On Monday, June 30th, Columbia International College held its June Graduation Ceremony in the Ainsliewood Gym. The ceremony honoured close to 200 graduates who were eager to walk up on stage and receive their high school diplomas.
Keynote Speaker
Columbia was proud to welcome His Excellency Mr. Fang Li, the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Toronto, to this year’s ceremony as the Keynote Speaker.
He spoke to students about his early life and recounted tales of his experiences in school and in university. He encouraged students to remain optimistic when faced with adversity and advised them to study hard and strive to achieve their goals in life.
Mr. Li believes the Sino-Canadian cooperation in trade, tourism and educational exchanges and other aspects of deepening cooperation, has helped China become the world’s second largest economy and Canada’s second largest trading partner. He hopes this relationship continues to grow, giving students around the world greater opportunities to advance their career aspirations.
Valedictory Address
Vicky Yun Ling Wu was chosen to deliver June’s Valedictory Address. In her uplifting speech, she reflected on the time she spent at Columbia. She credited the school for providing students with exceptional learning opportunities that contributed to both their personal and academic development.
Vicky offered her peers many encouraging messages and reminded all to be kind to others, to stop worrying about what others think and above all, to not fear change as “mistakes will only make you stronger.“
Vote of Thanks
Muhammed Mujtaba Khan acted as the voice of the June 2014 graduating class as he delivered the Vote of Thanks. He made it appoint to thank those individuals whose hard work and dedicated often goes overlooked. Notably, he thanked Mr. Chan and Mr. Rambarran for their tireless efforts in strengthening the school.
Muhammed also thanked teachers for being mentors and friends and recognized the efforts of the Maintenance staff, the Cleaning staff, the I.T. Staff and the Campus Safety team. These departments are the “foundation of Columbia that make everything run smoothly and ensure student safety.”
He further praised Sodexo, the Liaison department, Accounting, the University Placement Office, the ESL Department, Housing and Residence staff and f Student Development for being key pillars in student success.
University Representatives
Columbia would like to thank all university representatives from the following universities for attending the ceremony and assisting in the presentation of diplomas;
• Brock University®,
• University of Guelph,
• Ryerson University,
• University of Toronto,
• Western University, and
• York University® .
Columbia would also like to thank the following people for their work in organizing this year’s June graduation; Mr. Lawlis and the Vocal Music Class, the University Placement Office, the Liaison department, teachers, support staff, maintenance and cleaning staff, Sodexo, and the I.T. department.
Congratulations to all June graduates!