ASIJ Senior Video 2023 скачать в хорошем качестве

ASIJ Senior Video 2023

Class of 2023 Student Speaker - Ryne Hisada: Parents, teachers, faculty, and especially students, you know what to do. MUSTAAANGS!! (RUMBLLLE!!) I’ve always wanted to do that…in fact, there are a lot of things that I’ve always wanted to do at ASIJ. Like writing for Daruma, or using the thermocyclers in the biology rooms; even some more exotic things, like running across the high school field half-naked, or jumping off the second floor instead of going down the stairs. But I’m not saying this just to be a little wistful in our last hour as Seniors. I truly believe that as the class of '23, more than anything, we made things look fun. That’s all sorts of things, from jazzing in the courtyard to struggling with differential equations. If leaving class to “watch the game” counted as unexcused absences, most of us would not be graduating tonight. The point is that, as a class, we were involved in our school and in making our school culture fun. This is especially true of our music: it is undeniable that our grade has some of the most talented musicians that ASIJ has seen. We dominated that courtyard, from Jazz band to solo performances—we even invaded the library, which is the one place they explicitly tell us NOT to play music. But because we have exceptional music, we have an exceptional culture, in which musicianship is not only respected but encouraged. At ASIJ, we don’t have “band kids,” we have students. Like me, and like you. I personally think it makes sense that our grade has been so proficient at making student life fun, because historically, we have made fun of many things; this includes, of course, our grading system. So let me rephrase: we are not only “proficient” at making student life fun, we are exemplary. Though, I’d be remiss to talk only about the entertaining memories of our class. One particular characteristic of our grade is that we are unusually politically active. Looking at our four years, this makes sense. In Freshman year, we watched the Black Lives Matter movement grow into a global phenomenon, in Sophomore year, we witnessed the rise of mass shootings and an attack against the U.S. Capitol, and with no closure, our Junior year featured one of the most impactful reversals of women’s rights in recent history. More than most others, our grade experienced high school under calamitous political developments. But our conceptual engagement with the world had prepared us to tackle issues at home that we had never truly addressed before. This year, in our Senior year, when we gathered as a school to talk about sexual assault and harassment, we had the maturity to listen to our peers, and the humility to acknowledge that we had learned something new—though uncomfortable—about our own community. I think this is characteristic of a class that has spent its four years toiling over some of the world’s most pressing issues. Just listen to our service clubs: we talk about climate change in the context of gender inequality, the shame of homelessness with regard to Japanese culture, and the efficacy of an English education for Ukrainian refugees and underprivileged Cambodian children. We have this uniquely intersectional understanding of the world that stems from our conceptual interactions with recent global issues. And that’s a blessing in one way, but in other ways, it’s a limitation. The fact that our interactions are conceptual and not tangible means that at ASIJ, the Black Lives Matter movement doesn’t really affect us, neither does the proliferation of gun violence, nor the raging wars around the world. It is true that for the past four years, we have been sheltered within the so-called ASIJ bubble. And that’s not our fault, but we do have to acknowledge its existence. Because tomorrow, the bubble pops. Tomorrow, our conceptual becomes our reality. We are entering a world of which we have been taught about, but have not experienced. And that can be scary. But it’s not our first time. Under pandemic restrictions, the rhetoric was very much: “Don’t you wish you could do this?” or “If only we could do that” The restrictions that COVID necessitated fostered a sort of pent-up, boiling excitement that exploded after they were lifted. That excitement we had for a post-covid ASIJ, I want us to have that for our post-ASIJ futures. We should think of our bubble popping not as some inevitable event to be feared, but as one final restriction that has at last been lifted. Dear class of ‘23, we’ve learned too much and are far too talented not to take part in shaping our world in a meaningful way. Whether that’s music, art, service, activism, science, mathematics, sports, and yes, even finance, we will have fun in whatever we set out to do. Think of the world as your canvass and fun as your paintbrush. Let’s paint the world black and gold.