Grad Ceremony

Last night was the Level 7 Graduation Ceremony. Although I teach Level 6 (at least that is the level I have been teaching since I have been here) I went to it because the first students I taught at RMIT (along with my colleague Kathy Thompson) were graduating last night. It was a great night … with 18 classes graduating. Maybe half the students were there. Eighteen students got Distinguished Graduate Prizes, which were presented by Professor Merilyn Liddel, RMIT Vietnam's president. Two students from my class got distinguished awards last night. That meant they got 90% in every course (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing) in Level 7. Way to go Tu and Vy!!! They are the ones holding the flowers. In addition, 5 students that my colleague Astrid and I had in a Repeat Class got through Level 7 on their first try, so I was extremely proud of them. Level 7 is a 5-week intensive course that has extremely high expectations … it could easily be a 10-week course like all the other levels.
The president of RMIT Vietnam spoke to them and that was lovely for them. Most of them are now in their business degree programs, although one of my former students is waiting to get a visa to do PhD studies in bioengineering at RMIT Melbourne. There were some lovely refreshments afterward and lots of opportunities for photos.
I know that ESL is just a step on the way to their final goal and so their English classes may not be the ones they remember in the long run, but I hope they gain a lot from their ESL classes. I certainly enjoy them.
With all this talk of graduating, I am also thinking of my former students at University of Calgary-Qatar, some of whom will be graduating with their BScN in April. Another amazing group of students getting their degrees in a second language. What an achievement! As they sometimes say to me in their emails ... Roses on their beautiful souls ....

Thanks to my colleague, Fiona Wiebusch, for these photos!