Graduation

Graduation: The Stop Sign and The Open Road

Three years ago, I walked through the iron gate of our high school with a new schoolbag, my palms sweaty and my heart beating fast. I remember the morning sun hit the red slogan on the teaching building—“Strive for the college entrance examination, fight for your future”—and the words glowed so bright that I had to squint. Today, I stand at the same gate, wearing my graduation gown, and that slogan still looks the same, but I know everything has changed.

High school is like a long run on a rainy track. I remember staying up until 12 o’clock every night, filling out math exercise books that got thicker and thicker. I remember the smell of chalk dust in the classroom, the sound of the bell for self-study class that always seemed to come too early, and the way my deskmate would pass me a candy when I was too tired to keep my eyes open. We complained together that the canteen food was too salty, that the head teacher’s lectures were too long, that the weekend was too short. But when we sat in the classroom for the last time, watching the sunset spill over the window onto our blackboard covered with homework notes, suddenly no one wanted to complain anymore. All those tired, boring, annoying days suddenly turned soft.

What I will remember most is not the endless exams, but the people who walked this road with me. When I failed the math mock exam and hid in the playground crying, my best friend sat with me on the bench for an hour, didn’t say any big words, just shared a pack of crispy chips with me. When my physics experiment failed three times before the college entrance examination, my teacher stayed after school to practice with me again and again, until I finally got the correct data. When I woke up early to catch the morning bus home on the weekend, the dorm keeper uncle always saved me a hot steamed bun from the breakfast room. These small, warm pieces are like stars, they light up the hard, dark parts of the journey, and make high school not just a story about scores and exams, but a story about people who care about you.

Now, we are standing at the intersection. Some of us will go to big cities to study, some of us will go to military camps to serve the country, some of us will start to work and step into society. Everyone has a different road ahead. Some roads are smooth, some roads are full of turns. I know we will meet new people, have new problems, and maybe sometimes we will feel lost and miss these three years. But I also know that what we learned here—how to keep going when you are tired, how to get up when you fall, how to love the people around you—will go with us forever.

Three years ago, we came here as strangers, with different dreams. Today, we leave as friends, carrying the same expectation for the future. This graduation is not an end, it is a starting line. The gate behind us is closing, but the road in front of us is wide open.

Let’s go, my friends. May we all keep the courage we have at 18, may we meet good people on our new roads, and may we never forget how we felt standing here today. When we meet again years later, we can all say: I didn’t waste the youth we had here.

Congratulations to us, graduation is here, and the future is coming.

--------------------------------------------

翻译

毕业：终点牌与新征途

三年前，我背着崭新的书包走进高中铁门，手心冒汗，心跳加速。我记得清晨的阳光落在教学楼红色的标语上——“为高考拼搏，为未来奋斗”——字样亮得晃眼，我不得不眯起眼睛。今天，我穿着毕业礼服站在同一扇门前，标语还是原来的样子，但我知道，一切都已经不同了。

高中就像在雨天的跑道上漫长奔跑。我记得每天熬夜到十二点，写满的数学练习册越来越厚；我记得教室里粉笔灰的味道，晚自习铃总来得太早；我记得困得睁不开眼时，同桌会悄悄塞给我一颗糖。我们一起抱怨食堂菜太咸、班主任的讲座太长、周末太短。可当我们最后一次坐在教室里，看夕阳越过窗，洒在写满笔记的黑板上，突然没人想抱怨了——那些疲惫、枯燥、难熬的日子，一下子都变得柔软起来。

我最难忘的不是没完没了的考试，而是陪我一路走来的人：数学模考砸了，我躲在操场哭，好朋友陪我在长椅坐了一小时，没讲什么大道理，只是分了一包脆片给我；高考前物理实验连错三次，老师放学后留下来陪我练了一遍又一遍，直到我测出正确数据；周末赶早班车回家，宿管大叔总帮我从早餐室留好一个热包子。这些细碎温暖的片段就像星星，照亮了旅途中漆黑艰难的时刻，也让高中不只是一段关于分数和考试的故事，更是一段关于“有人在爱着你”的故事。

现在，我们站在人生的十字路口：有人要去大城市求学，有人要走进军营报效国家，有人要直接工作踏入社会。每个人前方的路都不一样，有的一路坦途，有的充满转弯。我知道我们会遇见新的人，遇到新的问题，也许偶尔会迷茫，会怀念这三年的日子。但我也相信，我们在这里学会的一切——累了的时候如何坚持，摔倒之后如何站起，怎么去爱身边的人——会永远陪着我们。

三年前，我们作为陌生人来到这里，怀揣各自的梦想；今天，我们作为朋友离开，带着对未来共同的期许。这次毕业不是终点，而是起跑线。我们身后的校门正在关闭，可前方的路已经豁然开朗。

出发吧，朋友们。愿我们永远保有十八岁的勇气，愿我们在新的旅途上都能遇见善良的人，愿我们永远记得此刻站在这里的心情。多年后重逢，我们都可以说：我没有辜负在这里共度的青春。

恭喜我们，毕业已至，未来已来。

-------------------------------------------