You can finally kick your kids out of the house！ On a more serious note, parents, you all have worked so hard and put in unimaginably high levels of effort to get your children to where they are now. This graduation is for you as much as it is for them.

Students, you deserve congratulations too as you have done so much over the past 3-4 years that is worthy of praise.

Here are just a few of the many examples:

[Photos] Participating in competitions such as Spelling Bee, Speech Contest, Storytelling contest  [Photos]  Participating in Lion music Festival Singing competition

[Photos] Participating in sports events

[Photos] Coming up with some of the most creative Sports Day outfits I have ever seen

I feel like a proud mum standing here today. I remember in PRE when students were running to the snack shop to buy snacks during break time and 3 years later, during breaktime, instead of running to the snack shop, they are whipping out phones instead. I remember when students used to say “I love you. You’re such a beautiful teacher!” and 3 years later, I get a brief nod and tiny smile when they pass me in the corridor. I remember  a student being shy to speak in class, perhaps for fear of speaking English out loud or getting an answer wrong, and 3 years later, the same person is loudly and clearly contributing answers in class. I remember when a student chose the subject I teach, psychology, at PRE just for a bit of fun and 3 years later, the same student is taking it seriously and even going on to study it at university. Now, although I do miss being told “I love you, you’re such a beautiful teacher”, i am comforted by the fact that all of this just shows they are changing and growing up. They are learning to spread their wings and are trying to fly out of the nest and now, here we stand, wishing them the best of luck as they begin their journey out of the nest.

Aside from the students, over the last 3 years, the school has changed immensely too. The place I used to teach PRE Psychology in has now become the place I go to queue for dumplings and ramen. Main Campus and South Campus merged, making the teacher and student body bigger. Over the past 3 years, the world outside of school has changed too. I remember when I first taught this graduating cohort, I could only see them through multiple tiny screens because at the time, I was unable to enter China due to travel restrictions and was teaching from Singapore. Now, here we are, and covid and travel restrictions seems like something that happened in a past life. What I want to reinforce to you is that change is a part of life. Embrace it. When you go to university, meet up with friends from Guanghua but try to also meet new people. Try new clubs. Try new food, don’t stick to bubble tea. Embrace new opportunities. I met an ex-student from Guanghua at university (yes, you can work out and estimate my age from this) and this ex-student impressed me. I am not saying this because I currently work at Guanghua and am trying to advertise the school or because he got me the job (which he didn’t). He genuinely impressed and inspired me because of his courage to meet and talk to people of different cultures, converse with others in his non-native language and take up a job at the university supermarket in a foreign country. I hope that, like him, you will be willing to step out of your comfort zone and I promise you will grow and develop more after it.

Students, these 3 years have not been easy for you. On top of the usual challenges of settling down into a new school with an international curriculum, meeting new teachers and classmates, applying for universities while keeping on top of the workload of various subjects, you have also had to deal with unique challenges such as having to deal with lessons going offline then online then offline then online then offline again. You’ve had to deal with the uncertainties of POE and how your grade will be given. Some of you had to deal with getting POE scores that were lower than you expected and therefore may have had to retake AS exams while learning new A2 content. Therefore, out of all the achievements I listed before, I think what you deserve the most praise for is your resilience in the face of challenges beyond your control.

When you move on to the next phase of your life and settle into a new place, meet new people and learn to be even more independent, you will face more challenges but I hope you will be reminded of the challenges you have overcome during your time here and think to yourself that whatever difficulties you face in the future, you can overcome them too. Know that you always have your Alma mater, Guanghua and all its teachers, cheering you on from the sidelines too.

So on behalf of all the teachers, I wish all students, from the ones that I did not have the fortune to teach to the ones who had the misfortune of having me as a teacher, the very best for the future. Congratulations again and happy graduation!

One final message:

Thank you.