This is a speech at the semester closing ceremony of SABS high school on June 27, 2022.
This photo was taken by a photographer during one CIFI group outdoor event in October 2021.
Dear students and teachers,
We are celebrating our learning achievements again at the end of this special semester. Learning and growing is the always the theme of this community.
I congratulate you for you have completed another academic year successfully. All the classes you attended, all the books you read, all the papers you wrote, all the discussions you had with your teachers and classmates now become knowledge, skills, and wisdom in your mind and heart. You should be happy for your own growth, you should celebrate your learning achievements, be it small or big.
This semester was indeed very special because many students haven’t met their teachers and classmates for over three months. This period of study at home was even longer than what you had in the year of 2020 when the COVID first appeared. You kept on virtual learning and tried all kinds of online activities during the separation caused by the virus. Instead of going to teachers’ classrooms every day, you went to teachers’ Tencent rooms; instead of siting for tests and exams in classrooms, you had to use two electronic devices to show your behaviors in your own rooms. You probably missed the times when you freely chatted with your teachers, classmates, and Housemates in the student lounge or when you passed by the corridors in the school. For a few months, you had to book a time when you needed to meet and talk with anyone in the school and all your teachers and friends became just videos and audios on your laptop. Of course, you tried many interesting activities that could be possibly facilitated by technology. I was so pleased to see students and teachers keep connected as a community by all these creative activities such as physical exercises, musical performances, Art exhibitions, cooking, photo wall House competition, homeroom meetings, as well as HS assemblies like this one. I believe the feeling of togetherness really lifted and kept you up.
You may believe all the achievements you made in your life are the results of your personal efforts. Let me tell you this belief might be an illusion because other factors also matter a lot. All the support your teachers offer, all the help your classmates give, all the care your family provide are really part of the reasons for your growth and success. To understand this point is crucial as you will be humbler as you move forward and will know how to make better use of all the support around you for your own benefit. I am so pleased to hear Cathy Cheng, one of the two Honorary Graduates of the class of 2022, say the following words during her graduation speech, “What we need to understand is that what we now have is not (only) the result of personal efforts, but also the effect of environmental bonus. Teachers in the school encourage us and friends help us.” Cathy had this profound reflection at her graduation ceremony after three years of study in the school. I hope all the junior students in the school can learn from this realization.
In her speech, Cathy also went on to talk about why students with privileges like you should step out of your personal pursuits and victories. You should use the resources you are given and the superior abilities you are gaining to help those who are in need and to make the place we live a better environment.
Cathy is not alone. I am equally impressed by Tony Zhang’s graduation speech. Tony is another excellent graduate this year. He shared his observation and worry about the rapidly changing geopolitical situation in the world and the impact of anti-globalization movement and isolationism on the globe and our lives. He said he will not be scared by all these and will collaborate with others to conquer all emerging adversities, just like he used to solve problems with classmates and play with teammates in the school.
I think they are exemplar graduates of the international education that the school provide. They have dreams bigger than themselves, they are critical thinkers and globally minded. It is evident that their thinking is broadened by the school curriculum, their vision is heightened by the school environment, and their future is also immensely opened by the outcome of this education. Please do learn from them, so you will find out the real purpose of your study and lives. In doing so, you will gain more strengths that you didn’t think you have, and you will find resources that you didn’t see before.
Today is the last day of the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. You have a lot of reasons to celebrate and cheer for the coming long summer vacation. Yet, you should also remember that the end also means a new start. I trust your teachers will give you good instructions about how to prepare for the study in the next academic year. You will also learn from university counsellors about how to plan your study, university application, and career. Please manage yourself so you will follow their advice, create the best plans for yourself, and make the best use of your time in the summer.
On the top of your personal study, you should also look outside and elsewhere so your sight won’t be narrowed by what you are used to be and your mind won’t be isolated from the real-world context. I think this is the main point I want to make by today’s speech.
Please try to think about some bigger questions that could make your dreams bigger and vision further. For example, what is the impact of the three-month COVID lockdown on Shanghai and China? How the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war will influence the world and our lives? You may think it is thousands of miles from you, however, if you look deeper the impact could be happening around you, for example the rising oil price and food shortage in some places in the world. Where our country China goes in the midst of COVID pandemic and under the tension with a group of developed countries such as the G7 countries? Will what you are studying and will study linked with the direction where the world and country are going?
As students in an international education, these questions are not only relevant to your current study but also to your future journeys and careers. Thinking about these bigger questions may also make your dream bigger and your mind stronger, just like the two exemplar graduates that I mentioned in my speech today. With your personal efforts and the all-rounded support of the school, I believe we will have more and more students walking out of the campus with better attributes, higher purposes, and greater achievements.
All the best wishes! We will see each other in person in September.
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