尊敬的張望蘭女士、Leland校長先生以及在座的各位老師、家長和同學，早上好！
首先祝賀12年級的同學們和家長們，今天是瑞得福首屆高中生畢業(yè)的日子，對于你們來說是一個“big day”，是個歡樂的日子，是屬于你們的一天！
很榮幸今天被邀請作為家長做分享，第一次做這樣的演講，很期盼，很緊張，會不會成為像喬布斯在斯坦福大學、JK羅琳在哈佛大學那樣的畢業(yè)演講經典？
白駒過隙，回想起四年前，我們和很多家長一樣焦慮，決定要走哪一條教育的道路，決定哪一所學校，很幸運我們選擇了當時全新的瑞得福。強大的師資隊伍、規(guī)范嚴謹的治學風格、良好的學習和生活的環(huán)境。祝賀深圳瑞得福學校，一步步走向了當年的愿景：辦華南地區(qū)最好的美式教育的學校！
從給孩子們選擇學校起，我們認識了很多很有學識的家長朋友，我們一起交流孩子的教育問題，像小博（Berton）媽媽、泓洋（ Vincent）媽媽、陳諾（ Alan）媽媽等，尤其是我們的家長會的會長齊爸爸（Billy），他給了我們很多的升學指導。教育從來不只有學校，還需要家長一起努力。
這四年，也是我與太太和孩子一起成長的四年，我們很欣慰選擇了這么一條新的教育道路。如果說有一種教育是人與人之間的競爭，那么也有一種教育是和自己的競爭，去發(fā)揮自己最大的優(yōu)勢、去發(fā)展自己最大的興趣愛好、被鼓勵自由地創(chuàng)意和思考；如果說有一種教育僅僅是為了提高考試分數，那么也有一種教育是在培養(yǎng)孩子獨立的人格、合作精神、強烈的社會責任感......
這四年里，我也很享受能和孩子一起討論有些作業(yè)的過程，我們一起探討過《制作一張維多利亞時代的報紙》、《自己設計一個實驗或調查》、《研究一位感興趣的領導人物》、《哪個古代文明對當今世界影響最大》、《寫一部憲法》、《用“違法”的方式維權是否有效》以及機器人制作，等等，還有很多。嗯，這樣的討論，非常考驗當爸爸的知識儲備。
不過我保證，所有作業(yè)的每一個字都是孩子自己寫的，因為有時候我們的觀點并不一致。
這些有趣的作業(yè)正是那些有趣的老師們布置的，這里我們還要感謝這些可愛的老師們，Dr.Lee Carrol，Dr.Steve Hudson，Dr.Tim Allen，Mrs.Tippetts，Mr. Leland，Mr.Ruch，Mr.Miller，Mr.George....還有很多.
Even跟我和他媽媽提到最多的還有幾位可愛的老師，他們亦師亦友，還是孩子們的大哥哥、大姐姐，他們就是Even的班主任Apple老師、Remy老師和Rain老師。我想，其他班級的班主任老師亦是如此。他們盡心盡責，是家長、孩子、學校聯系的紐帶，他們記錄并分享了孩子們的成長點滴，照顧好了每一個孩子，讓所有的家長們放心。
中國有句古話：“一日為師終身為父“，希望孩子不要忘記瑞得福的老師們，中國還有一句古話：“桃李滿天下”，祝瑞得福的老師們“桃李滿天下”。
孩子們，你們是今天聚會的主角，祝賀你們，今天你們的多項能力已經超越了同齡時的你們的父母，我也知道，這四年你們很辛苦。對于美國孩子來說本該如此的事情，對于中國孩子卻是需要付出很大的努力才能站在同一起跑線上。比如英語，對于方塊文字國家的孩子來說，學習字母文化不是件容易的事情；比如說SAT考試，每參加一次SAT考試，就需要出國一次，需要花費不菲的成本和克服旅途的勞累；比如說要完成很多小論文，需要極強的資料搜集整理和歸納總結的能力，非常嚴謹的學術規(guī)范，這些也是中國孩子需要化很大努力來提升的。所以你們經常在凌晨一點入睡。
幸運的是，你們走過來了，付出總有回報。有一天你對我說：老爸，當我能用英語來搜索互聯網時，感覺世界向我打開了一個窗口。是的，世界上能掌握兩種語言、經歷過兩種文化的人是不多的，而你們就是，所以你們思考問題時會更多一個視角。
孩子們，高中畢業(yè)是人生的一個重要轉折點，意味著從明天開始你們將獨立走向社會，因為你們的父輩們大多數沒有留學經歷，你們正走向一片你們父母也未曾涉足過的天地，所以，你們準備好了嗎？
這四年里，要問我最為Even高興的是什么？不是GPA4.0，不是獎學金，不是波士頓學院的offer，而是那次的FRC比賽。那次比賽跌宕起伏，勝利、失敗、各種意外，你和你的隊員們經歷了太多，以后你們的人生也將會有類似的經歷，而且相信你們也會勇敢地處理它們，無經歷不成長，我希望在你年輕時能遇到更多的失敗。
是的，那是一次完美的失?。?/span>
所以說，我覺得你們應該已經做好了獨立走向世界的準備，即使這世界沒有如你所愿，也是最好的安排，成就你的不是某所大學，而是你自己。還記得你們在申請大學時寫的文書嗎？如果你是認認真真寫的話，那里有你的價值觀、有對人生的態(tài)度，不要拋棄它們，它們會幫你度過人生的困難時刻。
我知道你們今后的路還會很艱苦。很久前我問Dr.Carroll，她回答我：美國大學要比現在辛苦20倍。我也跟Dr.Hudson交流過，他說美國大學要比現在苦3倍。也許Dr.Hudson要比Dr.Carroll聰明6.6倍，但是不管怎么說，一定是非常辛苦，所以需要你們有一副健康的體魄。剛才我說希望你們超越當年的父輩，但是有一樣東西千萬不要，那就是你的體重！
在不久前有個重要的中國節(jié)日——“五四青年節(jié)”，在那一天我跟我年輕的同事們說：這個世界之所以能發(fā)展，就是因為年輕人不聽父母的話；這個世界之所以能發(fā)展，是因為年輕人無所畏懼！最后我想再重復一遍在亦凡18歲生日時的留言：
不要怕！不要悔！
再次祝福所有站在全新起點的孩子們！
謝謝大家！
英文譯文
Good morning! Mrs. Mona Zhang, Mr. Leland Anderson, parents, students, teachers, and broad members. Today is a big day for all 12th graders as all of you will finally graduate from high school!I’m Evan’s dad. This is my first time, and It is an honor to be invited as a parent speaker. I am thrilled to share this speech to all of you.
It would be nice if this speech ends up like those speeches that Steve Jobs or JK Rowling delivered at Stanford or Harvard.
Time flies. I was just as most of the parents were four years ago, hesitating among different paths that will give my child a completely different future. We had the fortune to choose RDFIS. This school has excellent staff members, well organized classes, and great learning and living environment. In my eye, this school has grown stronger to full fill its dream of becoming the best International school in Southern China!
From the beginning of this incredible 4-years journey, we have come to connect with some great parents along the way. Parents like Berton’s mom, Vincent’s mom, Alan’s mom, and Billy’s dad who is currently head of parent committee. These parents and more others shared and discuss valuable ideas with us. Education is never just the school. It also needs the ideas from parents.
I have grown over the fouryears with Evan and his mom. We feelgrateful to have chosen this path. If there is a type of education that teaches people to rival each other, there is another type thatencourages self-challenging, developing interests, and encourage freedom of thinking and creativity. If there is a type of education that exists only for tests, there is another type that cultivates independent personalities, corporation, and social responsibilities.
I enjoyed the discussion with Evan about his different assignments over the four years. We talked about his homework topics such as “Newspaper from Victoria time”, “Designing an experimental study”, “researching for a good leader”, “Write a constitution”, “which ancient civilization creates most impact to the world today.”, “illegally protecting legal rights”, “build a robot”, and more. These discussionsare also a challenge of a father’s knowledge.
And of course, Evandoes all his workson his own eventually,because we don’t sometimesend up with an agreement.
Through the discussion with Evan about these interesting topics, I also had a chance to know some great teachers at RDF. Like Dr.Lee Carrol，Dr.Steve Hudson，Dr.Tim Allen，Mrs.Tippetts，Mr. Leland，Mr.Ruch，Mr.Miller，Mr.George… and more.
I would also like to give my appreciation to Evan’s Homeroom teachers Mrs. Remy, Mr. Rain, and Ms. Apple. I believe that all homeroom teachers here truly care about students. And they have also become a good friend of those students, or even as brothers and sisters. They are responsible for student living, connect our parents to the school, and they record the growth of theirstudent.
There is an old Chinese saying: “ One day as teacher, life-long father”,I wish all the students feel grateful for their teachers. There is another old saying: “桃李滿天下”which means that the gardeners (as teachers) will have theirpeaches and apples (as students) all over the world. I wish all the teachers to gain such accomplishments.
All graduating students! Today is all about you. I give you my biggest congratulation as all of you have done better than you parents were at your age. I understand that these 4 years are not easy foryou. You spent so much effort to learn concepts that US students already know. It is not easy for you to learn another language in just 4 years. You have traveled long distance, sacrificing times and money for SATs. You did a lot to get yourself used to the academic environment at US. Every research paper needs tons of reference collection and some serious formatting. This is also what keeps you awake during late nights.
Luckily, all of you did it! After all these hardships in learning, you have earned your reward. I am very happy to hear from Evan about how exciting he is to understand English searchengines. The world is opening up in front of him.You have become the great combination of two languages and various cultures. You begin to think from a different perspective.
Students, high school graduation marks a major turning point in your life. This means that you are mature enough to face the society alone. Maybe you are going to a place to experience something that your parents never experienced before. So, Are you ready?
Speaking of what I proud most about my child’s high school life. I would say that It is not his GPA, nor scholarships or college offers. It ishisexperience during First Robotics Competition. I am happy because he and his team experienced success, failure, accidents. All those ups and downs is what you all will be experiencing in life. You all learn inmistakes. And I hope that you will experience more failure while you are still young, that means more growth for you!
Anything is incomparable to what you willget out of failure.
At this point in time, I think that you should have prepared to step into this bigger world. Even though the world may not be what you wished, you can still make the most out of it. It is you that finally accomplished yourself, not the university. Do you still remember what you write in your personal statement?That contains your value, attitude, and all that you believed in to get through tough times in your life.
There is still a long way to go. I once asked Dr. Carroll and she said that U.S. College is 20 times harder than highschool. I talked to Dr. Hudson too, he said that U.S. College is 3 times harder than high school. Now, May be Dr. Hudson is 6.6 times smarter than Dr. Carroll, butuniversity is definitely full of challenge. So,you will surely need a heathy living for that intense learning environment.
Not long ago there is China’s youth day at 4th of May. I talked to my colleague that the reason that this world keeps developing is that the younglings never listen to their parents. The world is becoming better because our next generation are fearless. I want to repeat here what I said to Evan at his 18th birthday:
Do not afraid, and never regret.
Again, I send my best wish to all the students who will soon begin the next chapter of their life.
Thank you for listening.
- 家長“心”分享 ｜她會更自信的表達自己的想法
- 家長“心”分享 ｜我希望他找到自己想要去的地方
- 家長“心”分享 ｜高質量的陪伴，就是和孩子一起做無聊的事
- 教育有溫度 雄鷹任翱翔 | 這里有一封Jonny老師的英語學習tips送給你~
- 歲月無跡，父愛有痕!2024深圳瑞得福學校父親節(jié)特輯
- 2024畢業(yè)典禮丨家長代表King同學媽媽：瑞得福是我和孩子的幸福時區(qū)
- 以愛為橋，共筑溫暖之路 | 瑞得福2024春季美式家長會 3 Way Conference
- 因愛相聚 溫暖前行｜2023秋瑞得福美式家長會 3 Way Conference
- 2023畢業(yè)典禮|畢業(yè)生家長代表：感謝瑞得福給孩子帶來的改變
- 深圳瑞得福學校開展“加強防范意識 遠離校園暴力”預防校園欺凌主題教育活動
- 著眼下之路，以生命為本丨瑞得福生命教育系列活動回顧
- 2022畢業(yè)典禮丨畢業(yè)生家長代表李瀅媽媽：以夢為馬 不負韶華
- 家校聯動，守望成長|RDFIS舉辦2021學年秋季家長會
- 畢業(yè)班科任老師寄語丨祝2021屆畢業(yè)生青春不休止，未來皆可期
- 畢業(yè)生家長代表演講丨一個要跳起來往上夠的目標能最大程度激發(fā)孩子--鮑思逸媽媽
- 大師課 | 家長們集體沉默，RDF特殊的一課到底講了些什么？
- 親子溝通的重要密鑰---“家庭會議”主題讀書分享會
- 周五讀書分享會 | 家校共成長
- 2021.01.22 RDFIS校長信丨瑞得福杯3V3籃球賽即將鳴鑼開賽
- 開學典禮演講丨家長代表李瀅同學媽媽：最美的遇見
