Last Goodbyes to the 2017 Seniors

For the first time in AISG history, the seniors graduated at the new Science Park Theater. For the past 35 years, the Seniors have graduated at Xinghai Concert Hall on Ersha. For all attendees, the change was quite significant. 2013 AISG Graduate Fruzan Nijrabi stated that she “did not expect the theater to look as good as it does.” Many people had mixed feelings about the change in location. While some were happy, others felt saddened that the event was located so far away from the city.

Another significant difference between the rest of AISG graduation ceremonies is that after the event, there was food catered by the Garden Hotel. This made the event even more memorable. There was food ranging from Mexican tacos to dumplings. Junior student Chirag Asnani states that he especially liked the “Chinese steamed stuffed buns.”

Although all these additions to graduation made it quite a successful event, something that was lacking was the annual Senior Medley Performance. Many were disappointed upon learning that this was not going to occur this year. For the past years, this was considered to be one of the highlights of each ceremony that brought joy to most of the audience. Despite the fact that this year the performance was not included, the ceremony was still entertaining throughout.

The most exciting parts of the ceremony were the speeches done by teachers Ms. Barga and Ms. Martin-Bauer, and the speeches done by students selected by the class for this year, Kelvin Fan and Roran Lee. 2015 AISG Graduate Michael Zhang mentioned that his favorite speech was Roran’s because “it was humorous and truly reflected the journey that the class of 2017 took.”

Overall the audience acclaimed the speeches, which needed a lot of preparatory work. IB English teacher Ms. Barga confessed that she “was terrified beforehand, so [she] over-practiced.” She added that it was a great experience for her and that “it was the first time ever that [she] had hoped to be chosen to speak.” 

For others, the best part was watching the “Remembrance” video in which baby photos and senior photos of each student were shown. Fruzan said, “seeing everyone’s baby pictures and transformations took me back to the day I was about to graduate from AISG.”

After the speeches, the seniors received their diplomas and exited the theater, where impressive bouquets were waiting for them. Many of the graduates almost fell over due to the amount of flowers that were given to them by their friends and family. The arrival of the bouquets caused many tears to be shed. The time for the seniors to say goodbye had arrived and the next chapter of their lives has now officially begun.

This article is a collaboration between Beacon reporters Sara Quattrocchi Febles and Jennifer Zhang.