尊敬的老师们，亲爱的同学们，早上好!

I'm Daniel Jacome, a new Ph.D. student from Ecuador. My academic unit is the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR). I was awarded with a Chinese Government Scholarship to study at UCAS thanks to the excellent diplomatic relations between China and Ecuador.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the university for allowing me the honor of representing all the international students whom today begin a new stage in our academic formation.

There is a Chinese proverb "万事开头难",which can be translated as "The beginnings are always the hardest". We all know that the first challenge was to leave our countries, our cultures, and our families. The second, unpredicted pandemic has affected the whole world causing inconvenience in our daily life. But through numerous difficulties and challenges, Chinese government has developed a flexible and responsive approach that the rest of the world should learn from.

Indeed, China's rise in economics and technological prowess and China's rich cultural heritage are the reasons why I chose to study here. To be more specific, I have always noticed the participation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and our University in many publications that were sources for my work during my undergraduate studies in Ecuador and my master's degree here in China. CAS has remained year after year since 2016 as the top leading institution worldwide with more research outputs according to the list published by the Nature Index, as well as UCAS ranks Top 3 in the same in 2022. For those reasons and after researching about this university I had a yearning to join as a student and continue my studies here.

UCAS can be named one of the largest natural science and high-tech R&D centers in China, so we, as students, can make use of this strategic research advantages to achieve our goals and succeed in our undertakings and personal projects.

I would like to conclude my words by calling on all freshmen to set as a priority objective to turn, our university, into a permanent model of excellence in education. Always maintaining confidence in ourselves, in what makes us different from others, understanding that this difference is never a defect, it is an opportunity. Let us be persistent, never giving up despite the difficulties. Success is always a work of constancy and perseverance.

Thank you very much. 谢谢大家!