NYCU Graduation: Pharmacy Student from Disadvantaged Background Says 'Medicine Expires, But Education Does Not'

(Central News Agency, reporter Chen Zhizhong, Taipei, 12th) National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) held its graduation ceremony today. Zhang Aici, a pharmacy student from a disadvantaged background, was selected as the graduate representative. Over the past six years, she has repeatedly traveled to remote rural areas to promote correct medication knowledge and went to Australia to learn community outreach models. She will become a pharmacist to fulfill her dream.

NYCU has 5,163 graduates this year. Zhang Aici entered the university six years ago through the 'Jade Project' (now the Tunmeng Group), a program supporting disadvantaged students. She not only overcame financial difficulties but also actively gave back to society.

Zhang Aici's upbringing made her aware of the widespread lack of proper medication knowledge among the underprivileged. During her studies, she frequently visited remote areas to participate in promotional activities. Before graduation, she went to Australia through the Ministry of Education's 'Youth Billion Project' to learn models for integrating health literacy into community outreach.

Zhang Aici shared, 'Medicine expires, but education does not.' She firmly believes that birth does not determine one's life; through education and effort, everyone can go further than they imagine. In the future, she will become a pharmacist and use her actions to realize her dream.

Lu Guanwei, CEO of the Junyi Academy Foundation, was invited as a guest speaker at the ceremony. He shared that what determines one's life is not the number of good news, but whether one can truly understand bad news when it arrives.

Lu Guanwei said that some bad news initially looks like a 'period,' but years later, looking back, one realizes it was actually a 'colon,' 'with a more important sentence after it that we need to write out with our lives.'

NYCU President Lin Chi-Hung encouraged graduates to value teamwork, as great things cannot be accomplished by one person alone. Facing an increasingly complex world and the advent of the AI era, teamwork, communication skills, and an understanding of how society operates will be irreplaceable core competencies. (Editor: Chen Renhua) 1150612