＜2010/04＞

■　SNG Graduation Ceremony 2009

　Congratulations on your graduation!

　Congratulations on your graduation! On March 20th (Sat.), Shinjuku Japanese Language Institute held a graduation ceremony at Arcadia Ichigaya. There were more than 200 graduates this year. Some are going on to higher education in Japan, while others are going back to their home country to work; there are a lot of exciting possibilities ahead of them!

　 The graduates were students who had studied at SNG for more than 1 year. Before the ceremony, they were taking pictures, exchanging emails, and having conversations with their teachers. Quite a few teachers were in kimono, while some students wore their countries’ traditional clothes or Japanese hakama.

　 After welcoming a number of guests, we began the ceremony at 11:00. The event started with the presentation of diplomas to the graduates. Although the atmosphere was rather solemn at first, the students quickly relaxed and cheered on their classmates.

　Next was the presentation of the Perfect Attendance and Excellent Attendance awards. Many students receive these awards every year. This time, there were six students who had never been late or absent in two years of study, a group which surprisingly included two of the Asahi Scholarship students. Additionally, those two students have both been accepted to Japanese universities and have plans to continue their higher education.

　 We continued the ceremony with congratulatory speeches from the Principal, Vice Principal, and Foundation President, as well as from some of the distinguished guests. This was followed by a speech from the Student Representative. He had practiced endlessly in preparation for the ceremony, and on the day, skillfully recited his speech loud and clear. Lastly, everyone joined in singing “Aogeba Totoshi,” directed by the Foundation President. For those of you who participated, were you able to follow along using the lyrics? You all had had at least one chance to practice!

　The ceremony was concluded after an hour and half, and the reception began half an hour later. Everyone who attended the reception described it as very lively and fun, and even the Arcadia Ichigaya staff members enjoyed the excitement, probably because of the various fabulous performances by the school staff, students, and teachers. You can see some of the fun in the pictures below. The students always get excited when the Foundation President dresses as “Colonel Sanders!”

　Time flies when you’re having fun! After about two hours, the reception also came to an end, with everyone saying their final farewells. Each student has their own future, some moving to new places, some returning to their home countries. Although it’s a bit sad to see everyone leave, we hope they will someday come back to visit - we want to see their happy faces again. How wonderful would it be if they could come back and tell everyone about their new lives?

236 graduating students	Including guests, about 300 people	Class representatives receive the diplomas

Students supporting their class representative	Six students are awarded for two years of excellence!	From the Vice Principal

Student Representative speech	In the lobby	Vietnamese students

With the office staff.	Reception	Reception buffet

Soon-to-be-university students with the education counsellor	With their homeroom teacher	Up first, singing with passion...

Student dancers up next!	Nice job!	The male teachers perform

All the teachers dance together	Not much space, but they danced anyway	Foundation President

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SHINJUKU JAPANESE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE 2-9-7 Takadanobaba Shinjuku-ku Tokyo, 169-0075. Japan Tel : 81-3-5273-0044 Fax : 81-3-5273-0018