(Note: This is the speech I was invited to give at the annual Thank You Potluck Dinner in Department of Education, Clarkson University, Capital Region Campus on June 5, 2019. Thanks to everyone who has helped me all these years, and those who helped with this speech!)
大家好!For those of you who may not know what I said, Hello Everyone! My name is Ping Huang, an international student from China, graduating from MAT program. Tonight, I want to share my experiences with you and hope that they will add some spirit and encouragement to your new journey. Two years ago, I decided to go back to school after being a fulltime homemaker for eight years. It was never an easy decision. At the beginning, I wanted to enroll in the one-year MAT program. As a mom of two curious children, I have limited budget of time. I felt I wouldn’t have the luxury to study leisurely, during a two-year program. Fortunately, my plan was refuted. Dr. Duan told me, “Ping, we strongly recommend you the two-year program for two good reasons. First, this is a rigorous program. Second, we want you to have a quality family life.” I was shocked and moved. I was shocked because it seemed that many of you may have sacrificed quality family life to pursue your career goal. I was moved because Clarkson University not only cares about my academic success, but also my quality of life. Remember that I said it was not an easy decision for going back to school. However, the decision to choose a school is easy: Clarkson University is the school for us. Time flies and two years have passed. Studying at Clarkson University is one of the best choices I have made in my life: devoted faculty, lovely classmates, and light-hearted staff. One evening, the custodian told me that I look very much like her favorite actress, of whom she even showed me the picture. She gave me the confidence that if I cannot graduate from Clarkson, I can at least be a popular movie star! I need to confess, as an international student, I struggled with schoolwork, especially in writing. I tried my best to complete the assignments, well, most of them, at high standard except one, which I am going to tell you about tonight. It was one of the reflective writings in Professor Rand’s Literacy class. I usually read materials more than she required and supplement them with my own stories. However, there was one day, I was lazy and didn’t even finish the required readings, hoping that she wouldn’t notice it. I got a grade reduction and a short note from Professor Rand: “Ping, I enjoyed your story. But where is the connection between the reading materials and your content?” Today I want to use this opportunity to thank Professor Rand for her honest comments. I learned a lesson that I should try my best once I commit to a job, even if there is no one watching me! As we know, Clarkson CRC never runs out of interesting activities. One example is the DAP, Dispositions, Attributes, and Proficiencies, which kickoff the intensive summer training program before our full-year residency. We were put in different groups and asked to give personal opinions to different challenging scenarios. Then each of us received 30 minutes of feedback from a faculty member. I still remember the feedback from professor Vrtiak. She started like this, “Ping, we noticed that you gave constructive suggestions during our discussion. But most of the time, you were silent. Can you explain why?” I replied, “My English is not good!” She paused and said: “Yes, it can be a challenge. But that’s not an excuse. If you want to be a teacher, you should learn how to be a leader and you can!” For the rest of our meeting we figured out a plan to grow my leadership. After that, I tried every chance to use my power to empower the people around me. At the same time, I felt the strength growing in myself, too. I am lucky to be with Clarkson University, sharing tremendous moments with you for the past two years. As they say, “All good things come to an end. And many dear friends drift apart”. We have different paths ahead of us. I wish you all my best. 加油! Class of 2019! Thank you! Comments are closed.
|
ping huang
|