Translation The Hong Kong Institute of Education 16th Congregation Words of Appreciation by Ms Wong Mei (Session 8) Good afternoon, Mr Pang, Professor Cheung, Honourable Guests, Parents, and Fellow Graduates: I am deeply honoured today to be able to give a vote of thanks on behalf of my fellow graduates. Here, I speak on behalf of my graduating classmates in offering a warm welcome and token of appreciation to all in attendance. I am truly touched that the fruits of our labour, all our hard work, can be evinced and shared with you all. First, allow me to extend our most heartfelt gratitude to all our devoted teachers. Dear teachers, thank you so much! Looking back on the days when we were studying the Certificate of Education programme, we went through endless joy, anger, sadness, and happiness. We went from total strangers to the inseparable team that we are today – I am certain we will never forget the never-ending pressure of supervision and assignments we faced together even after daily intensive teaching work. We encouraged one another, helped each other, learned to tackle things together. In the time that we were at the Institute, through large class study and small group discussions, we acquired caring, acceptance, and precious friendship, leaving u now with many wonderful memories. All the joys and sorrows, trials and tribulations of yesteryear have become today’s achievements. I want to tell my beloved classmates now, that you’ve earned it! Whilst we were studying, we likewise felt and acknowledged the many unspoken and unconditional sacrifices, support, and caring of our family members. Their selfless concern enabled us to better immerse ourselves in our study, and to complete our degrees. Many thanks to you all, our dearest, beloved families! Today, receiving our certificates symbolizes our reaching a new milestone in teaching. Amid our feelings of joy and excitement, we possess a greater sense of responsibility. Not only do we need to integrate the teaching skills and knowledge we’ve learned with the various stages of development of young children, we must also integrate our knowledge with a multitude of activities in order to inspire active thinking in the children. This likewise facilitates their exploring of questions and seeking of solutions, thereby learning to learn independently. I hope that we all work hard in 1 Translation different schools, always making use of every opportunity to review, reflect on, and refine our own styles of teaching. We can become that little bit more understanding, that little bit more compassionate, and that little bit more creative, so as to emerge an outstanding early childhood educator. On behalf of my fellow graduates, I would like to extend once more our most sincere tokens of appreciation to all the teachers and staff of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Thank you all for the unceasing guidance, encouragement, and support you’ve shown to us in the past. Lastly, I would like to wish you my fellow classmates much success and happiness; the future is boundless! Thank you! 2