Firstly, congratulations on our UF Australian Program students’ successful graduation. I believe that today’s celebration in the school theatre will be a highlight for you when you recall the years 2014 to 2016 sometime in the future. Congratulations again to the 2016 graduating class. I am sure that the time over the past two years spent at our UF School will create comforting and pleasant memories when you look back in 20 years’ time. This event also acts as a reminder to all of our teachers that their role has changed from one of ‘guardian’ into spectator’ from this time forward. But I’m sure, no matter where you are in the future, our UF teachers will be delighted and touched by and happy to applaud your every achievement.
You have spent 2 years and 2 months here, and while this period of time is not long in the context of your life, you have successfully moved from being a junior high school student who is still working through the learning process to an undergraduate at a world famous university. This transition includes an upgrading of your English competency, an accumulation of your professional knowledge and preparation of your mental and physical capabilities as well as a change to your social identity. This is the 9th course of students who have graduated to Australia from Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Campus but you are the 1st graduates of our UF Program, so it’s destined that you’ll get more attention and be recorded by history. Most of you will be enrolled in Australian Go8, five-star, universities ( eg. the University of New South Wales, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, and Monash University) for undergraduate studies, and almost all of you will be admitted into the 100 top universities of the world.
The UNSW Foundation course is one of the highest-level university preparatory courses, designed to support you in your professional preparation, but simultaneously raising the academic requirements. Compared to the VCE program, which requires students to learn 4 specialized courses and one of them is Chinese, the UFS Commerce stream has 7 specialized subjects, 5 subjects in the Science stream and 5 projects in the Design stream. So it’s been a great challenge for all of you. You have made our involvement throughout these two years meaningful. We will have etched into our minds your lovely faces with thoughts of your struggles throughout the program but also your ultimate success today and these thoughts of you will remain even as the years pass. Many thanks to you all for giving us such pleasure.
On behalf of the University of New South Wales, an Australian Go8 university and AHEAD Education, I would like to express my thanks to the many groups involved in our process. Firstly, my thanks go to all of our 2016 UF graduates’ parents. Without your initial faith in the School and trust in our UF Senior High School course, without your unselfish and consistently dedicated input, the graduates would not be able to have been able to achieve such an enormous amount nor afford themselves the opportunities that come with successful completion of the program.
Next my thanks go to the school administration, which has used the profound cultural heritage here at NFLSXL as a foundation to greatly influence our UF students’ spiritual dispositions for the better over the past two years. I believe that such school history, tradition and culture will always provide our UF students with the best environment for their healthy development.
My thanks also go to the UF School’s leadership team. Thank you, Principal Qian for your strategic guidance and the production of the necessary plans to command the overall situation. Thank you, Vice Principal Cheng for your devotion to the detailed work and performance management. Thank you, Directors Chen and Wang for your careful coordination, and thank you, UF Head Teachers for your in-depth and meticulous work.
Finally, I would also like to thank all of our UF domestic and foreign staff, all home-room teachers and all program management staff for your hard work. You have sacrificed countless weekends, evenings and after-class time for your students’ preparation and development. It is your careful communication, patient guidance and sincere encouragement that have filled our UF students with passion and strength in their learning process.
In less than 3 months, our UF graduates will be in the fashionable, sunshine city of SYDNEY or in the elegant city of MELBOURNE to start a completely new life. Australia is a friendly western country, which has maintained a good and healthy relationship of political, diplomatic and economic cooperation with China in the past 40 years. Our ancestors set foot on the land of Australia in the mid-19th century, and the first stop was a town near to Melbourne, where a cemetery is still maintained for those Chinese who attempted to follow their dream of building a fortune from gold by traveling far away across the sea some 160 years ago. A traditional Chinese inscription can be found their even today. The town is called New Gold Mountain and a Guan Gong Temple stands within its community.
One hundred years later, in the year 2008, China has become Australia’s largest trading partner, and Chinese is also the most used foreign language in Australia. In addition, the Spring Festival is the common holiday in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne. In 2008, the Australian Government developed a strategic framework for Australia-China economic cooperation for the next 50 years including full cooperation in the fields of agriculture, environmental protection, energy, education, science and technology and financial services. On May 26, the two Prime Ministers jointly attended the signing ceremony of China’s National Ministry of Science and Technology Administrator and the principal of the University of New South Wales in the Great Hall of the People in China. The first overseas base of the Chinese government officially settled in the University of New South Wales industry and innovation park. The Chinese government has committed $100 million to the first stage investment and the Prime Minister Li Keqiang clearly stated that the base in UNSW will be the strategic incubation center for China in the southern hemisphere.
We strongly believe that there will be lots of opportunities and challenges in your future because the present era is one of great change and you are continuing your journey via elite Australian universities. You will be working harder to better yourself, to form good study habits and developing your ability to think for yourself. You will be learning how to take responsibility but remaining grateful for your opportunities and those who have been a part of your journey so far and I hope that you will find the strength and determination to go forward bravely. Another piece of advice I would like to give you is that you should call your parents regularly because they miss you deeply while you are away. Before leaving home, you should do some small things to touch their hearts; and do not forget to give them a big hug ahead of boarding the airplane, to make them feel at ease, comfortable and happy.
Congratulations again on your graduation in 2016! How proud we are of your achievements! I wish you a relaxed, rich, comfortable, happy and brilliant life in Australia! Many thanks! Also many thanks again to all of our school leaders, teachers and parents, who have cared for and helped our students over the past two years.