 |
|
Fond Memories
Amidst the Farewells
From the July 1998 issue of Vajra Bodhi Sea
Commencement speech by Stacy Chen, graduate of Developing Virtue Girls Secondary School, on June 4, 1998
I will never regret a single day…
My father once asked me: if time could flow backwards and I could choose again, would I still be willing to come to this school? I answered: “Dad, I will never regret a single day I spent in the City.” I told him that I might be able to get a better academic program elsewhere, but I will never be able to learn the ethics I have learned here, somewhere else.
Throughout the years, I have learned to love my school. My feelings for it are more than what words can express. Whenever I see the school, I see love and I see care. I see Shifu’s compassion and I see Shifu’s vows. I see our principal working days and nights, neglecting her health, for the sake of a better school.
Moreover, I see myself. I remember the times we worked together painting the classrooms, moving the chairs, taping down the carpets, and decorating our walls. I remember the nights we spent working on our yearbooks, writing the constitution for the Association of the Student Body, and preparing for our Genetic Engineering presentation. For the eight years I have been here, I have seen the school grow, and my school has helped shape me into who I am today. I cannot but be grateful to my teachers and my parents for giving me this opportunity.
When I woke up this morning, I realized that today will be the last day of my high school. It will be the last day I get to wear my uniform; the last day I get to walk into my school and say that I am a student of Developing Virtue Girls High School. Things will be different after tonight’s commencement. And I have to say that it is very hard for me to part with a school where I have been for eight year. Before I leave, I want to ask all my schoolmates a big favor—please take care of our school. Work together as a team to make it a better place. Let it be a place where you can always look back and say, “I love my school. I have done the best I can to help it become a better place.” I do not regret a single day I spent in Developing Virtue and Instilling Goodness Schools.
