Dear students, Welcome, and welcome back, to a new academic year in the School of Humanities and Social Science. If I could offer you just one thought to carry with you through the year ahead, it would be this: do not have fear, but have faith. I say this because I know that beginnings can be daunting. Whether you are stepping onto campus for the very first time or returning to face a demanding year of coursework, research, and decisions about your future, it is natural to feel a flicker of anxiety about what lies ahead. But fear, more often than not, is simply a state of mind. It feels real, yet it is rarely the wall we imagine it to be. As Marie Curie once reminded us, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” I can think of no truer calling for a community devoted, as ours is, to understanding the human world. Faith, by contrast, is generative. Every great essay, every breakthrough in your data analysis, every friendship and every discovery you will make this year begins with a quiet act of belief: the belief that you are capable, that the effort is worthwhile, and that you belong here. You do. I would also gently remind you that setbacks are not the opposite of success but a part of it. You will not sail through the year without disappointments, whether a discouraging grade, a rejected idea, or a plan that falls apart. When those moments come, and they will, I encourage you to meet them not with fear but with curiosity. Ask what they have to teach you. In my experience, our stumbles often turn out to be our most honest teachers, and within each difficulty lies the seed of something better. None of this journey is meant to be walked alone. Our faculty and staff are here not simply to instruct you, but to stand beside you, to advise, to encourage, and to celebrate your successes as our own. My door, and theirs, is always open. When doubt creeps in, reach out. A community is strongest when its members lean on one another, and this School is, above all, a community. So as you open your books and your minds this year, I ask you to trade fear for faith: faith in your own abilities, faith in one another, and faith in the future you are building here, one course and one experience at a time. You have already taken the first and most important step simply by being here. Now let us take the rest of the journey together. Have a wonderful and fearless year. Professor Sangyoon PARK Assistant Dean (UG) Welcome Messages 2
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