Chinese New Year is a time for new beginnings, and I wish you all Gong Xi Fa Cai.
Hope Favours the Bold
希望垂青勇者
The LEH School motto is so appropriate for the times in which we live. The journey to arrive at this celebration today has required everyone here to have hope and to be bold. It has been a longer and more challenging journey than I had envisaged when I accepted the post of founding Head Master in May 2017 … but it has also been a lot more exciting and fulfilling than I had dreamt possible.
这是我们的校训，也是当今时代的重要写照。佛山霍利斯之所以能够发展壮大至今，正是因为所有人都心怀希望，勇敢前行。我在2017年5月接受了学校的任命，出任创校校长。这一路走来，我们团队遇到的挑战和难题远比我当时预期的多，但同时这也赋予了这段旅程更多宝贵的回忆和更深刻的意义。
Throughout the delays, challenges and frustrations, the founding team never stopped believing, never stopped hoping and never stopped pushing to make LEHF the exceptional school it is today.
在工程延期、疫情变化等各种挑战下，创校团队的每一名成员从未放弃希望和信念，坚定不移地努力着，将佛山霍利斯建设成为一所最优质的学校。
Unveiling Ceremony 学校揭牌仪式
It has been a great pleasure to get to know the whole School community: students, parents and colleagues. Watching the students develop their self-confidence and personal voice, seeing them participate in class and watching them perform in Assembly and beyond has been a particular source of personal pride.
我很荣幸能够认识每一位学生、家长和同事，看着学生们变得自信、勇敢表达自己，在课堂上积极认真学习，在礼堂上展现自己的天赋才华。这让我感到十分骄傲自豪！
Students, when it is your turn to graduate and leave LEH as I am doing today, I want you to look back and celebrate the adventures you have had together, the lessons you have learned and the friends you have made. More importantly, I want you to be excited by that adventures that lie ahead of you, prepared to look the world in the eye and face any challenges it presents with confidence. I want you to work hard, to be the best version of yourself that you can, and to prepare yourself for the adventure that is life.
学生们，当你们有一天从霍利斯毕业的时候，我希望你们能够回望这些闪着光的成长日子而感到骄傲：每一个勇敢迈出的步伐，每一段难忘的课堂时光，每一位分享你喜怒哀乐的好友。更重要的是，我希望你们能对未来充满憧憬，在广阔天地翱翔，亲眼观察世界上的万千风景。不管遇到什么困难与挑战，我希望你们都能自信从容面对，不遗余力，活出最好的模样。
Nelson Mandela, the first freely elected President of South Africa, famously said: "I have found nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks". As founding students and families you remind me of this. You understand the need to push beyond your comfort zone to achieve something new - you certainly understand that you need to take risks, and to work to realise your dreams.
南非前总统曼德拉曾经说过，生命的意义就在于勇于尝试，敢为人先。作为创校家长和学生，你们总让我想起这句话。人总有需要走出舒适圈的时候，尝试新事物，踏上新征程，为梦想努力奋斗。
Life may seem hard at times, but hard is relative – elsewhere in the world, girls are attacked simply because they want to get an education, young boys are forced into guerilla armies, and children still die from malnutrition on a daily basis. Have some perspective, you are incredibly lucky; you are being given a gift, a great education is being placed before you along with the opportunity to make lifelong friends.
大家或许有时觉得生活很难，但这种难是相对而言的 —— 在世界的某些角落里，有女孩子因为接受教育而遭受攻击，男孩子被迫卷入游击战争，甚至每天都有孩子死于营养不良。对比之下，我们每位学生在某种程度上来说，都是极其幸运的，享受着优渥的教育资源，成长道路上也不乏好友欢乐同行。
Understand life is an improvisation, we rarely know what is going to happen next and must respond by making it up as we go along. Sometimes life will be messy, it will be complicated and it certainly won’t be what you expected. Recognise that the unexpected, the surprises, will keep life interesting and provide opportunities. Make the most of these opportunities, don’t be frightened of change – you are not always going stay the same, fixed in time and unchanged forever but you will grow and develop as your experiences shape you: try new things, be bold and accept new challenges, never stand still. We all face the risk of failure, of getting it wrong no matter what path we take. You can’t ignore failure and you must prepare for it - for only then is success possible.
生活就像一场即兴演出，我们永远不能肯定下一秒会发生什么。无论如何，我们都该勇敢面对。有时候生活会完全偏离预期，变得一团糟。接受生活的不如意，把生活当成一场冒险与寻宝的游戏。永远不要害怕变化，因为这个世界上从没有一成不变的事物。拥抱变化，让自己在变化中成长，历练，蜕变成为优秀的人。人生路上，我们难免犯错，也难免失败。我们不能逃避失败，却可以为之做好准备。当你做好准备，学会从失败中站起来，成功就会在不远处等你。
Along the road to realise your dreams, it is inevitable that you will meet roadblocks: embrace them, learn from them; understand that success is not about getting everything right first time, but learning from our mistakes and trying until we succeed. Some people do not have the courage to try, because they fear failure. Do have the courage to try and not succeed. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, seize the next opportunity and try again by another route – have the confidence to make the best decision you can and move forward - you cannot let yourself be paralysed by fear and indecision.
追逐梦想的路上少不免会有障碍。失败乃成功之母，成功并非意味着第一次就必须把所有事情做好，更重要的是学会从失败中汲取经验，哪里跌倒就从哪里站出来。有很多人因为害怕失败，没有勇气迈出第一步。但我希望你们能勇于尝试和拥抱失败，大不了重新站起来，拍拍灰，再把握下一次机会，换一个新的方法再尝试。不要因为恐惧而变得优柔寡断，相信自己，尽己所能，大步向前。
Parents – you may see a linear journey for your children, but you need to understand that we live in an ever more complex, changing world and routes to success are far more fluid. Your children need to follow their own path and many will be in industries yet to be created or even envisaged. Believe in their choices – they will leave LEH with many skills that will help them to make the right choices and to thrive in the world they face ahead.
家长们，我明白你们总希望为孩子保驾护航，不希望他们走丁点的弯路。但我希望你们明白，当今社会发展日新月异，对成功的定义也越来越多元化。孩子们会有自己的想法，在未来或许会在全新的行业里工作。作为家长，你们需要相信和支持他们。当他们毕业离开学校之时，他们将在更广阔的世界试炼锋芒，施展拳脚。
Students - You receive a first-class education at LEH, but it is not that education on its own that will open doorways; it is how you apply your education that will present you with opportunities in the future. Understand that you are incredibly lucky, education is a precious gift, make the most of that gift and do not always take the safe path.
学生们，虽然你们能在学校享受一流的教育资源，但这仅仅是获得成功的其中一个因素。更重要的是你们如何发挥自己的主观能动性，充分把握利用教育资源，将所学应用到生活，努力把握每一个机遇。优质教育是一份珍贵的礼物，让它成为你们手中的利剑，帮助你们在前进的道路上披荆斩棘。
It is my hope that you when you eventually graduate, you will run out of LEH, laughing, skipping and dancing, ready to take the world by storm. Whatever road you choose and however many roads you take - be brave, be amazing, be heard, be busy, be kind and most of all be happy.
我希望，在未来的毕业季，你们会笑着、蹦着、跳着迈出校园，做足准备在大世界里崭露头角。不管你们在未来选择了什么道路，我都祝愿你们能够勇敢前行、出尘脱俗、生活充实、永远善良和快乐。
Thank you, good luck and please stay in touch.
