The 38th Jiancheng Lecture entitled “Mindset Matters in Youth—Seminar on Life Planning for Graduate Students", organized by the Graduate Student Union of the School of Civil Engineering (SCE), was held in room 4518, Jiuli Campus of Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), with live stream on Tencent Conference at 7:30 pm on December 2, 2021. The lecture was hosted by the Academic Department of the Union. Zhang Fang, lecturer of the Department of Bridge Engineering of SCE was invited.

Mr. Zhang first started the lecture with three questions: the differences between postgraduate and undergraduate programs, the gap between their expectations about postgraduate programs and the realities, and their plans for postgraduate programs.

In the beginning, Mr. Zhang discussed the meaning and content of the word “mindset" with students by telling the legendary life experience of Bill Gates and stories of people living around him. He encouraged the students that there is no formula in life. We should have the courage to try with effort since every choice can lead to a wonderful life.

In the second session, Mr. Zhang shared his understanding and suggestions on how to make life plans. The first thing to plan for life is to know why people fail. He summarized some reasons for the “failure” of students, such as fear of change, procrastination, only reading fragmented information, having grandiose aims but puny abilities, lack of reflection in work, unhealthy lifestyles, no plans for the future, and so on. Mr. Zhang added that only by finding the exact problems can we find the solutions. Then, he proposed suggestions and methods for planning lives.

The first suggestion is reading. Reading can settle our minds, enrich our souls, and make us full of passion. At the same time, he recommended some books on bridge engineering and thought-provoking biographies and popular science books. Second, experiencing in different fields. The road we walk through and the people we meet are the wealth of life. For example, sports can help build a strong body; traveling offers a great mind; literature and art bring an unconquerable spirit to us. These hobbies support us to move forward even in tiredness. In the end, he stressed that we must reflect upon our lives and work. A man who is willing to reflect also dares to change and create his/her own extraordinary life. In a word, we should learn something interesting and professional. we are also supposed to develop the awareness and attitude to take responsibility for our lives, and the mental toughness to resist the hardship in life.

In the end, Mr. Zhang recommended some restaurants and fun places in Chengdu, hoping that students could experience the local culture and enjoy life after completing the course assignments.

The 38th Juancheng Lecture came to an end.