On May 23, the 6th graders of SHSID enjoyed several career lectures from four guest speakers who are esteemed professionals in their fields.

First, the students welcomed Mr. Berndt, the Director of Golf at Hills Golf Academy and coach to many famous golf stars. He shared the most memorable, difficult, and interesting experiences of his career with the students. This helped the students understand what successes and challenges coaching golf could bring. A piece of advice that Mr. Berndt gave the students was to balance sports, academics, and social life as sports can help people stay healthy, develop good character, and become more social. At the end of his lecture, Mr. Berndt invited student volunteers to try playing golf, which boosted everyone’s excitement.

The golf demonstration was followed by a wonderful presentation from Ms. Gao about working at the McKinsey Company. The McKinsey Company specializes in helping organizations or individuals find solutions to business problems that they face. According to Ms. Gao, the people who work in the McKinsey Company are all very talented and have a wide range of interests. Ms. Gao also introduced the students to McKinsey’s 7-step problem solving process, which is very helpful when it comes to solving their clients’ problems. To help the 6th graders become familiar with the process, Ms. Gao used the example of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. The students were able to learn about the “secrets” of the well-known McKinsey Company, and gain some valuable tips about problem solving.

Following Ms. Gao’s lecture was a unique presentation by Mr. Song, a famous pianist. He showed videos of his past performances, including: “Murakami Dong Yi,” which was inspired by a Japanese writer, “18 Times Machine,” and “Song Si Heng.” The first concert featured many different types of songs; some were loud and a little jazzy, while others were soft and slow. Due to the success of his concerts, Mr. Song concluded that performances need to incorporate technology in order to be noticed by people today. After the videos, Mr. Song played a very classical song on stage and everybody was fascinated by his fantastic performance.

The last speech was from Mr. Zheng, who taught the students about architecture and planning. He had a very organized PowerPoint explaining what architects and planners do, who they are, an example case, and what it takes to become one. After Mr. Zheng’s lecture, students understood the differences between an architect and a planner, examples of some famous architects, and how Mr. Zheng helped design part of the streets next to the Huangpu River. They also learned that architects and planners need to have curiosity, artistic sense, and perseverance.

Overall, the students learned a lot from the presentations made by the four professionals, and they all had a great time!

（Written by Angela       Pictures by Mr.Johnson        Superviesed by Mr.Johnson）