It was the time for laughter and celebration. It was also the time for nostalgia and farewell. “IFAS, WE NEVER SAY GOODBYE”-the graduation dinner started at 18:00 on May 22, 2018 at Qunxian Hotel. The Vice Dean, Professor Hu Jinshuai, the Vice Party Secretary, Ms. Hong Qiuxia, and other professors and students of IFAS attended the dinner.
Before the start of the dinner, all the professors and students presenting watched the graduation video, delicately prepared by the IFAS Graduate Student Association. In the video, the smiling faces and graduation messages flashed up on the screen touched everyone on the scene. The photographs bearing the memories of the graduates fixed the moments and made them eternal. The graduation sayings from professors were full of love and expectation, which would certainly impact and accompany all the graduating students in the future life. The warm blessings and vibrant smiles of non-graduating students brought everyone’s memory back to the first day they met with those friends. Two or three years studying together, the graduates were immersed in mixed feelings. The tears and smiles would be an indispensable tool and treasure accompanying them on the road of their future life.
After watching the graduation video, the Vice Secretary Ms. Hong Qiuxia gave her speech. Ms. Hong expressed her dearest wishes to all the graduating students, and her hope that every student would preserve the knowledge and spirits gained from Xiamen University, and utilize them to lead a fulfilled, brilliant life.
The Vice Dean Professor Hu Jinshuai gave his words of expectation and encouragement towards the graduating students representing the faculty. He stressed that hard-working was the source of progress and all the graduating students should not stop learning in future, since one can only strive for the upper reaches of the society by continuous dedication and self-improvement.
Afterwards, Chinese student Huang Xi and International student Prince, who gave speeches as representatives of graduating students, shared their sincere gratitude and deep nostalgia towards the university, professors and fellow students with the crowd and promised they would adhere to the pioneering and innovative spirits of Xiamen University in future, never forget why they start and keep moving on.
The dinner party was hosted by Kong Mengxue and Daniel. In a convivial atmosphere, people proposed toasts to commemorate this unforgettable night. During the party, students of each grade gave their performances. The creative and entertaining medley performance from first-year students was a great success and won a round of sustained applause from the audience.
Next, some of the first-year International students sang a Chinese song Friends. After the song, some students performed a remarkable dance characterized with national features. Anulika performed the poetry recitation with Daniel playing the guitar as background music. The performance from the International graduating students was a traditional Pakistani song. And some professors also gave an impromptu singing.
Between the performances, the hosts led the others to play some interactive games, including letting professors randomly pick and answer anonymous questions (“Professor I Have a Question”), and guessing the right Chinese characters based on the handwriting of International students (“You Write, I Guess”). The games narrowed down the gap between professors and students, with the crowd bursting into laughter from time to time. The professors and students were more like friends, playing and having fun together, which would be warm and touching memories even after many years from now on.
The dinner party ended with the melody of The Way You Were and Heal the World, sung by the whole graduating students. They embedded their hopes, their dreams and their sadness of departing in the lyrics, and no words could ever replace the ending silence filled with feelings and the warmth of friends’ hands.
Tonight was not the cadence of the song; graduation was not the end of the journey. What follows is a brand-new hopeful day. We expect that all graduates of the class of 2018 would adhere to the spirit of self-improvement and continuous striving of Xiamen University, and we sincerely wish them many future successes!
Source: http://ifas.xmu.edu.cn/cms/Content.aspx?ID=857
