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On the sunny afternoon of Wednesday, June 9,
parents, teachers, relatives and friends from afar sat in the
shade of the giant sycamore trees behind Developing Virtue Girls’
Schools, to watch this year’s Commencement Ceremony. |
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The keynote speaker, Dr. Martin Verhoeven, told the girls
about how proud his grandmother would be of them, as she was one of the
only girls to graduate in her time. Ms. Chen Yu-mei, the mother of
graduate Huei Ong, said that she had brought her children to this school
because of its core curriculum of Standards for Students. Then a dozen
DVGS alumnae paraded onstage and shared their experiences after graduating
as well as urging graduates to always come back to the school.
Five sixth grade graduates and three eighth grade graduates
received their Certificates of Promotion. Then six graduating seniors
delivered speeches expressing gratitude to their family, teachers, fellow
students and friends. Huei Ong quoted the last line from Robert Frost’s
poem saying, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the one less
traveled by.” Shirley Wu, who has lived at the City of Ten Thousand
Buddhas with her mother, compared her life here to wearing braces” due to
the many rules and restrictions. Going to college is like the next stage
of “wearing a retainer,” and she assured her teachers that she would
faithfully remember to wear it (i.e. to follow the rules and virtues she
had learned). Shirley Wu is going on to UC Berkeley, Chris Liu to Foothill
College, Penny Shih-Chieh Chen to the City College of San Francisco,
Jordan Hsu-Nung Hsu to UC Santa Cruz, Huei Chean Ong to Columbia
University in New York City, and Sonia Vazquez to Sacramento State
University.
On Thursday evening, June 10, Developing Virtue Boys’ School
held its Commencement Ceremony in Daoyuan Hall. The Principal, Mr. Bostick
spoke about the new transformation of this year’s school yearbook created
by a graduate, Yao-Wei Lim. He also announced the retirement of Mr.
Randall Peterson, who has taught at the school for 25 years. The Abbot, DM
Lyu and teacher Ms. Julia Misri encouraged graduates to try their best to
contribute to society and be pillars of the nation. One alumnus, Wayne
Chen, urged the graduates not to forget the Standards for Students and to
always remember the virtue they have learned.
The graduates expressed gratitude to their families,
teachers, coaches, fellow students and friends. Abhaya Misri thanked his
grandmother who came all the way from New York City for his graduation.
While on stage, he changed from his graduation gown to his motorcycle
jacket and said that he was still the same person, so “Never judge a book
by its cover.”
There were five graduates: Ming Heng Shr, Mark Cheng-Yi Liu
who is going to the University of Washington, Abhaya Misri who is
attending the University of San Francisco, Dexter Cheng who is attending
St. Mary’s College (Moraga), and Yao-Wei Lim who is going to Santa Rosa
Junior College. Congratulations! |
