ConGRADulations, Class of 2018!

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On May 23, 2018, the class of 2018 gave their moment of farewell as they held their graduation. The momentous event was accompanied by more than 500 visitors from all over the world, ranging from family members, friends, and past AISG graduates. All people who came to the event were served with a buffet for dinner.

Prior to the actual day of the graduation ceremony, each senior received 5 tickets–they were allowed to give the tickets to their parents, friends, and any other people whom they wished to invite to the graduation. AISG’s National Honor Society members dressed up in formal clothes and stood in front of the staircase of the theater to accept the tickets and let the visitors enter the theater.

The graduation of the class of 2018 began with a band performance, directed by Dr. Mark Pihowich. After the processional performance, AISG high school principal Mr. Kerry Timmerman and the director Dr. Bernadette P. Carmody gave their introductory speeches. They discussed the significance of graduation to our departing seniors and the feats of the class of 2018. In particular, Dr. Carmody mentioned the academic accomplishments of the seniors, stating that the class of 2018 had one of the highest SAT and IB scores in AISG history. She concluded with our school’s slogan for the departing students, “Once a Ram, always a Ram.”

Mr. Charles Bennett, the U.S. Consul general, continued, delivering a speech in AISG graduation ceremony for the third consecutive year. He delivered a heartfelt message, saying that the seniors will soon be all around the world, eventually becoming the future of our world.

After that, it was time for the very anticipated valedictorian speeches. The seniors, all 75 of them, voted for the top two students whom they wished to see giving the final speech of their high school career. The first speaker was Jimmy Park, and he delivered his speech, titled “Undecided”. His speech was humorous, as he made several comical, incisive comments about his teachers. The audience roared in laughter from his “savage” jokes. Nevertheless, he still expressed his gratitude towards his teachers for teaching him by dedicating his speech to them.

Other than two valedictorian student speakers, there were also two teacher speakers who were voted for by the class of 2018. The first teacher speaker was Mr. Chad McGartlin. He had a visual aid as well, showing some quotes of his students’ CAS reflections to the entire audience. As modern teenagers would say, he “exposed” the students’ “bs-ed” reflections. The audience laughed at his hearty jokes.

Before watching the speeches of the second student speaker and teacher speaker, the audience was shown a video, titled “The Golden Days: A montage”, which was created by the seniors Ryan Bott, Vedika Savalani, and Tiffany Chan. The videos featured a brief skit from the senior students, passing on the graduation invitation ticket to each other. In addition to that, there were interviews and baby pictures of all the students in the class of 2018. The video finished, receiving applause from the audience.

Soon, the second valedictorian speaker, Michelle Zhuang, delivered her speech, “Take it Slow”. She talked about how in life, taking things slow will be beneficial in life, and thus, people should sometimes take a break and learn to view things more objectively. Compared to Jimmy’s more humorous speech, she had a calmer tone, inducing the audience to listen attentively to her speech.

The final speaker of the day was Ms. Anne Martin Bauer, the second teacher speaker. Her speech titled, “Why Me?”, began with her asking the senior students why they chose her out of all the teachers in AISG to deliver the speech. She gave life lessons, teaching them to place more importance on their families and to not take unconditional love of parents for granted.

With all the speeches given, it was finally time for the presentation of the class of 2018. The students, dressed in their graduation gowns, walked onto the stage, one by one, as executive student council’s president Gwen Farm and 12th-grade student council’s president Yiu Wai Yuen called out their names. Each student proudly walked on the stage, shaking the hands of Mr. Timmerman, Dr. Carmody, Mr. Tragert, Ms. Lindsay, and others, taking pictures with their graduation diplomas. When all the seniors eventually stood on the stage and there was no one left below, the audience and the seniors truly realized it was time for goodbye.

When the ceremony was over, all people were invited to a buffet in front of the theater. Many people also spent time taking pictures with their families, friends, and teachers. Many shed tears, many laughed–it was a moment of joy and sadness.

Eileen Jeong, one of the members of the class of 2018, said, “Honestly, I’m still having a hard time believing that I graduated from high school. Graduation was one of the things that I was looking forward to the most throughout my high school life, but now that it’s over, I can’t quite find the right words to describe how I feel. One part of me is glad and proud of myself for coming all the way here and having a greater sense of appreciation for things than regrets. However, at the same time, I am conflicted on how I feel right now — it is a mix of various emotions jumbled up together.”

Last message to the class of 2018 on behalf of AISG: Congratulations, class of 2018. Go forth and conquer!