Good afternoon, Dr. Li, Mr. Davies, Ms. Ge, teachers, staff, families and friends, and fellow graduates. I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity to address my graduating class at this milestone moment in our lives. We are here today to recognize and celebrate our achievements as we get ready to disperse onto different paths. I hope my speech can ignite a bit of spark today as we get prepared for what lies ahead.

Virtual Learning

I would like to begin by reflecting on what makes our graduating class of 2022 special. The word that immediately springs to mind is adaptability. We are the first graduating class to have returned in person during the pandemic. While in virtual learning, I lived by myself the whole time, without even mosquitoes for company, not knowing when it would end. Only being able to see people through a screen 6 hours a day was challenging. In fact, it felt catastrophic to me. There was no real social interaction. And I love playing basketball, but all sports were suspended for a year, and they even took out the hoop rims in parks! While living this new normal remotely, we were forced to adapt to an alternate reality.

As you know, you must use VPN in China to access Google, so we could not even share a Google Doc; some folks even fell asleep during discussions because it was 3 a.m. in Beijing when it was 3 p.m. for us; some students were even too shy to weigh in because they had barely talked to people since the lockdown, and people were self-conscious about turning their cameras on. Luckily, we were up for the challenge. Can’t use Google? Well then, we have a WeChat group share! Not wanting to stay up until 4 a.m.? Well then, we created workflow deadlines to accommodate time differences! Too shy to talk and turn on your cameras? We learned to use encouragement and understanding instead of frustration and impatience. We adapted.

Returning to In-class Learning

So now let’s get to returning to in-class learning. Oh boy was I excited to be back after 18 months of social isolation! But there came a new challenge: how do we move along as a whole class where half of the people are still learning remotely? In Ms. Vassallo's class, for example, when it came to group projects, she ensured that groups were hybrid, meaning that there were both online and in-person students in every single group. 

That way, those of us who enjoyed the privilege of communicating face-to-face with classmates could take some time to interact with the rest. Another great example was the talent show last week. We effectively achieved that balance between online and in-person. Mr. George’s idea of displaying online students’ talents gave everyone an opportunity to participate in school life. So, all this time, we have been adapting! Life requires adaptation and flexibility from us and boy did we get a lesson in both. And that is just one little taste of life.

The Age of Spin

My favourite comedian, Dave Chappelle, calls the time we are living in, “The Age of Spin”. This is the time period when we are constantly surrounded by an overwhelming amount of information and it disturbs our peace of mind. YouTube tells you that if you become a famous YouTuber you can make millions of dollars a week, TikTok tells you that NFT can make you rich overnight, and Instagram promotes celebrities with fancy sports cars that we should apparently aspire to. The barrage of information is confusing. Who knows what to believe in anymore? Do we even know what we want to become? Are we even aware of who we are being? We need to periodically pause and reflect on how our character is being influenced by the forces around us.

Values Matter

Amidst all the striving and acquiring, are we bringing our most ethical, compassionate, understanding, and kindest selves to our interactions and endeavours? Who do you want to be? I spend 6 hours a week at a garden in North York. A bunch of people of all ages gather to grow vegetables and distribute them to less fortunate people every summer. The job is physically exhausting, especially if you are a big guy like me who is expected to lift heavy stuff all the time. Guess how much we get paid? Absolutely nothing! But I know that this food that we are growing makes someone’s life easier, and that brings me happiness, a happiness that is more satisfying than when I earned money for the first time. I’m not saying that money is not important, but I think it is imperative that we ask ourselves, how am I contributing to making this world a better place? And if you can’t contribute to making the world a better place, says psychologist Jordan Peterson, then at least don’t make it worse. Let us never lose sight of the fact that VALUES MATTER.

Courage

Another thing I’d like to talk about is courage. It is to me, the most profound quality of life. I grew up with a single mother and my grandparents. I would rarely see my father, and because I was lacking that father figure, I was always a scared little boy. My father just wasn’t there to teach me to have guts. I was scared to fist fight the kids in the neighbourhood, and I was scared to fight back verbally, so I kept a lot of things to myself.

 At that time, I thought courage meant having the guts to fight back when you are angry. Years later, when I came to Canada, I attended a school in Vaughan with only Canadian kids. I would try to dress like them, act and talk a certain way, and try to adopt thinking patterns from them, just so I would feel more accepted. But unfortunately, it did not work out as planned; I never felt a sense of belonging. Then fast forward, I came to Bond one year later and my perspectives started to alter.

When I saw people from different backgrounds not trying to change who they were to conform to the expectations of others, that’s when I recognized what true courage looks like. When students present unpopular opinions in front of classmates, that is courage. When Ta’Ziah presented his art to Mr. Vonk even though others were making fun of him, that was courage. When Liam stepped into the spotlight and posed proudly, that was courage. It took years for a boy like me to figure out what courage is, and I think I have a partial answer now. Courage is not about being fearless. It is about being afraid and doing it anyway. Courage is when you stand authentically in who you are and stay true to who you are. Courage is a work in progress. Are you being your most authentic, courageous self? Every now and then, you must ask yourself this question.

Special People

Before I go, I want to give shoutouts to the special people in my life. Thank you to my family and friends. It is a blessing to have you all on my side. I cannot be more grateful. Thank you to all my teachers, and Ms. Kelly who helped me with this speech. Thank you to the staff and administrators who supported us along the way. And to my grandfather, an extra-special thank you for being a role model and planting moral values in me that guided me every step of the way; and to my grandmother, thank you for taking care of me when I was a little boy and being patient because I know I was a handful. And the most important person is my mother. I know you are watching me from home now. Words cannot express my gratitude towards you. And I know it is not easy for a woman trying to raise a man, but you have done an amazing job, and I will always try to do my best to make you proud. I love you mother. 

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, let us make this day memorable as we celebrate, and let us always keep hoping for the absolute best, for ourselves and for others.

Thank you!