My memory of Mr Polglase begins with a smile and a greeting: "My name is Murray Polglase, you can call me Mr Polglase or Mr P if you wish" in his cool Aussie accent. Throughout my time at WAB, Mr Polglase has taught me English, math, and how to be kind to others. English was not my first language, and my math was terrible for an Asian kid, but Mr Polglase was always patient with me, and other troubled teenagers like myself.

I remember a time when Sanlitun was a place we students would frequent on the weekends (sometimes weekdays), and we would avoid bumping into faculties if we can help it, for obvious reasons. So when some friends and I were out celebrating on our graduation night and saw Mr Polglase and Sam, I had an instinct of just turning on the next street corner, but to my surprise, he raised a glass at us and said "come have a drink with us, you're all men now", and so we did, till 4 in the morning.

After that was one of my fondest and most cherished moments from my Beijing days; we took a cab ride with Mr Polglase and Sam to Tienanmen Square to see the flag raised as WAB graduates' tradition dictates. Some real-life conversations along with a few banter (correction, few real-life conversations along with a lot of banter) were exchanged on the cab ride. When we got to the Square, the flag was being raised, as was the sun, Chinese national anthem was playing in the background. And that is when Mr P look at us and said: "You can stop calling me Mr Polglase now, call me Murray. Congratulations guys". Murray and Sam were the first adults to recognize our coming of age and celebrated our new identity as highschool graduates. I will always remember that. Thank you Mr Polglase, it was an honor to have been your student.