the workplace to the main technical leader of the company. The projects in which the company has been involved include: a 40,000-ton/year electrolytic zinc and associated sulfuric acid production project, a 12,000-ton/year comprehensive utilization project for electrolytic zinc, a 120,000-ton/year leaching residue treatment project, a 100,000-ton/year flue gas-based acid production project, a 1,000-ton/year metal cadmium recovery project, and a waste heat power generation project. I was also involved in the subsequent construction phase of ZZ Company’s 60,000-ton/year electrolytic zinc project, playing both leading and supporting roles in that process. During the company’s engineering renovations from 2006 to 2008, the management team was temporary, with staff members assigned from various departments; overall coordination required time to develop (there were frequent arguments and fights over trivial matters), the quality of the staff varied greatly, all aspects of the project management needed to be standardized, the construction teams were mixed, work often required overtime, and eating instant noodles was a common occurrence... All tasks are carried out in a chaotic, numerous, and demanding environment; during the day I handle technical matters and daily project management tasks, and after work at night I still stay with the workers on site to work overtime. On sunny days I end up covered in dirt, and on rainy days I’m covered in mud. My work clothes go weeks without being washed, and it’s common for them to have a thick layer of mud on them. I work overtime until after 10 p.m. every day, without ever asking for overtime pay or complaining about the heavy workload. It was especially tough during the company’s 40,000 tons per year electrolytic zinc and related sulfuric acid production project in the year 2000 – not in the sense of being hard work per se, but rather due to the limited time for rest. We only had 7 or 8 hours of rest per day (by \"rest\" here is meant the time that actually belonged to us). Getting up at 7:00 am and going to bed at 12:00 midnight became our daily routine. For over 500 days and nights, we worked tirelessly on the construction site. The few of us young people lived and ate in small shelters on the site; even on rainy days, rain would seep inside. Every day, with a high sense of responsibility, I repeated the task of climbing up and down to carry out quality inspections as well as handle complex design work (at that time, almost all of the design work was done by the company’s own technical staff). We also had to climb up more than 20 meters high to conduct measurements and checks on the equipment under construction. \"As long as there are workers working on the site, our quality inspection staff must be there as well,\" was the requirement from the management back then. Every day, we argued constantly with the construction team over matters such as construction procedures, technical solutions, quality issues, and project progress. When the second sulfuric acid plant went into operation, it was deep winter. After working for several days and nights straight, I was extremely exhausted; I fell asleep that night beside the fire, in a pile of straw used for packing tiles. The safety helmet I was wearing had a hole in it the size of a fist, and it was ultimately Plant Manager ZZ who woke me up. During the subsequent operations to bring the electrowinning zinc plant online, there were times when sleeping on insulation rock wool caused intense itching all over the body; there were instances of almost falling into deep trenches while sleeping on long benches in the dense machinery areas; and there were occasions when I fell asleep next to columns in the liquid preparation workshop and woke up because of the rain. Due to the continuous work day and night, it was really hard to sustain such conditions, but that’s no longer the case now (the work is carried out in a more organized manner). By continuous work I mean working 24 hours straight and then repeating the same routine the next day, with at most 3 hours allocated for sleep each day (at that time, the workers understood this well – it was allowed to sleep in places where it didn’t interfere with work). There’s no exaggeration in what I’m saying. It was the same in the workshops and branch factories, and it remained the same after I started working on design in the technical department – I often had to work continuously. What should have taken 3 months to complete as a design task was often finished in just 1 month, and some people complained that my approach violated the rules. (If I were born in ancient times, I might have become a general skilled in long-distance marches.) Thinking about these things still makes me feel fulfilled; sometimes I really want to find a place where I can run for a few kilometers until I’m sweating and exhausted, just to relive that sense of drive. To be honest, I’m grateful for the trials of that period – that feeling of pushing one’s limits stays with you for a lifetime. Like my classmates, I was admitted to the county’s top high school through competitive exams, and I also entered university directly after that; 18 years ago, those were indeed challenging tasks. There is a saying in my hometown: \"Only by enduring hardships can one become great.\" Perhaps \"The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold\" is a more appropriate expression here. Students are at the prime of their lives; they should tighten their bows, draw their arrows, and go for it. One must always keep a string taut in life, and that string is responsibility. Our responsibility is to build our country, while your responsibility is to study hard. Israel is a name that frequently appears in international disputes over the years. Its geographical environment is similar to that of western Inner Mongolia in my country; it can be said to be harsh. Yet the Israeli people are a nation with a high sense of responsibility. Israel is almost surrounded by Muslims on all sides, with the Mediterranean Sea to its west. In the words of the Israelis, they are a rattlesnake surrounded by lions, tigers, and leopards. The troubled nation of Israel still exists to this day, and a strong sense of responsibility is one of the key reasons for that. Imagine that without their high sense of responsibility, this nation would have long fallen apart. I initially studied mechanical engineering and computer applications (majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in computer applications). At first, I wasn’t very confident that I could handle work related to metallurgy; it was the encouragement from my supervisors and friends that helped me resolve to change my career path. In terms of work locations, I have been in workshops, branch factories, construction sites, as well as various production and technical departments. In terms of my roles, I have worked as a workshop worker, technician, assistant to the factory manager, head of various departments, deputy general manager, and deputy chief engineer; currently, I serve as the chief engineer. Professionally, the work I have been involved in through my studies includes zinc smelting processes and equipment, comprehensive recycling, environmental protection and energy conservation, technology development, as well as production and technical management. By the time I left **Company in 2011, I had grown from an ordinary employee, a stranger away from my family and friends, to the deputy general manager of **Company, as well as the deputy chief engineer and director of the Technology Center. Behind all this, aside from the trust of our leaders, there is a sense of responsibility – a responsibility toward ourselves, toward our families, and toward our workplace. I believe that as long as we possess a strong sense of responsibility and a serious attitude towards work, we will be able to achieve remarkable results in our ordinary jobs. As for me, I will extend this sense of responsibility to a sense of responsibility toward society in my future work. II. Action is the foundation of innovation. From 2002 to 2004, I worked successively in the Business Management Department and the Information Department of ** Company. During my tenure as deputy head of the Business Management Department, I was mainly responsible for matters related to equipment, manufacturing processes, and by-products. While working in the Information Department, I independently developed the software for \"Technical Analysis of Electrozinc Production\" and \"Warehouse Management.\" The warehouse management software I created was in use for several years right after the main warehouse was set up. Initially, I developed a stand-alone version of it; later, due to the increased workload, a network-based version was used, and it was eventually replaced by the UFIDA software in use today. At that time, I returned from the Information Department to the company’s production department. The \"Technical Analysis of Electrozinc Production\" software also won the company’s award for minor innovations that year. From 2004 to 2006, the company adopted the slogan of saving energy and reducing consumption for three consecutive years; a team was established for this purpose, with me serving as its leader. After the team was established, I led all its members in conducting thorough investigations at various factories, and proposed over 40 technical improvement projects; more than 20 of these were approved by the company. The annual increase in benefits resulting from these technical improvements exceeded 9 million yuan. The team made \"improving production efficiency\" a key focus of its work; from technological upgrades and energy conservation to increasing output while reducing consumption, the team’s efforts were evident in every aspect, and its work got underway swiftly. It overcame various technical challenges that the company had struggled to resolve for a long time, such as low direct recovery rates and water circulation issues, making an irreplaceable contribution to the company’s increased production and efficiency. At work, I take the lead; by drawing on my years of experience in engineering and production, as well as through collaborative discussions and diligent efforts with my colleagues, I have earned high praise from everyone, and this has helped the company achieve unprecedented results in terms of technological innovation. It was these innovations that set many firsts in the company’s history: the first to break through the unbreakable myth of a 93.5% direct recovery rate, generating over 6 million yuan in annual profits alone (based on 40,000 tons of electrolytic zinc); the first to achieve zero wastewater discharge in zinc smelting; the first to introduce CAD drawing technology to the company (in fact, CAD application started among local enterprises with this company); this improved the drawing efficiency by several times; the first to use VB programming technology within the company to develop its own computer software for warehouse management; and the first to apply computer-based 3D modeling technology (PROE) to engineering projects at the company. . . . . . China’s modern history, under the force of foreign powers’ powerful ships and guns, brought shame upon us. Experience has shown that if we stick to old ways without innovation, we will be subjected to attacks; only through innovation can our country continue to progress and surpass others. This is true for a nation, and it is even more true for an individual. One must keep learning through practice in order to find the sources of progress and innovation. Lu You wrote in “A Letter to My Son Written on a Winter Night”: “What is learned from books seems shallow after all; to truly understand something, one must put it into practice.” Working at the grassroots level has been an essential part of my growth within the company; every stage of my development has been closely linked to work at this level. “Putting it into practice enables us to gain a deeper understanding of things, which in turn allows us to make improvements and innovations. III. Experience life with gratitude. Society provides a platform for each of us; we must learn to cherish every such platform and every opportunity, and be grateful to society and our leaders. “There are many talented people, but not many who can recognize their talent.” With this mindset, we will have a good work attitude and will strive twice as hard. In October 2011, I joined the ZZ Company Group, and it was with a sense of gratitude that I did so – I couldn’t bring shame upon my introducer, ZZ; I couldn’t bring shame upon YY, who had given me opportunities and promoted me; nor could I bring shame upon the other leaders and colleagues who supported me, helped me, and cared for me behind the scenes. During the commissioning of the company’s Second Smelting Plant, I stayed on the production floor day and night to ensure smooth operations. During the plant’s trial production phase, numerous issues arose regarding equipment, processes, and management. I went straight to the scene to gather first-hand information, determine the cause, come up with solutions, and discuss them with my colleagues. As the chief engineer of the group, I have often spent several hours at a particular post, observing the production and operational processes without moving. My colleagues at Plant 2 described me using the phrase \"able to stay focused,\" and I truly deserve that description. Plant Manager KK called on everyone to learn this spirit of \"joy and celebration\" (which is a kind compliment from my colleagues toward me). There really isn’t much in the way of spirit to speak of. If we’re talking about spirit, then many comrades working on the front lines have more of it than I do. Every time I see the employees on the production floor working diligently and responsibly, it moves me and leaves a deep impression on me; such scenes are truly inspiring. I am simply using my actions to repay the trust that my leaders and colleagues have in me, and to do what I can to return the support that the company and Xiangxi have given me. “Always on edge, always walking on thin ice. This is my sense of urgency in every position I hold; it is also the mindset that drives me to give back to the company and society. I am afraid of failing to live up to the company’s efforts in training me, and I am afraid of letting down the trust placed in me by my supervisors. This is perhaps what people refer to as emotional intelligence; once students enter society, they will realize that \"emotional intelligence is more important than IQ.\" (This is a quote from the president of Tsinghua University; the original words were: “In the world of the future, direction is more important than effort, ability is more important than knowledge, health is more important than grades, life is more important than diplomas, and emotional intelligence is more important than IQ!”) ”) IV. Concentration is the guarantee for achieving success in work. What is concentration? It can be understood as perseverance, as determination, or as an unwavering pursuit of one’s goals. Whether I was working in a mold factory, an electric motor factory, **Company, or ZZ Company, I have always been engaged in technical work and have never given up. No matter what technical role I took on, I was able to get up to speed quickly. I have worked on mold design, as well as on the design of 108-ton/154-ton electric wheel dump trucks; I have also been involved in zinc smelting. Now, I focus my efforts on manganese smelting, as well as the comprehensive recycling of zinc and manganese, as well as energy-saving and environmental protection technologies. I want to use my knowledge and skills to contribute something, however small, to my company, to Xiangxi, and to society – this is a goal I am committed to forever. From July 2004 to July 2006, due to work requirements, I was transferred from the Process Department to the Equipment Department, where I was responsible for all aspects related to equipment management. I took over the Equipment Department at a time when the company’s equipment was facing many problems; equipment failures occurred frequently, so it could be said that I was assigned to handle tasks in a situation of crisis. (In his ‘Memorial on Sending Out the Troops’, Zhuge Liang wrote, ‘I was entrusted with a task at a time when the army was in defeat, and given orders amidst great difficulties’; he himself truly felt as if he had reached a dead end.) Due to the loss of documents resulting from the company’s change in production methods, staff departures, and deficiencies in equipment management during the years 2002–2004, the company’s equipment condition can be described as ‘incomplete documentation, poor conditions, and frequent accidents’. Without professionals in the field of equipment, I had to handle most of the specialized tasks myself. After becoming the head of the Equipment Department, I worked with two staff members who were not specialized in equipment; together we wiped away the thick layer of dust from the equipment labels in the workshops, and gradually gathered basic information from the site, online sources, and incomplete documents. After two months of hard work, it was finally possible to re-establish a record of the company’s production equipment. Over the following year, I personally drew diagrams of the spare parts for more than 400 pieces of equipment, and established various professional management systems related to equipment maintenance, inspection procedures, major repairs, daily management, and spare parts control. At the same time, I made improvements to those aspects of the equipment and processes that were inefficient. My efforts were recognized by the company. When asked later what motivated me to take on such challenging tasks, I said it was “determination”. President Zhang Bigong of Shenzhen University once gave his class of 2009 graduates eight characters as a message: “Unshakable determination, boundless journey.” Furthermore, studying* is also an important part of my professional journey. It is no exaggeration to say that much of the knowledge contained in textbooks and work manuals is already more than a decade outdated. When I studied CAD (a computer-aided design software) in university, it was version R13, which ran on the DOS operating system; today, CAD has been updated over a dozen times, and it’s likely that none of the students here know what the DOS operating system is. Times are advancing, and the pace of knowledge renewal is accelerating. I place myself in a lifelong learning mindset, adopting the concept of continuous learning – and this is one of the reasons why I am here today to communicate with you all. I believe that effort will be rewarded, and this reward comes in various forms – it could be gains or insights. The fact that I grew from a workshop technician to the main technical responsible person of the company proves this point. Faced with this great honor of being a model worker, I am grateful to the Party and the leadership, as well as my colleagues, for their trust in me. I will, as always, fulfill my duties conscientiously and deliver satisfactory results to the company, the leadership, and my colleagues. Finally, I would like to pass on a quote from Mr. Yu Shiwai (which I call the 24-Character Truth) to all of you students: “Thoughts determine actions.” ； Action impact *habit ； *Habits shape character, and character changes destiny. ”I hope everyone will develop good habits during their student days, as they will benefit from them for life. Thank you all!