For the “awakening” of every student 

------ Written on the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of SIFC 

Principal and Professor Fu Tengxiao

In June 2004, when Shenzhen International Foundation College was founded, I had mybest wishes ready for our future graduates--- "you will fly to theworld". A few years later, one after another graduates of our schoolcontinue to live up to these expectations and have reached great heights havingbeen admitted to the top universities in Britain, the United States and countries all over the world. Under the guidance of those famous mentors, ourstudents "run together with giants", along with students from allover the world. In my new "Principal's message," I quoted from afamous western figure, "keep running and you may become the nextgiant."

Time flies. SIFC has been founded for 15 years already. This year, the class of 2019, who grew up together with our school, achieved the best results ever, leading the international education in Shenzhen. They not only received admission letters from famous universities such as the University of Chicago and University College London, but also received 3.2 million in scholarships in total. Our students participated in many study tours to the USA, Japan and South Korea; they hiked over the mountains (IA international youth program -Hong Kong hiking) and sailed over the water (Xunliao Bay, Dapeng west townactivities). In particular, although our school has been relocated twice with three campuses, the students are always with us without any complaint! These students are recognized as the “first honor students of the school” by SIFC teachers.

When referring to the 15 years of achievements of the school, we should say that the consistent philosophy of running the school is indispensable. Students are nota word or concept, but have vigorous lives with their own characteristics.Teachers should be in awe of each student's life, as Socrates said, to enterand "awaken" their lives, so that it is possible to create amazing"human miracles". Therefore, "awakening" students is not just the conventional way for teachers it elevates teaching and education to anoble profession of humanistic care. In this way, as former President of Yale University claims, schools can fulfill its mission "to improve the worldfor today and for future generations."

There was an impressive intellectual explosion period 4,200 years ago, which was from the 21st to the 5th century BC. Confucius and other wise men swapped ideas and put forward his points that “no child left behind” and “teaching students in accordance with students’ aptitude”, these concepts have influenced the world for thousands of years. The idea of "teaching students according to their aptitude" is a way to “awaken" lives, and it is also one of the most important ideas of our school. We will persevere and strive to make new achievements.

Thanks for the great support and help from leaders, colleagues and friends over the past 15 years. Thanks for teachers, parents and students who contributed to SIFC consistently!

Thank you very much!