SCEN Summit At Gleneagles

On Wednesday 27 November a group of St George's girls attended the second SCEN Summit at the Gleneagles Hotel. We arrived and were ushered to the ballroom for refreshments and to meet all the other students and guests. It was very exciting to see so many schools and groups taking part in the Summit; at least 50 more people attended than last year.

Our G50 team has now expanded, adding 20 more organisations and groups, so we are now happy to be the G70. It is amazing to see the number of people studying Chinese and encouraging the links between Scotland and China. Many important people attended the event; Lord Wilson, Dr Alasdair Allan, Mr Zhang Huazhong and Dr McClure, all of whom without these events would not be possible.

Five of the girls attending, Imogen Evans, Wing-Yan Ng, Bella Wang, Josephine Cochrane and I made speeches at the event.  It was very nerve-wracking, but we all went up in front of the crowd of around 300 people and spoke about our learning journeys with Chinese and what we plan to do in the future. It was an amazing experience to be able to share with others my experiences of learning Chinese and what I want to do in the future. I was in awe of everyone who stood up and spoke about Chinese being incorporated into their schools, trips and exchanges to China and many other wonderful performances. My favourite part of the day was hearing from students from China who had come to tell us about their journey and plans for the future. I found it extremely interesting hearing about their dreams and aspirations.

The day was a success, and in such a beautiful venue I felt even more privileged to be there. Even the lunch was magnificent. I cannot wait for the next SCEN event to see what advances have been made in Scotland and China's connections and what other schools around Scotland have been up to.

Megan Hammell