EF Academy Oxford celebrates the successes of its Class of 2017 with a traditional leaver’s ceremony

Ana Luiza Loio, from Brazil, is a current student at EF Academy Oxford and wrote a recap on this years’ Leaver’s Ceremony.

21st April 2017, Friday: EF Academy Oxford students left school early, after period three, and ran to their rooms to do their make-up and put on dresses or suits. And the reason was a very special one: it was the Leaver’s Ceremony day, when all the students, staff and some family members gathered to celebrate IB Year 2 successes during the two last years. After all, their journey hasn’t been easy, but there were plenty of good moments and they made it until here – their final exams will happen in two weeks!

The ceremony took place in Oxford Town Hall, one of the city’s beautiful ancient buildings, which helped set up the fancy and academic atmosphere. The awards were presented by Linda Yueh, an economist, broadcaster and author who holds titles such as Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall and Oxford University, Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School and others. She also handed the diplomas, while posing for a picture with each one of the leavers. Federico Angioni, an IB Year 2 student from Italy, summarized everyone’s mood by saying, “the ceremony was really nice and pleasant and since these are things that happen once in a lifetime I was really excited.”

Federico continued by saying, “The class of 2017 will leave me with a lot of good memories and I actually don’t know if I will ever manage to find such nice people in such a diverse environment  ever again.” Faly Richou, from France, complemented Federico’s thoughts by describing it as, “a unique class due to the very dynamic personalities from all over the world.”

“My teachers were amazing throughout these two years, generally speaking. I would love to have them as my teachers again in the future, but since I just graduated I think I will have to go to university…”  joked Hong Kong’s Blake Duncan, when asked to dedicate some words to his teachers.

After the ceremony was over, champagne and some appetizers were served – it was time to celebrate! Smiling, our leavers enjoyed being the center of attention for some hours. Between the chatter and the flashes, one thing was clear: even though they were sad to leave their “Oxford family” and were a bit nostalgic due to the speeches given by some of their peers earlier that day, the second-years were mostly proud of themselves and what they had accomplished – and so were their guests, the other students and the staff.

Quoting Dr Paul Ellis, Head of the School, “we look up to these young people with a confidence that they will go out into the world to create, with purpose, integrity, and ambition, a more cooperative and sustainable world, one with friendship, trust, opportunity, and responsibility at the core. To judge by your short time here, I think you’re pretty well-prepared for the job.”

Good luck, Class of 2017! You certainly left your mark in the history of EF Academy Oxford.