2024届毕业典礼：从这里，向世界出发！
Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony
我们共享过一颗星星和同一段时光。
6月15日，常州威雅66名毕业生迎来了属于他们的「毕业典礼」，同时，作为一颗颗即将闪耀天际的星辰，这也是他们人生非同一般的「启航仪式」。因为，他们即将从这里出发，向着广阔无垠的世界展开真正的残酷冒险之旅。
在每一颗星辰小宇宙“起飞”之前，执行校长Paul Silverwood博士给毕业生们上了“离校的最后一课”，谆谆告诫了实用的人生技能——不断探索，时刻以最积极的方式改变自己。
执行校长
Paul Silverwood博士
马克吐温经常说，人生中最重要的两天是你出生那天，和你弄清自己为什么出生那天。
Mark Twain is often credited with saying that the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why…
人生中最重要的一天是你领悟到生命真谛的那一天。想要到达那里，你必须不断探索，让每一次新的体验都帮助你以最积极的方式改变自己。
The most important day in life is the day when you realise the true meaning of life. And to get there, you must keep exploring and let each new experience help you to change yourself in the most positive way possible.
请记住，改变没有错。无论你学习什么，无论是创造、进化、革命、生成、代表、转变、欣赏、动力、深思熟虑、多样化、周游世界、实验还是教育，这都是基于改变，衍生出的华丽表达。
Remember, there is nothing wrong with change. Whatever you study, whether it is creation, evolution, revolution, generation, delegation, transformation, appreciation, motivation, deliberation, diversification, circumnavigation, experimentation, or education, these are all just fancy words for change.
以自己的价值观为驱动，而不是以自身的价值 Be driven by your values, not your value.
以自己的热情为导向，而不是报酬 Be directed by your passions, not your paycheck.
听从理性和感性的声音，因为你的态度和天赋将会决定你的高度 And be sure to listen to both your head and your heart… because your attitude and your aptitude will determine your altitude.
在人生的道路上懂得设缓和刹车，才能让你无所畏惧的加速和转弯 Build brakes into your life that allow you to accelerate and hit turns without fear.
少承担，多完成 Take on less to accomplish more.
学会过滤意见：接收信号并撇除杂音 Learn to filter advice: take the signal and skip the noise.
少争辩，多劝导 Argue less and persuade more.
付出非凡的努力让事情看起来毫不费力 Put in extraordinary effort to make things seem effortless.
冲刺，休息，重复 Sprint, rest, repeat.
热爱你所做的实验，同时接受自己的错误 Love your experiments… and your mistakes
深入思考，永远不要被指责为肤浅 Think deeper… don’t ever be accused of being superficial.
阅读，阅读，再阅读 Read, read, read.
不羞于问愚蠢的问题 Ask stupid questions.
不要整理你的书桌 Don’t clean your desk.
听交响乐而不是快讯 Listen to symphonies not soundbites.
忠于自我 Be original, not fake.
不事雕琢而自由风味 Be organic, not artificial.
不依赖软件 Avoid software.
创造新词汇 Make up new words.
用心思考 Think with your mind.
实地考察并探索另一条边界 Take field trips and explore the other edge.
利用碎片化时间来填充你的计划 Make use of coffee breaks, taxi rides, traffic jams and Green Rooms to plot your devious plans.
更快地犯错且不畏惧犯错 Make mistakes faster and be proud of them.
创造自己的工具 Make your own tools.
打破它，伸展它，弯曲它，压碎它，砸破它，折叠它，移动它，摇晃它，烘烤它，唤醒它，拿走它，切割它，粘住它，推它，拉它，弹奏它，击打它，带它远走，模仿它，协调它 Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it, move it, shake it, bake it, wake it, take it, cut it, stick it, push it, pull it, strum it, drum it, hike it, bike it, mime it, rhyme it.
冲破地心引力并创造自己的能量 Defy gravity and create your own energy.
大笑并享受人生 Laugh and enjoy life.
今天你们将从高中毕业，但你们与威雅的联结不止于此。从今天起，你们将成为威雅校友，成为我们的全球大使。
Today you will graduate from high school, but your association with Wycombe Abbey is not over. Today you become alumni of our school, and our global ambassadors.
你们自此加入了日渐壮大的威雅毕业生大家庭，他们先后前往英国、加拿大、澳大利亚、美国、新加坡、新西兰、香港、澳门、德国和瑞士学习科学和技术、商业和经济、视觉和表演艺术。
You join the growing population of graduates who have gone on to the UK, Canada, Australia, the USA, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macau, Germany and Switzerland before you, to study Science and Technology, Commerce and Economics, the Visual and Performing Arts.
我们的命运和未来是彼此串联的，你们应该把自己看作彼此的兄弟姐妹，看作家人。家人之间或许会有争吵，但纽带从未破裂。
Our fates and futures are interconnected, and you should always consider yourselves brothers and sisters to each other and family members with us all. Families fight and siblings squabble, but the bonds never break.
请记住，每个人都有不同的人生时钟，请等待你意识到自己为何而生的那一刻，并就此珍惜时光，合理利用时间。
And remember, everyone has a different clock - wait for the moment when you realise why you were born and then use your hours wisely.
(执行校长演讲节选)
截至目前，常州威雅2024届66名毕业生共收获254枚全球高校录取通知。其中包括剑桥大学、帝国理工学院、伦敦大学学院、墨尔本大学、悉尼大学、多伦多大学、香港大学、香港中文大学等世界名校。留学目的地覆盖了英国、美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、中国香港等国家和地区。
即将去世界顶级服装设计学院的佘同学 (Cavell学院) 和即将去布里斯托大学学习全英排名第一的环境科学的甘同学 (Elgar学院) 都是在小学时就来到了威雅，在这里度过了7年甚至更多的时光；即将去剑桥大学攻读自然科学生物方向的丁同学 (Fonteyn学院) 和即将去港大的总年级长贾同学 (Dove学院) 也在威雅度过了完整的中学6年时光。
也有和手握帝国理工学院、港大、墨尔本大学，横跨文理多专业预录取通知书的顾同学 (Somerville学院) 那样，在初升高关键期“转轨”，在常州威雅度过分外精彩的三年的同学。
毕业生们不仅文理兼修，还在自己喜欢的领域深挖到了极致。他们一点一滴的成长轨迹融入绵密的漫漫时光，在常州威雅的校园里打上了一个又一个不能忘却的回忆。
年级长致辞
J. Jia 贾同学
尊敬的老师们，家长们，亲爱的同学们，大家上午好。很荣幸能够最后一次以2024届总年级长的身份站在这里，发表我的毕业感言。这一次，我更愿意讲一讲我和常州威雅七年的故事，以及那些没来得及说出口的感谢。
Dear teachers, parents and students, good morning. I am honored to stand here one last time as the Head Prefect of the Class of 2024 and deliver my graduation speech. This time, I would like to talk about my seven years at Wycombe Abbey Changzhou and express my gratitude that I didn't get to voice earlier.
首先，我想要感谢常州威雅，和它给我带来的成长与蜕变。我清楚地记得，两年前的A Level经济试听课上，从来没有接触过经济学的我问出了一个令人忍俊不禁的问题：经济学全都是关于钱的吗？当时十二年级的一位学长认真的解答了我的疑问。一年之后，又是一节试听课上，一位十一年级的同学问出了同样的问题，而这次我成了能够为他解答解惑的人。我们往往将这种时刻称之为教育的闭环，成长的具象化。我们愿意点亮他人，因为在某一个时刻，我们也曾经被点亮。我相信无论在多么遥远的未来，在常州威雅，知识与思想将这样一代一代地继续传递下去，而我们每个人都是其中至关重要的传递者。
First, I want to thank Wycombe Abbey Changzhou for the growth and transformation it has brought me. I clearly remember an A-level economics taster session two years ago when, having never studied economics before, I asked a somewhat amusing question: "Is economics all about money?" A grade 12 student at that time patiently answered my question. During the taster session the next year, a grade 11 student asked the same question, and this time I was the one who was able to answer. This moment feels like completing a loop in education, a concretization of growth. I am willing to believe that in the future, knowledge and ideas will continue to be passed down at WAS Changzhou, and each of us is a crucial part of this transmission.
我小时候最大的梦想是想上霍格沃茨魔法学校。这本来是一个不可能实现的梦想，但今天，我可以骄傲地宣布我从我的霍格沃茨毕业了。在威雅的七年满足了我对魔法世界的所有向往：来自世界各地的同学，风格和性情迥异的老师，生动有趣的课本，从未接触过的新奇运动，这些全都令我着迷。然而最令我着迷的，是被这所魔法学校给予了无限可能的我自己。站在七年的尽头回首，也许我们没有成为多么多么厉害的大人，但我相信我们一定已经成为了那个七年前的自己会崇拜的模样。
My greatest childhood dream was to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It seemed like an impossible dream, but today, I can proudly announce that I have graduated from my Hogwarts. My seven years at WAS Changzhou fulfilled all my fantasies about the magical world: classmates from around the world, teachers with different styles and personalities, lively and interesting textbooks, and novel sports I had never experienced. However, what captivated me the most was the infinite possibilities that this magical school gave me. Standing at the end of these seven years and looking back, we may not have become very remarkable adults, but I believe we have become the kind of people our year-seven selves would admire.
其次，我想要感谢一路陪伴我们成长的每一位父母。爸，妈，今天是我们的毕业典礼，你们依然坐在台下，记得吗，和当年你们第一天送我开学时一样。那时候你们大概还没想到，从南京到常州130公里，你们反反复复坚持开了七年。那时候的我根本不清楚国际教育意味着什么，我以为似乎就是轻松的功课、超长的假期、轻而易举的世界名校，后来我才知道，原来国际教育是你们赋予我的、站在你们的肩膀上看世界的机会。今天我看到的世界是光明的、可爱的，可是这个世界不是生来如此，它是由你们的付出、承担、支持与爱一点一点构建成的。
Next, I want to thank all the parents who have supported us along the journey. Mom, Dad, today is our graduation ceremony, and you are still sitting in the audience, just like the first day when you sent me here, remember? Back then, you probably didn't expect that you would drive the one-hundred-and-thirty kilometers from Nanjing to Changzhou over and over again for seven years. At that time, I didn't understand what international education meant. I thought it was just easy homework, long holidays, and easily getting into world-renowned universities. Later, I realized that international education was the opportunity you gave me to see the world from your shoulders. The world I see today is bright and lovely, but it didn't start out this way; it was built bit by bit through your sacrifices, support, and love.
最后，我要感谢我在常州威雅遇到的所有可爱的同学们，亲爱的朋友们。我们当中的一些人已经认识了超过六七年，而有些人只相伴短短数月；有些人陪我们走过了很长很长的路但是今天没能站在这里，而有些人还在。在我的霍格沃茨，我拥有过世界上最真挚、最热烈的友谊。我们从不同的地方来，却在这里相遇。我们各不相同，却如此契合。我们在青涩懵懂的十一二岁相见，却要在最好的十八岁分离。我们见不到环湖北路的烟花下一次绽放，看不到西太湖畔的晚樱下一次盛开。但是，从今以后，你们会替我躺剑桥的草坪，替我挤伦敦的地铁，替我看墨尔本的日落，还有，在每一个幸福的时刻，记得要想起我。像诗人聂鲁达所说，“所有的青春都像一盏灯，在雨中被冲倒，湿漉漉却在燃烧。”谢谢你们在暴雨中为我撑过的伞，也谢谢你们扔掉伞陪我淋过的雨。谢谢你们将我们的回忆折成一颗颗星星，用七年时间填满了一整个玻璃瓶，将我的青春小心翼翼地安放。
Finally, I want to thank all the wonderful classmates and dear friends I have met at WAS Changzhou. Some of us have known each other for over six or seven years, while others have only been together for a few months. Some have walked a long way with us but are not here today, and some are still here. In my Hogwarts, I have experienced the most sincere and passionate friendships in the world. We came from different places but we met here. We are all different yet so compatible. We met at the naive ages of eleven or twelve, but now we part at the best age of eighteen. Next time the fireworks are set off in February or the cherry blossoms bloom in March, you will be lying on the lawns of Cambridge, squeezing into the London Underground, or watching the sunsets of Melbourne. In every moment of happiness, please remember me. As the poet Pablo Neruda said, "All youth is like a lamp, washed down in the rain, wet but burning." Thank you for holding the umbrella for me in the downpour, and thank you for throwing away the umbrella and getting soaked with me. Thank you for folding our memories into a whole glass bottle of paper stars, and carefully placing my youth inside.
威雅为什么能够成为我心中的霍格沃茨？究竟是什么让我在这里的所有回忆变得如此珍贵？我想，是我们，是我们共同生活的痕迹，是我们共同经历的证明。只要是我们停留过的地方，我们所在的地方，我们将要到达的地方，我们的思想能够触及的地方，都是我们的霍格沃茨。威雅仿佛是一座火车站，而我们站在站台上，看着眼前人来人往。我们告别了很多人，又迎来了很多人。现在，终于轮到我们登上这班从常州开往世界的列车。不论未知的前方有什么在等待，不论我们将见证怎样的沧海桑田，世事浮沉，祝我们永远不被这个世界所改变，祝我们永远学不会听话，祝我们永远爱哭爱笑，永远有梦可做。
I sometimes ask myself, what makes this magical place my Hogwarts? What makes all my memories here so precious? I think the answer is simply, us. Wherever we have stayed, wherever we are, wherever we will go, and wherever our thoughts can reach, those places are our Hogwarts. Wycombe Abbey Changzhou is like a train station, and we stand on the platform, watching people come and go. We have said goodbye to so many people and welcomed many more. Now, it's finally our turn to board this train from Changzhou to the world. No matter what storm and stress awaits us ahead, may we never be changed by this world, may we never learn to obey blindly, may we always laugh and cry freely, and may we always have dreams to pursue.
至此，祝常州威雅2024届全体毕业生毕业快乐，前路漫漫亦灿灿。
With this, I wish all graduates of the Class of 2024 a happy graduation, and a bright future.
所幸的是，无论是面对过去还是面对未来，学生们都做出了最勇敢、也最好的选择。感谢父母的无私托举，感谢老师们的悉心教导，感谢与可爱的同学们同行，彼此共享只此一次的青春。
常州威雅2024届毕业生们终于在梦想的航线上顺利起飞，现在我们都开启“飞行模式”吧！同学们，起落平安，万事顺遂！
