Y13 Graduation Ceremony – Words of Wisdom丨十三年级毕业典礼-智慧之语
Y13 Graduation Ceremony
– Words of Wisdom
十三年级毕业典礼-智慧之语
Our Class of 2022 held their formal graduation ceremony on June 16th. The joy and excitement of our 29 graduates were palpable as they proceeded into the auditorium led by our co-principals , Mr James Sweeney and Ms Jessica Sun. Graduation is a momentous event for our students from twelve countries and regions around the globe who came together to celebrate the end of their exams, their hard work and efforts, receiving their well-earned IB diplomas and awards from the co-principals, department heads and teachers.
我们2022届毕业典礼于6月16日举行。在外籍校长Sweeney先生和华籍校长孙女士的带领下，毕业生既欣喜又兴奋地踏入礼堂。来自全球12个国家和地区的毕业生们齐聚一堂，庆祝具有里程碑意义的毕业典礼，庆祝他们考试结束、所付出的努力和取得的成就，同时他们还收获了双校长和部门主管颁发的IB学位证书和其他奖励。
This year’s graduating class is very special as they are the year group that has been most impacted by the pandemic, resulting in prolonged periods of online learning, canceled IGCSE exams, peculiar exam situations as well as overall uncertainty. But this also means that these students have acquired an enormous amount of resilience and adaptability over the past three years which is evidenced by the outstanding university offers and scholarships. This is also a moment to thank parents and teachers for their help and support throughout the years, especially our parents of this cohort who sent their love and cheers via the live stream for the graduation ceremony year. A major and important part of every graduation ceremony is the commencement speeches, sharing words of wisdom and experiences with the students to reflect on the past, recognise their accomplishments, and give inspiration for the future.
今年的毕业班生十分特别，因为受疫情的影响他们经历了长时间的线上学习、IGCSE考试取消、特殊的考试环境及其他不确定性。但是这也意味着过去三年中这届学生已经锻炼了韧性和适应力，也收获了大学录取通知书和奖学金。毕业典礼也是对家长和老师表达感谢的时候，谢谢他们过去这些年的帮助和支持，特别是家长们，他们也在直播频道送上他们的祝福和爱。毕业典礼的重要环节是各位代表的毕业演讲，跟同学们分享智慧之语和经验、回顾过去、认可他们的成就、并为他们的未来提供建议。
Let us relive some of the core messages of our seven distinguished speakers.
让我们一起重温七位代表的毕业演讲。
Dr Betty Chan Po-King, CEO and School Supervisor set the festive frame within the educational mission of the YCYW foundation in her commencement address. She expressed pride, confidence, and joy in sending the students out into the world, trusting that our graduates will find their destiny, give back to society and provide compassionate leadership in a fast-changing world. She reminded our students that their main takeaway is not just academic but personal. It is about their exemplary moral character built on the ancient Chinese variables ‘diligence, frugality, humility and honesty’. Dr Chan Po-King calls this character foundation a ‘wonderful engine to power you forward’. Furthermore, she trusts that the holistic education of YCYW makes our students human catalysts for change and progress, able to make a difference in real life.
耀中耀华教育机构行政总裁兼校监陈保琼博士在毕业致辞中设定了耀中耀华机构的教育使命。她非常骄傲、自信和高兴把学生送到世界中，相信毕业生会在瞬息万变的世界中找到自己的未来、回馈社会、成为有同理心的领导。陈博士提醒学生，他们主要的收获不仅包括学术还有个人的成长。中国人自古以来秉持的传统美德“勤、俭、谦、信”，陈博士把这种品格基础称为“推动你前进的绝佳动力”。此外，她坚信耀中耀华的全面教育使我们的学生快速适应变化和取得进步，能够在真实的生活中有所作为。
In her welcoming address, our Head of Secondary, Ms Hayley Edge, expressed her admiration for the students and how the circumstances of the pandemic have endowed them with resilience and strength. She trusts that the past few years have made her students stronger in facing adversity and overcoming difficulties. She refers to it as PTG (post-traumatic growth), the ability to experience positive personal changes and improved relationships arising from challenges and struggles. She encourages her students to always bear the emboldening concept of PTG in mind as they move on in their academic careers.
中学部主管Hayley Edge女士在欢迎致辞中表达了对学生的崇拜、同时告诉大家疫情赋予学生韧性和力量。她相信过去几年的经历会让学生在面对逆境和克服困难的时候更强大。她将其称为PTG（创伤后成长），从挑战和困难中体验积极的个人变化和改善人际关系的能力。她鼓励学生们在学术道路上要一直勇敢带着PTG思维。
Our IB Coordinator and Careers and University Guidance Counsellor, Mr Jonathan Mellen, delivered his speech around the meaning of ‘words’. He motivates his students to continue acting as great ambassadors in their community by turning their words into tangible actions. To him, words should not dissolve in shallow ‘hashtags’ but in making a difference for the community by taking the lessons that the students have learned into action. As circumstances remain unpredictable and ‘uncertainty’ is a new trending word, he urges the students to aim at being the certainty in someone else’s life.
我们的IB主管和职业及升学辅导顾问Jonathan Mellen先生以“words”为主旨发表了毕业演讲。他鼓励他的学生们通过行动继续作为所属社群的大使。对他而言，语言的意义不仅在于浅显的话题标签，而是在社群中应用所学并且有所作为。环境变幻莫测，“不确定性”是一个新趋势，因此他敦促学生以成为他人人生中的确定因素为目标。
School Vice Principal, Mr James Sweeney, began his commencement speech by expressing gratitude to all the students’ teachers past and present and to the parents. He regrets deeply that they are not able to participate in their children’s milestone event in person, but he trusts that today’s disappointment will be outweighed by all the future masters’ and doctors’ degrees to be celebrated. As no educator can relate to the experiences of this pioneering student generation in pandemic times, Mr Sweeney encourages them to pass on their wealth of experience. Seeing this student cohort of ‘good human beings’ off, he is giving them the one task, to ‘never get tired of telling the new people you meet that you are from YCIS Beijing because we are immensely proud of you.’
副校长James Sweeney先生在演讲前先感谢所有学生过去和现在的老师们、以及家长。他对于家长们无法莅临现场参加里程碑意义的毕业典礼深表遗憾，同时他也相信今日的遗憾将被未来同学们硕士及博士毕业典礼所抵消。因为疫情时代教育者也没有经历过这一代学生在大疫情时期的体验，James Sweeney先生鼓励他们将自己丰富的经验传授给大家。见证这届毕业生“优秀的人”离开，Sweeney先生给他们一个任务“永远不要疲于告诉他人你来自北京耀中国际学校，因为你永远是北京耀中的骄傲。”
Our Chinese-Co Principal, Ms Jessica Sun, trusts that the holistic education of YCIS Beijing and its IB programme has prepared all graduates with the academic knowledge and the skillset to further thrive in their academic careers. As she wished the graduates all the best for their future journey, she expressed confidence that the students are fully equipped to apply their knowledge in a real-world setting. She warmly invited the students to keep their bond with YCIS Beijing and to celebrate the upcoming 90 years of legacy with the YCYW family from wherever they are in this world.
我们的华籍校长孙姗姗女士相信北京耀中的全人教育和IB课程已经为所有的毕业生准备好学术知识和技能，使他们能够迎接未来学术发展。在我们祝福毕业生前途光明的同时，孙校长相信我们的学生能够在真实世界中学以致用。她热情邀请学生和学校保持联络、无论在世界的哪个角落都要和耀中耀华大家庭一起庆祝即将到来的90周年庆典。
Our co-principals’ speeches were followed by a motivational speech from YCIS alumni, Chloe Sandifer-Stech, Class of 2019, who is now a student at Furman University, South Carolina, where she is pursuing a double major in Environmental Sciences and Philosophy. She recalled how she experienced a feeling of emptiness and a vacuum of time after handing in her last IB exam paper without any assignments or exams to follow. She shared that the uncertainty after graduating from Secondary school gave way to new and exciting experiences and tremendous freedom and growth. Additionally, her interests in learning shifted and she encourages the graduates to explore new areas supported by the abilities they have acquired in school until they find their designated paths.
双校长的发言之后是2019届毕业生Chloe Sandifer-Stech的校友演讲。Chloe Sandifer-Stech目前在南加州的福尔曼大学就读双学位：环境科学和哲学。她回忆自己在提交了最后一张IB试卷后没有作业和考试的空虚和空白感。她告诉大家，毕业后的不确定性会为新的、令人激动的经历、巨大的自由和成长让路。除此之外，她对学习的兴趣也转移了，因此她鼓励毕业生根据在学校已经获得的技能去探索新的领域，直到找到自己确定的成长道路。
The Valedictorian speech was given by Son Seo Young (Suri). Suri has been studying at YCIS Beijing for the past two years and is looking forward to her university studies in South Korea. Her inspirational speech revolved around the metaphor of a ‘red rose’ which also happens to be the meaning of her name. The image of a thorny red rose reminds her of hiding or shying away from others because of the ‘thorns’, hiding the true ‘rosy’ self for fearing other people’s judgment, just like the thorns of a rose may block the beauty of its petals. She has learned that it is part of everyone’s life to have flaws, to make mistakes and to get rejected. She encourages all her fellow graduates to ‘live a life in pink’, to be confident in their individuality and to ‘embrace their true colours’ as everyone is unique. Suri’s message to all is to treasure both accomplishments and mistakes, successes and failures, as these have brought her to where she stands today.
学生代表Son Seo Young(Suri)发表了告别演说。Suri已经在北京耀中学习两年了，即将到韩国上大学。她鼓舞人心的演讲围绕“红玫瑰”这个比喻展开，红玫瑰也是她名字的寓意。长刺的红玫瑰的形象提醒她因为自身带“刺”而躲藏或者避开他人，因为害怕外界的评价而隐藏起玫瑰色的自己，就像玫瑰的刺也会隐藏它的花瓣。她鼓励所有的毕业生“活出真正的自我”，要对自己有信心、“拥抱真实的自己”因为每个人都是独一无二的。Suri 想告诉我们，珍惜成就的同时也要珍惜错误、成功和失败，正因为这些经历带领她走到今天。
All these speeches were different and unique and often conveyed very personal messages, but they all come to the same point: YCIS Beijing has given all its students the character foundation and the skills that will support them in their future endeavours and that they are prepared for the challenges ahead, ready to choose from a multitude of opportunities and possibilities in their life and learning, to both thrive academically and personally as well as make an impact in society.
所有的演讲都那么独特、并带有个人的色彩，但是他们都传递了一个共同的信号：北京耀中已经为所有学生们提供了品格教育和技能、支持学生未来的努力、帮他们准备好迎接好未来的挑战、让他们准备好在生活和学习多种选择和机会中做选择，以在学术和个人发展方面都能蓬勃发展，给社会带来积极影响。
Our graduates received their IB diplomas from our co-principals, enjoying their special moment on stage, while their subject awards were handed out by their proud department heads. Special mention goes to Vera Parco for achieving the Madam Tsang Chor-Hang Award, honoring her overall achievements in displaying the school’s ethos over the past two school years. Vera will be studying Science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
典礼上毕业生还从双校长的手中接过了IB学位证书，享受舞台上的特殊时刻的同时部门主管也给不同学科奖项颁发了奖杯。值得一提的是, Vera Parco获得了曾楚珩女士纪念奖，此奖项为表彰她在过去两个学年发扬学校精神所取得的综合成就。之后Vera会到温哥华英属哥伦比亚大学学习科学。
Following the school’s motto of aligning with art and culture, the ceremony was filled with music and dance interludes. Charlie Leung and Sophia Dementyeva (Year 11) sang a moving duet, ‘Only a Lifetime’ by Finneas, whilst Chan Hok Sum and Gerome Seng (Year 8) bid the students a rocking farewell by performing Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’. The Dementyev siblings, Sophia and Vladimir, dazzled the audience as they hovered over the dancefloor. They ended their performance on a rather amusing note by embodying their teachers, Ms Edge and Mr Mellen, while dancing to the ‘Pink Panther’ theme.
遵循学校使命与文艺结盟的使命，毕业典礼穿插了音乐和舞蹈演出。十一年级的梁晓晴和索菲亚演唱Finneas的Only a Lifetime，八年级的陈学深和辛政良演奏了Chuck Berry的摇滚歌曲Johnny B. Goode。Dementyev家的兄妹索菲亚和高山在舞池盘旋，非常炫目。最后他们还戴上他们老师Edge女士和Mellen先生的面具跳Pink Panther主题舞蹈。
We would like to extend our thanks to our ‘Masters of Ceremony’, Charlie Leung and Alice Su (Year 11), for their professional emcee support and John Jiuzhao Hao (Year 12) for operating the lights and sound.
在此，让我们感谢来自十一年级的节目主持人梁晓晴和苏祺的专业主持，以及十二年级郝九舟操作舞台灯光和声控。
We hope to see our students embark on their new learning journey as happily as they ended their big day, with uplifted spirits and positive energy to excel in all their upcoming endeavours!
我们希望高中毕业之后同学们顺利开启新的学习旅程，以昂扬的精神和积极的能量在未来脱颖而出。
We wish all our graduates the best and we ask that all do stay in touch with their first alma mater, YCIS Beijing!
祝贺所有的毕业生一切顺利，也请毕业生们和母校保持联系！
YCIS Beijing is known for its international curriculum, promoting bilingualism, creative expression, individual growth, and a spirit of community service.
北京耀中国际学校以国际课程闻名，提倡双语学习、创意表达、个人成长和社群服务精神。
If you want to know more about YCIS Beijing, you are welcome to make an appointment with our Admission team by scanning the QR code below.
如果您想深入了解北京耀中，欢迎扫下方二维码和我们的招生团队联系。