2023年六月末，福州西湖国际学校为庆祝学子顺利完成一阶段的学习，举行了多场毕业&结业典礼。此次典礼以「启航」为主题，指向蓝天的纸飞机、精心设计的登机牌、登机口，无一不蕴含我们对学子迈向灿烂未来的美好期许。

At the end of June 2023, Fuzhou Lakeside International School held several Graduation & Milestone of Achievement Ceremonies to celebrate the successful completion of the students' individual stages of learning. The theme of the ceremonies was "Boarding", with paper planes pointing to the blue sky, carefully designed boarding passes, and gates, all of which contained our hopes for our students' bright future.

毕业典礼总是有泪水、有欢笑，既是告别、也是重新出发：当幼儿园学子听着主持人念出自己未来梦想并自信上台领取证书那一刻，家长、老师透过泪眼看见的，仿佛依然是那个第一天入园、哭闹着不愿与爸妈分开的小朋友；五年级生看到多年来历任外教发来的真挚视频祝福，一个个哭到不能自已，又迅速被同学们的童年照片逗笑，合不拢嘴……“最能概括毕业的词或许是bittersweet”，诚如所言。

The graduation ceremony is always a time of tears and laughter, a farewell and a fresh start: when the ECE graduates listened to the host read out their future dreams and confidently went on stage to receive their certificates, the parents and teachers saw through their teary eyes as if they were still the same children who cried and did not want to be separated from their parents on their first day in ECE; the fifth graders saw the sincere video wishes sent by their foreign teachers over the years and cried until they could not contain themselves, but were quickly amused by the childhood photos of their classmates and could not stop laughing… "The word that best sums up graduation is probably ‘bittersweet’", as it is said.

中学IB(MYP)项目主管Travis先生在致辞中表达了对诸位学子的祝贺，以及对五年级毕业生加入MYP项目的欢迎。借此机会，他还与师生分享了FLIS在成为IB世界学校之路上的最新进展，也鼓励大家成为生命不息、探索不止的学习者：在抵达这一阶段的里程碑后，让我们把目光放得更远——不仅要意识到自己所取得的成就，也要明确未来心之所向。

In his speech, Mr. Coyne, Head of FLIS MYP, expressed his congratulations to all the students and welcomed the 5th grade graduates to the MYP. He also took the opportunity to share with the students and teachers the latest progress of FLIS on its journey to become an IB MYP World School, and encouraged them to be a life-long learner: after reaching this milestone, let's look beyond it - to be aware not only of what we accomplished, but also where we want to go.

在泪水与欢笑、回顾与展望之后，「启航」之人最需要的是什么？祝福？是了，还有叮嘱。于是在这个舞台上，我们看到了毕业生与高年级学姐学长用乐曲、歌声献上的祝福，听到诸位老师、学部主管、结业生、毕业生代表分享的一些人生经验——这是他们为各位成长之路所填装的行囊。KC班外教小山老师希望孩子们把握住自己那不可思议的天赋：一双发现的眼睛，于虚空中视万物，见证世间万千奇迹。五年级外教Imogen老师再次赞扬学子的正直品质，同时，她希望大家都能记住，“最重要的是争取进步，而不是追求完美。”

After the tears and laughter, the retrospect and the prospect, what do the people who were "boarding" need most? Blessings? Yes, and advice. So on this stage, we saw the graduates and seniors offer their blessings with music and songs, and heard some life experiences shared by teachers, department heads and representatives of milestone achievers and graduates - a traveling bag they have filled for students’ road of growth. Ms. Shan, the foreign homeroom teacher of KC class, wished the children to hold onto their uncanny gift of finding everything in nothing, of not only seeing seven wonders in the world - but several thousand. Ms. Imogen, the 5th grade foreign homeroom teacher, again praised the students for their qualities of integrity, and at the same time, she hoped that everyone would remember to "strive for progress over perfection."

无独有偶，高中毕业生代表Daniel同学在演讲中亦道出类似体会：“这个世界上没有一个完美的圆，每个人的人生答案也不可能相同。每当往回看，你总能看到一个更优的选择……比起被所谓的失败和外界的坏情绪所困扰，换个角度，学会拥抱，享受解决问题的过程和充满可能性的挑战，学会在有意义的地方失败，学会在失败之后爬起来再失败。千万年来，人类便是如此进化至今。”

It is no coincidence that Daniel, a representative of high school graduates, also said in his speech a similar experience: “There is no such a perfect circle. There is no such a common answer shared by all people, nor to any individual. And there would always be a better option when you look back years later......Instead of being trapped in bad moods, please learn how to enjoy the experience of solving problems and facing challenges; Learn to fail where it makes sense; Learn how to stand up after a failure and fail again. Just like how we are evolved."

所以，典礼结束，我们不说再见，因为作为FLIS大家庭的一员，我们永远都在。

我们不畅想完美无缺的未来，

我们只祝福继续前进的「你」，

成为那个，独一无二的「你」。

So, the ceremony is over and we don't say goodbye because as a member of the FLIS family, we are always there.

We don't wish everyone a perfect and flawless future.

We only wish "you" who continue to move forward to be the unique "you".