Iris Cheung

ARTHUR GABRIEL, an international student from Indonesia, has been named one of the top 10 graduates at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). He has been admitted to a master’s program at Tsinghua University.

Gabriel majored in aerospace engineering and was the top‑performing international student in his department for three consecutive years. His academic excellence earned him several honors, including the 2025 Chinese Government Scholarship and the 2024 Guangdong Provincial Government Scholarship for International Students.

Working with classmates, Gabriel’s team finished fourth in the Shokz Global Excellence and Innovation Talent Summer School and took third prize in the 2024 China Universities Aircraft Design Competition.

“Since I was young, I have been passionate about aerospace engineering and eager to contribute to its advancement,” Gabriel said in his commencement speech. “Seeing China’s technological prowess, SUSTech’s inclusiveness, and its outstanding faculty, I was glad to pursue my studies here.”

Gabriel summed up his four years at SUSTech with two words: “hope and courage.” Quoting the Venerable Antonio Bello, he said, “Hope, as a close relative to realism, is the decision of someone, with both dedication and trepidation, to journey to his goal that has not yet been reached. Hope is a strong commitment without escaping.”

He described the courage required to transform himself from a student lacking foundational knowledge into one of the university’s top performers. “This journey was far from smooth. I faced many challenges,” he said. “But with hope and courage, I always got back up after every failure and strove not to fail again.”

Looking ahead, he plans to continue pursuing aerospace and deep‑space exploration, hoping to “build bridges of friendship as humanity explores the universe.”