2018-06-10

【Aiden in English】

        By now I have no idea why I’m writing things on this blog. Most of these posts are so petty and insignificant that I’m having a difficult time finding content to jot down on paper. This recent Sunday, I participated in yet ANOTHER graduation ceremony, my “final time” receiving an award on the podium and being a part of Guanghua Chinese School in PA. That’s what they said last year and is what they will say next year. Furthermore, more than half the school barely listens to the speaker’s words, and I doubt most kids understand the Chinese vocabulary. 

        However, the fact that I’m saying this demonstrates the profound effect of an annual event occurring over and over, perpetually ingrained in my years. While I’ve already graduated, this is still a nail in a treehouse. One day, today, someone removed that nail, and the treehouse loses a bit of its integrity (Perhaps that is a bit dramatic, but I am an English writing teacher, so dramatizing ideas is allowed). And yet the treehouse just stands, with a slight creak in one of the joints now lacking support. 

        Next year I’ll find a replacement, another event to cover Sundays, but it’ll feel different. Granted, this year already felt different in the addition of AP Chinese. Nevertheless, I still got a gold medal of the President Volunteer Service Award for my volunteer hours (100 hours as a teen at the age between 12-16 years old), which is why I had to participate in the graduation ceremony. While I felt slightly left out when a few of my friends sat in the crowd and I stood on the edges because of my teacher status, it did occur to me that I was becoming more and more an adult. That definition, in my mind, equals not having to follow orders intended for children, which in this case is to sit and be quiet. 

        Life comes along later and delivers usually some large event that catastrophically changes something within. Today definitely was not that day, but the beginning of a chain of events that would occur which may cause large change. Final exams dawn on the horizon and my last days of Pennbrook Middle School are dwindling. Both of which, like Chinese School graduation will contribute to a change within my heart, most likely for the worse. 

        It is said that each event in life builds something on your path, defining you as a person. So as I stand and watch fellow classmates graduate and give meaningless speeches in front of a crowd of distracted children, I can’t help envisioning the coming days, days filled with tension, suspense, and sadness. I stand watching others who probably will experience the same thing in their own time. I ask myself, whom I will be at the other end of this week? Will I come out to be the same student-focused only on school and nothing else, or an adult who takes on more challenges? 

【红霞译文】

        到目前为止，我说不清为何要在这个博客上写东西，多数帖子缺乏实质性内容，无外乎鸡毛蒜皮的琐事。仅以这个星期天为例，我又一次参加毕业典礼，作为宾州光华中文学校子弟“最后一次”站到领奖台上，去年说的明年接着说，而且估计有一半以上的学生在代表们发言的时候开小差，我怀疑多数学童听不懂文绉绉的汉语措辞。

        然而，值得强调的是一年一度的盛会具有深远影响，它早就铭刻在我的脑海里，我虽已毕业，但还是树屋上的一枚钉子，依旧与光华中文学校有着千丝万缕的联系。有朝一日或今天，一旦那个钉子被拔掉，树屋势必会丧失完整性（这里也许带点戏剧性，但我作为英文写作老师，可以放飞遐想），树屋虽在，但终究因为卯合部位缺乏支撑而吱嘎作响。

        明年我得为星期天找件差事来做，到时肯定体验迥异。诚然，除了选读大学汉语预修课程，今年其它方面业已发生变化，暂且不说别的，基于义工时间长短，我还荣获“总统志愿服务奖”金牌（十二～十六岁少年需做100小时义工），这正是出席毕业颁奖典礼的原因所在。当我看到几位朋友坐在台下而自己却因教师身份站在观众席上，心中难免有点边缘化的感觉，我确实发现自己逐渐长大成人，言外之意，这回我不必像在校生那样依照规定安静入座。

        接下来生活里时不时出现触目惊心的大事，今日绝对不是那一天，但可能是一连串天翻地覆变化的开始：期终考试即将到来，宾溪初中学校生活接近尾声，如同中文学校毕业在我心中泛起涟漪，很可能更平添几分惆怅。

        俗话说得好，人生中的每一段经历都是为你的成功铺路，路是人走出来的。因而当我站在一旁注视着曾经的同窗少年走出校门并对交头接耳的小学生抒发毕业感言时，我禁不住联想到未来几天将被紧张、焦虑和伤心所替代，身边其他人恐怕或早或晚也会经历同样的遭遇。我扪心自问，本周的另一头我又是何许人也？我是否甘做原来那个“两耳不闻窗外事一心只读圣贤书”的学童，还是成为敢于直面更多挑战的成人？

Crosslinks(相关博文):

2017 GHCS Commencement(2017届光华中文学校毕业典礼)

2016 GHCS Commencement(2016届光华中文学校毕业典礼)

2015 GHCS Commencement—Bitter-Sweet-Salty(羡慕嫉妒爱)

2014 GHCS Commencement—Bamboo(2014届光华毕业典礼—蜀苑)

2013届光华毕业典礼拾遗(2013 GHCS Commencement—Potpourri)

2012届光华中文学校毕业典礼(2012 GHCS Commencement)

2010届光华中文学校毕业典礼(2010 GHCS Commencement)