On Wednesday, 6th of July, 67 CCIP Session A students gathered at the basketball courts in the Flushing YMCA for the Session A Closing Ceremony cum Basketball Tournament. There were 3 segments to the event: Firstly the tournament semi-finals, followed by the Certificate Presentation Ceremony, and finally the grand finals of the tournament.

The purpose of the Certificate Presentation Ceremony was to recognize students for their commendable achievements in the 7-week internship and to encourage students to continue working hard in their future endeavors. The Closing Ceremony was also completed with the inaugural CCIP Basketball Tournament, which brought joy to the occasion and fostered team spirit among the students.

The semi-final of the tournament kicked off at 9.45pm, with 4 teams competing, namely Tropic Thunder, Basketball Team, Hong Kong Team, and Prince of Basketball.

Tropic Thunder consisted of students from Singapore while the other 3 teams were made up of students from Hong Kong, and each team had a mix of guys and girls. In the semi-finals, Tropic Thunder was matched up against Hong Kong team, while Basketball Team played against Prince of Basketball. During the exciting and absorbing matches, students were cheering wildly at the sidelines and spurring their team on. After an intense semi-final round, Hong Kong Team and Basketball Team emerged victorious in their respective matches.

The Certificate Presentation Ceremony began shortly after the semi finals. In her opening address, Elizabeth Kay, founder of CCIP, said, “Thank you everyone for your hard work and effort, I am truly proud and happy for each and every one of you. I hope everyone will continue to work hard and strive for a brilliant future ahead you.”

Ms. Kay, together with co-founder Joseph Smith, then proceeded to present the certificates and letters of recommendation to the students, followed by the presentation of the Star Award to students who have performed exceptionally during the program. The STAR Program is designed to recognize students who have, through every step of the program, made extraordinary efforts to contribute to the growth of CCIP
program's vision and values, as well as made tremendous gains throughout their internship experiences, and they serve as role models to their peers.

Muyun Jia from University of Hong Kong commented, “I am very happy and surprised to receive the Star Award. I have always lived my life responsibly and have always treated every task and everyone I meet sincerely and seriously. Thank you CCIP for your faith in me, I will continue to work hard and be serious in everything I do.”

At the end of the Certification Presentation Ceremony, students gathered for a group photo before quickly commencing with the intense Grand Final match between Hong Kong Team and Basketball Team. It was a nail-biting affair indeed as players played with their hearts out on court and supporters cheered at the top of their lungs. In the end, Hong Kong team emerged victorious as the champions of the tournament, beating Basketball Team with a score of 40:25.

Shun Yau Siu from Basketball Team said, “My teammates have been practicing tirelessly after work every day for tonight’s tournament. My teammate Jeremy even insisted on playing tonight despite injuring his ankle during practice. I feel that our team spirit won the match for us tonight and I am very proud of my team. This tournament is very meaningful as it helped us build stronger bonds between teammates and also allowed us to interact with other CCIP students.”

The ending of the tournament marked the conclusion of the 2011 Session A CCIP Closing Ceremony. However many students remained behind to chat with Ms. Kay and thank her and CCIP for the valuable internship opportunity, to share their experiences during the internship, as well as to discuss their plans for the future with her.

On the following day, Ms. Kay treated the Star Award recipients as well as the champions of the
basketball tournament to a sumptuous meal at Applebee’s. In total, 30 students attended Ms. Kay’s dinner party, which took place with an exuberant and merry mood. The students had a great time chatting, taking pictures and exchanging contacts, and when dinner ended, they waved goodbye to each other with a reluctant heart.

Author’s Remarks:

At this point I would like to give special thanks to the Program Founder for CCIP, Ms Elizabeth Kay, for providing such an excellent platform for all CCIP students to express themselves, improve themselves and strive for greater excellence.

Students often mention that these 7 weeks were tough and grueling, but the one with the toughest job was our Program Founder Elizabeth Kay, for she has been constantly working overtime and concerning herself with the students since the start of the program.

Throughout the course of the internship, I often notice Kay skipping dinner to rush down to the Flushing YMCA to interact with students and help solve their problems. She also puts in her best effort to get to know each and every student, and even at home, she would be thinking of ways to improve the program instead of resting.

Hence on behalf of all CCIP students, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Kay and hope that she would stop overworking herself and take care of her body. Thank you EK!