上海诺科学校毕业典礼︱荣誉毕业生致辞：感恩现在获得的一切

　　揪不住时光，衔不住岁月。毕业是一首离别的歌，更是同学们成长的里程碑，虽没有华丽的乐章，但却记录着点点滴滴，那些读过的书、走过的路，遇见的人和交过的心，将成为同学们一生中不可磨灭的记忆。

　　即将作别温馨的校园，告别朝夕相处的老师和同学，心头涌起多少动人的记忆，有太多的不舍，有太多的留恋。在上海诺科学校2020届毕业盛典上， 荣誉毕业生代表发出了他们在诺科三、四年求学的心声。

　　以下为荣誉毕业生余翔浅讲话：

　　eachers, parents, fellow members of North Cross, my name is Krystal, and it's my great honor to represent the Class of 2020 to give a speech today. Now I want to give a big congratulations to our seniors. Graduation seems to be especially hard for us this year. The world is plagued with dangers: global warming, Ebola, ISIS. We took SAT in Hong Kong when there was a riot, we took AP at midnight because of coronavirus, but despite all the odds, we still managed to graduate, so let's give us a big round of applause.

　　【段落大意：老师们、家长们、诺科的同学们，我是Krystal，今天很荣幸代表2020级发表演讲。现在我要向全体毕业生致以热烈的祝贺。今年毕业对我们来说似乎特别难。世界充斥着危险：全球变暖、Ebola、ISIS。在香港发生暴乱时，我们考了SAT;因为冠状病毒，我们又在午夜时分考了AP。尽管这一切困难重重，(却也拨开云雾见天明)我们还是设法毕业了，所以让我们给自己一个响亮的掌声。】

　　It was only three or four years ago, we walked into North Cross School Shanghai, started our high school life with excitement and a little bit of fear. Now we are about to start a new journey. Thinking back to those high school lives, we harvest a lot: we have made some life-long friends, we have improved our English abilities, we have attended various activities, and we have got admitted into our dream colleges.

　　【段落大意：三、四年前，我们走进诺科，带着兴奋和些许害怕开始了我们的高中生活。现在，我们即将开始一个新的旅程。回想高中的生活，我们多有收获：我们结交了一些终身的朋友，我们提高了我们的英语能力，我们参加了各种各样的活动，我们被梦校录取了。】

　　Friendship is the most important thing I gained through these three years. I remember that was the first day of school, I went to the classroom and soon find out half of my classmates went to this school one semester earlier than me, and they already built strong friendships, so I started to worry: how I am supposed to get involved with them since they are such good friends with each other. But it turns out that my worry is superfluous. After all the classes were over, it was time for dinner (by the way, for the first school day we were allowed to have dinner outside school). Because I was unfamiliar with the neighborhood, I didn't know where to find a place to eat. As I was standing at the school gate searching for a restaurant, several girls came up to me, and one of them said to me, "Hi, are you new here? We know some place that serves really good food, would you like to have dinner with us?" At that lonely moment, these words gave me the warmest support.

　　【段落大意：友谊是这三年里我获得的最重要的东西。我记得那是开学的第一天，我来到教室里，很快发现有一半的同学比我早一个学期在这里上学了，他们已经建立了牢固的友谊，所以我开始担心：我该怎么和他们相处，因为他们是彼此的好朋友。但事实证明，我的担心是多余的。当时所有的课都结束了，到点吃晚饭了(顺便说一下，第一个上学的日子，我们是可以在校外吃饭的)。因为我对周边不熟悉，不知道去哪里找吃的地方。当我站在学校门口寻找吃饭的餐厅时，这时候有几位女孩子朝我走了过来，其中一个对我说道，“嗨，你是新来的同学吗?我们知道有个不错的地方，你想和我们一起去吗?”在那个孤独的时刻，这些话给了我最热烈的支持。】

　　We went to have steak that night. At dinner table we introduced ourselves, and they told me their experience at North Cross before, and some fun facts about teachers. That night I got not only the best steak in the world, but also friends for the rest of my life. Right? River, Cherry, Chris, and Annie. They are the ones who laugh at my bad jokes, who do stupid things with me, who support me when I am down, who lead me a bright way when I get lost. The three years with them have been wonderful, and this wonderfulness will last for the rest of our lives.

　　【段落大意：那天晚上我们去吃了牛排。在餐桌上，大家自我介绍，她们告诉了我，她们之前在诺科的经历，以及一些有关老师们的趣事。那天晚上，我不仅尝到了世界上最好的牛排，而且结交了我余生的朋友。River、 Cherry、 Chris and Annie，她们嘲笑我的冷笑话， 和我一起做蠢事， 在我低谷时支持我， 在我迷茫时给我指明方向。和她们在一起的三年是美好的，这种美好将持续到我们的余生。】

　　Another thing I learned in North Cross is to face my demerits and try to change them. I was not good at speaking when I first came to this school, so I always stayed silent in class discussions and avoided to talk with foreign teachers, trying to hide my heavy Chinese accent. Until one class meeting, Mr. Chase told us he was not good at speaking when he first went to America, and what he did was to work hard to improve his speaking skills. He used every opportunity to speak with his foreign classmates and teachers; he imitated the dialogues in America dramas and movies. With hard work and persistence, he become more and more fluent in speaking.

　　【段落大意：在诺科，我学到的另一件事，就是直视我的短板并试着去改变它们。当我第一次来到这所学校时，我不善言辞，所以，在课堂讨论的时候，我总是保持沉默，尽量避免与外教交谈，来试图掩饰我浓浓的中式口音。在一次班会上，Mr. Chase告诉我们，他第一次去美国时不擅长说话，他所做的就是努力提高他的口语能力。 他利用一切机会与外国同学和老师交谈;他模仿美国戏剧和电影中的对话。凭着勤奋和坚持，他英语说得越来越溜了。】

　　Chase's story hit me of how important it is to face my own defects. If I wanted to speak like a native speaker, I had to put on some efforts. I started by doing what Mr. Chase did. Instead of shying away from in-class discussions and communications with foreign teachers, I started to seek every chance to speak. All the songs in my playlist changed from K-pop into English songs. And Korean dramas were replaced by US TV series. Gradually, I saw improvement in my spoken English.

　　【段落大意：Mr. Chase的故事让我明白，敢于直视自己的短板是多么的重要。如果我想说一口像以英语为母语的人一样的流利英语，我必须努力。我开始照着Mr. Chase那样做。我再也没有回避课堂上的讨论和与外教的沟通，而是开始寻求每一个发言的机会。我播放列表中的所有歌曲都从 K-pop 改成了英文歌。韩剧被一系列美剧所取代。渐渐地，我发现我的英语口语有所改善。】

　　To further improve my speaking skills, I joined the MUN club, which required me to express myself before a group of people, sometimes even total strangers. It was hard because even with the improvements, deep down I was still not confident enough to speak freely. But with relentless effort and help from other club members, I tried my best and it did pay off. With good performances in MUN conferences, I was elected as the president of NCMUN club. This success so encouraged me that I participated in our school's speech contest and got the first place. Everyone has shortcomings, but as long as you face them and work hard on it, your efforts will pay off.

　　【段落大意：为了进一步提高我的口语能力，我加入了模联俱乐部，它要求我在一群人面前表达自己，有时候所面对的甚至是完全陌生的人。这对我来说很难，因为即使我的口语有所进步，但在内心深处，我仍然没有足够的信心去自由发言。但是，在俱乐部其他成员的不懈努力和帮助下，我尽了最大的努力，结果确实得到了回报。凭借在模联会议上的出色表现，我当选为 诺科模联俱乐部主席。这一成功使我备受鼓舞，我参加了学校的演讲比赛，并拿到了第一名。(在这里，我想说的是)每个人都有短板，但只要你肯面对它们，并付诸努力，你就会有回报。】

　　Not only me, I believe every one of you has gained a lot in Northcross. However, our success can't be achieved without teachers' support. Years from now, I might forget Shylock is a Jewish moneylender in Venice, but I will remember Ms. Dabney told us to bravely express ourselves; I might forget how integrals work in calculous, but I will remember Mr. Gavin told us to view the world from big trend instead of little point; I might forget MLA format of citation, but I will remember Ms. Bright told us to always be grateful to those who have helped us.

　　【段落大意：不仅仅是我，我相信你们每位在诺科就读的人都获益良多。然而，(我们需要明白的是)没有老师们的支持，我们是不可能成功的。多年后，我可能会忘记夏洛克是威尼斯的犹太高利贷者，但我会记得Ms. Dabney告诉我们要勇敢地表达自己;我可能会忘记微积分在计算中是如何在计算的，但我会记得Mr. Gavin告诉我们，从大趋势而不是小点看世界;我可能会忘记MLA 的引文格式， 但我会记得Ms. Bright告诉我们，要永远感谢那些曾经帮助过我们的人。】

　　Teachers, It is because of people like you who stay after school for hours to answer students' questions; it is because of people like you who help students regain their confidence after failing exams; it is because of people like you who care more about what student learn than how they learn; It is because of people like you makes people like me work even harder because I can't find a reason not to do so, and for that I speak on the behalf of the class of 2020 by saying thank you.

　　【段落大意：老师们，是因为像你们这样留校几个小时来回答学生的问题;是因为像你们这样的人帮助学生在考试不及格后重拾信心;是因为像你们这样关心学生所学的东西，而不是他们学习的方式;是因为像你们这样的人促使我这样的人更加努力地工作，因为我找不到理由不这么做，为此我代表2020级向你们说声“谢谢”。】

　　Next, I would like to thank my parents for their continued care and support. My parents are like superheroes for me. They say "delicious" when I make some really bad cookies. They talk to every teacher in parents' meeting trying to get suggestions to improve my grades; they always say "go ahead and try" when I have some crazy ideas; they drove 195.6 kilometers from Shaoxing to Shanghai to have dinner with me just because I felt homesick; they give the loudest applause for my smallest achievements. So to all the parents and families who gave everything to support us, thank you.

　　【段落大意：下面，我要感谢我的父母给予我的关心和支持。我的父母对我来说就像超级英雄。当我做了一些非常糟糕的饼干时，他们说“美味”。他们在家长会议上与每位老师认真交谈，希望获得一些能提高我成绩的建议;当我产生了一些疯狂的想法的时候，他们总是说“继续尝试”;他们驱车195.6公里从绍兴到上海和我共进晚餐，只是因为我想家了;他们会为我最小的成就表示最热烈的祝贺。所以，感谢所有为支持我们而给予我们一切的父母和家庭。谢谢你们。】

　　Last, for all the seniors, three or four years ago we walked into North Cross Shanghai but we are sure we aren’t the same person who are walking out. We are leaving with the knowledge and skills, as we are just embarking upon our next grand adventure. Ahead of us is college life, ahead of us stand all the experiences we have yet to know, we stand upon the cusp of infinite possibility.I hope our time together will not be remembered by grades, popularity, or looks, but by our friendship, our efforts, our time together. Class of 2020, it's been splendid 3 years with you, and from the bottom of my heart, I wish you all the very very best.

　　【段落大意：最后，我想对我们所有的毕业生说：三、四年前我们一起走进了诺科，但我们确信我们走出去的时候不再是同一个人。我们将带着知识和技能离开，因为我们即将开启下一次的大冒险。现在，摆在我们面前的是大学生活，摆在我们面前的是我们尚未经历过的体验，我们站在了充满无限可能性的风口浪尖上。我希望我们在一起的岁月不会被成绩、人气或外表所铭记，而是被我们的友谊、我们的努力、我们在一起的时光所铭记。2020级，我们一起辉煌的3年，我衷心地祝愿大家，一切顺遂。】