Jenny

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen!

I am Jenny Lou Jianing, a freshman and also the captain of the orientation camp. It is my honor to speak as a representative of my cohort.

Before my enrollment, my impression of the school was limited to the enrollment brochure and the introduction of the summer camp. However, after experiencing the seven-day orientation camp and interacting with fellow students and teachers, what has truly impressed me about this community goes beyond the slogan of "Attending prestigious schools without involution, or rat race.” It is the love, hope, and the spirit of self-discovery that resonate here.

"Involution" refers to the continuous development and refinement within an existing state where defining the old and new states becomes challenging. The layman interpretation of this theory varies from person to person; however, everything depends on your level of interest in the project you are working on. This is also what I deeply felt during the orientation camp and resonates with a phrase I saw on the school's official website: “exploring and discovering oneself”.

During the seven days of the orientation camp, whether in the sports activities on the camping site, in the simulated business contest or in the classrooms, group discussions enabled us to quickly understand each other. There are obvious differences between individuals, even more so in terms of thoughts and personalities. Through communication and discussions with classmates of different types, I gained a deeper understanding of the essence of "discussion." Discussions require self-justification and mutual refutation to arrive at the best results. In this process, you can clearly see your differences. It also becomes an efficient way to discover yourself, thus facilitating self-exploration. I look forward to engaging in discussions with more classmates to enhance mutual understanding and knowledge.

For me, Hongrun Boyuan is a completely new environment, and all my experiences here are my firsts, even this right now. I can see that I am surrounded by a group of outstanding classmates. When I first attended classes during the orientation camp, I even had a strange sensation of stepping into a gilded era (an era that is both frustrating and hopeful). To put an explanation to this, it may be because uncertainty generates motivation. I believe many students might share my thoughts as we are all facing a new environment, but we need to bravely step out of our comfort zones, just as the seniors emphasized during the "Hongrun Education Salon" on August 30th encouraging us to “break through fear and apprehension”. I trust that the returning students will also provide us with help and support, as we belong to the same community, and we are one big family.

Lastly, I would like to conclude with a quote from "Stray Birds" by Rabindranath Tagore: " The fish in the water is silent, the animal on the earth is noisy, the bird in the air is singing,
But Man has in him the silence of the sea, the noise of the earth and the music of the air..."

Let's look forward to finding our own goals and planning for them, and let's hope that we can all explore and discover ourselves better.

Best wishes to all, and congratulations on the new semester!

Thank you for listening.

Eleven

Dear teachers, parents, friends, and new SHBS schoolmates:

Good afternoon! I am Zhao Chen, from Grade 11. It's my honor to be here and share my reflections on the past and expectations for the upcoming semester with all of you.

My speech today focuses on two key words: "courage" and "caring."

"Courage" is an essential quality in high school life and beyond. High school means lots of changes and challenges for us. We, especially newcomers, will encounter academic and social pressure and the feeling of being uncertain and lost about the future. Courage is the vital mindset that drives us to embrace new challenges. It inspires us to brave difficulties and helps us break out of our comfort zones to seek new possibilities. Over the next few years, our school will provide numerous opportunities for all of us to stand on this stage. I hope that everyone can seize them, bravely try new things, explore boldly, and seek help courageously. I can deeply relate to the nervousness and hesitation that come with facing an audience. The inner voice might tell you, "I'm not ready yet." However, often these opportunities allow us to surpass our self-imposed limits and see a broader world.

Last semester, our school held the first Chinese Language and Culture Festival. During the event preparation process, my teammates and I gathered due to our shared interests. However, I lacked experience in organizing culture-related activities, so organizing, planning, researching, and preparing the traditional Chinese clothing section posed a significant challenge on me. Yet, with the guidance of our teachers and our collaborative research, we successfully completed our research paper and Hanfu production activity. It might not be perfect, but it was the result of our courageous venture into a new field, and the cultural festival proceeded smoothly.

Another key word I'd like to share with all of you is "caring." Beyond academics, it's important to care for ourselves, show our concern for classmates, and help to build our community. Health is the foundation of everything. While busy with academic work, don't forget to exercise and take care of our well-being. Also, classmates are our essential partners. Whether it's daily presentations or collaborating on significant events like the science fair, cooperation with classmates is key to success. In addition, the school requires every student to finish at least 10 hours of volunteer service each semester to help build the campus. During “Beichen Forum”, all of us can get on stage with our proposals on how to better develop our community, so let’s care about, observe, think, and create our community together.

 MeowMeowland is a caring project. It provides the stray cats on campus with shelter and food and regulate their population with TNR, that is, Trap, Neuter, and Release. We have been trapping cats with food and taking them to get physical check, vaccination and sterilization for the past four years. During summer break, my partners and I have planned the development of MeowMeowland for the new semester, including creating a cat catalogue, guidebook for taking care of cats, and posters for adoption. More detailed information will be presented during the upcoming P&B gathering. We also warmly welcome interested students to join our project.

Finally, I wish everyone the courage to explore in the new semester, discover your passions, and join us in building our campus and creating our best selves. That’ all. 

Thank you!

James

Dear teachers, parents, and classm

ates:

Good afternoon, everyone!

September is the time when the red maple is swaying, the flowers are fragrant, and it is also the time for everyone to start the new semester. Curiosity and joy for new courses, new environments, and new friends are accompanied with the arrival of a new semester, and at the same time, accompanied with some anxiety.

How we deal with anxiety has become a "difficult and complex problem" that we must face. In my speech, I want to share my perspectives, especially with our new students, as something of a little gift.

There is a psychological theory that explains anxiety as seeing the gap between reality and uncertain expectations as too large. As people gradually worry about this uncertain gap, anxiety dominates their minds. The first response method, commonly known as ‘goblin mode', is familiar to everyone. By reducing expectations to extremely low levels, one can create a sense of comfort. This ‘goblin mode’ is great, since it means that you have found expectation management, even if by an extreme method.

The better option is goal management. The most common way of goal management is to write down one's goals with paper and pen while refining the details to help yourself, step-by-step, to approach this goal. Even after writing down these bigger goals and determining how to achieve them, few people can actually implement their plans. Although clear and simple, it is still hard. Since goal management is a challenging task, we should seek help from our teachers. The school's teaching team is willing to communicate with students, and of course, they also hope to help them improve their academic performance.

Communicating one's own learning situation with teachers is one of the simplest aspects of goal management. Students can not only receive an evaluation of their current academic performance from the perspective of the teacher, but also learn how to improve. The suggestions given by teachers are usually easy to achieve and straightforward. Some meticulous teachers will even help you with your goals assignment by assignment.

Similarly, seek help from senior students or parents when you face different problems—this is an important skill. Older students who have completed a course can empathize with the pressures and difficulties you face. They may provide suggestions from a more practical perspective. With goals, and with the ability to ask for help, anxiety will drift away with the wind.

Again, I would like to welcome all of our returning students back to this warm community and more so, to offer the kindest of greetings to our new students who make our community more powerful, energetic, and creative.

I wish everyone a happy and smooth new semester, embracing the warmth of our community!