Students rock NHD China
On March 2 at 8:15 a.m., a pack of enthusiastic high schoolers boarded two school buses headed towards Concordia International School Shanghai to participate in National History Day China 2019.
The day began at the Rittmann Theater, where Mr. Mike Kennedy, the lead organizer of the event at Concordia, delivered his usual introduction of the day’s events, along with a brief explanation of the benefits of participating in the National History Day research process. Mr. Scott Sanders was invited to speak about this year’s theme “Triumph and Tragedy.” Later, looking back on his experience, Mr. Sanders commented, “It took me a few days and a lot of editing to get my speech just right. However, from the start, I knew I wanted to integrate this year’s NHD theme of Tragedy and Triumph with Concordia’s interesting event design, while also incorporating my personal philosophy of history together with the core message of Chimamanda Adichie’s inspirational speech, “The Dangers of a Single Story.” What you heard on Saturday was the result of those four ingredients. I knew my audience would have diverse interests, but, as far as I was concerned, I was interested in speaking to the student historians present. That’s why I brought their websites into conversation with other famous historians like Nehru and Churchill. To me, it seemed like an interesting juxtaposition.”
After the welcome presentation, students were expected to be responsible and on time for their respective meetings with judges, where they would be interviewed about their project. Both dramatic performances and documentary film assessments took place from around 9:30 to 12:00, with the former at the Rittmann Theater and the latter exhibited at the 3rd floor video viewing rooms. Meanwhile, individual and group website, paper, and exhibits were interviewed from 10:00 to 12:00, the first at the Phoenix Café and Phoenix Lounge, the second at the Library, and the third at the Jade/Pearl Room and PC Center 2nd Floor. Each interview was typically given 10 to 15 minutes. After completing their interview, students were allowed to examine others’ projects and could explore the school building freely.
Lunch then took place from 12:00 to 12:45 in the Phoenix Commons. While the students ate, they participated in a quiz bowl. The top three winners received their awards later.
After lunch, students returned to the Rittmann Theater to listen to this year’s keynote speaker: Grace Xu, a senior from Concordia and the first student keynote speaker. While showing her well-made powerpoint, Grace delivered a very informative presentation about her research on the history of U.S. and China tensions, their current geopolitical, economical, and military situation, and their differing perspectives on policymaking, diplomacy, and each other. Overall, Grace conveyed a comprehensive and substantial understanding of the situation, and encouraged the audience to engage in constructive, balanced dialogue that serves to better comprehend and bridge the vastly different systems and worldviews between the two nations.
Finally, the day culminated with the award ceremony. Competitors, nervous and excited, listened closely as the judges announced the awardees. Similar to previous years, SMIC-I earned several medals, 13, to be exact. In the Group Dramatic Performance category, ninth graders Andrew Tan (9B), Daniel Chen (9B), and Jessica Kuo (9C)won first place, tenth graders Dylan Sanders (9A) , Julia Park (9A) , and Yeseo Jeon (9A) earned second, and tenth graders Joy Tang (10C) and Sarah Lin (10A)came in third. In other words, SMIC-I won all the medals for the dramatic performances, a rather respectable feat. Then, for group websites, tenth graders Milly Mak (10B) , Joyce Ben,(10C) and Shurui Lai (10A) won second place. Finally, for individual research papers, Elyse Shan (11B) took home first place, while Angela Dai (11C) was awarded third place.
When asked about her experience with NHD, Elyse replied, “Admittedly, I didn’t do much writing nor revising for my NHD paper— most of my time was spent on research, narrowing my topic, and outlining. Thus, I was completely taken by surprise that my paper won first place. My first thought was that I didn’t deserve this award, although I was overjoyed at receiving it. Regardless, I thank Ms. Sternin for all her help, especially her timely advice when I was narrowing my topic, and I praise the Lord for blessing me with this honor — even if I’m still not sure how I won.” Elyse’s paper is titled: “The Superficial Triumph of Integration: the English Language and the Tragedy of Culture Loss.” Her thesis reads: “In the wake of the Great War and the increased arrival of these ‘inferior’ immigrants, native-born Americans utilized the English language to integrate immigrants into American society. However, this triumph of integration was superficial because it created the tragedy of culture loss by promoting paternalism and racism towards immigrants well as the discrimination of specific ethnic groups.” Once again, SMIC-I students showcased their research, analysis, and collaboration skills by remaining a force to be reckoned with for the NHD China competition.
Featured Image – Andrew Tan, Daniel Chen, and Jessica Kuo are interviewed by judges after performing Courtesy of SMICMHSET