Hi! I’m Bradley Phillips. I teach a variety of courses for the English Department, including writing, and I also sever as the foreign teacher coordinator for the School of Foreign Languages. I come from Michigan in the United States of America, which is located in the north near Canada. I’ve been teaching here since 2005, making this my 17th year at the university.
大家好！我是Bradley Phillips。我在英语系开了很多门课程，包括写作，我还担任（深圳大学）外国语学院的外教协调员。我来自美国的密歇根州，位于美国的北部，与加拿大毗邻。从2005年开始，我一直在这里任教，这是我在深圳大学度过的第17个 年头。
When I was a child, I never imagined that I would live in China one day. My hometown, Fairgrove, Michigan, only has a population of about 600 people, so it’s very very small. At that time, I was teaching writing for Central Michigan University, which is located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, which was also my alma mater for both my undergraduate and post-graduate degrees. So, I had been living in Michigan for 28 years, but I decided to make the move to teach abroad. At first, I actually went to Japan where I taught for three years at a public junior and senior high school. Then I first came to China as I came to Taiwan to teach for one year. And then I went to Thailand to teach for a year and finally came to Shenzhen University in 2005.
小时候从未想过自己有一天会住在中国。我的家乡，密歇根州的费尔格罗夫，人口只有600人，非常非常小。大学毕业后我在中央密歇根大学教写作。这所大学位于密歇根的芒特普萊森特，是我本科和研究生就读的母校。 我在密歇根州生活了28年之后决定到外面走走，去国外教书。最开始 ，我去了日本，在一所公立中学教了三年书。之后到了中国，在台湾教了一年书。然后我去了泰国，也教了一年。几经辗转，2005年，我终于来到了深圳大学。
I love Shenzhen University. The long answer is, yeah, my original plan was to only teach here for one year and then I thought I’d go back to Thailand. But after teaching here for only one year, I knew that it wasn’t enough. One reason is, well, the campus is so beautiful. I mean, there’s fruit trees everywhere. There’s a forest on campus. There are two lakes. Another reason had to be my colleagues. They were so warm and welcoming like a family away from home. Even in my first month at the University, we had a group outing, hiking to Wutong Mountain. It was really a great experience, a great introduction to Shenzhen and Shenzhen University as well as a great memory still today. But the main reason had to be the students. I just love teaching them. They really impressed me both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities, especially in the annual foreign language drama competition. So, after that one year, I knew it wasn’t enough. And I also remembered my father’s advice about how important job satisfaction was to having a happy life. And knowing that I love my job at Shenzhen University, I decided to stay for a second year. And then suddenly two years had turned into five, and I knew that Shenzhen University was my home.
我热爱深圳大学。老实说，最初我只计划在这里教一年书，然后就回泰国去。但在这里教了一年后，我意识到这还不够。其中一个原因是校园太美了。里面到处都是果树，还有一片茂密的小树林，另外还有两个湖。另外一个原因就是我的同事。他们非常热情好客，就像我在异国他乡的家人。刚到深大的第一个月，学院就组织了一次郊游，去爬梧桐山。那真是一次令人难忘的活动，让我对深圳和深圳大学有了非常好的印象。直到今天，这依然是一段非常美好的回忆。促使我决定留下来的最重要的一个原因是我的学生们。我非常喜欢这里的学生。他们在课堂上和课外活动中都给我留下了深刻的印象，特别是在一年一度的外语戏剧比赛中。一年的时间转眼就过去了，我却觉得意犹未尽。我父亲曾经告诉我，“幸福的人生离不开幸福的工作”。既然我那么享受自己在深圳大学的工作，我决定再待一年。于是一年变成了两年，两年变成了五年，再然后，深圳大学就成为了我的家。
Shenzhen University has greatly expanded. It’s added two new campuses, there’s new majors, new colleagues, and it’s even become more international. And I’ve also grown and matured myself. I even started a family. And Shenzhen University, of course, played a role in this as well. It was actually two Shenzhen University international students who introduced me to my wife Nova, who comes from the Philippines. That was back in 2008. Then two years later in 2010 we got married. A year later in 2011, our son Braeden was born. Four years after that our second son Robbie was born. And it’s not just me who is part of the Shenzhen University community. Both of my children attended the Shenzhen University kindergarten. Now they are both attending local primary schools, making our family tricultural and trilingual.
这些年深圳大学变化很大。增加了两个新的校区，院里有了新的专业，新的同事，而且也变得更加国际化了。我自己也在慢慢成长成熟，组建了自己的家庭。其实深圳大学也在我的家庭中扮演了重要角色。当年就是两个深圳大学的留学生把我介绍给了我来自菲律宾的妻子Nova。那是在2008年。两年后，也就是2010年，我们结婚了。一年之后，2011年，我们的儿子Braeden出生了。四年后，我们的第二个儿子Robbie出生了。不仅我属于深圳大学这个大家庭，我的两个孩子都上了深圳大学（附属）幼儿园。现在，他们在我们居住的片区上小学，我们家现在是“三种文化，三种语言”。
Well, we love it. We are so proud to say that we have three hometowns. One is my hometown in America. The second one is my wife’s hometown. But we think of Shenzhen as our chosen hometown, our real hometown. And I really want to thank Shenzhen University for making us feel like Shenzhen is our home.
我们一家子都热爱深圳。我们会很自豪地说，我们有三个家乡。一个是我在美国的故乡。第二个是我妻子的故乡（菲律宾），深圳则是我们一家人自己选择的家乡，我们真正的家乡。我想由衷感谢深圳大学，它让我们感受到深圳才是我们的家。
Well, I’m proud of so many things about my 17 years here at Shenzhen University. But one of them has to be to that I’ve been teaching here so long that some of my former students are now my colleagues. And our children even studied together at the Shenzhen University kindergarten!
我为自己在深圳大学17年的工作感到自豪。其中最让我感到自豪的是，我在这里教了这么久的书，我以前的一些学生现在都成了我的同事，甚至我们的孩子都在深圳大学幼儿园一起上学。
Well, my most memorable experience is probably also one of my most difficult ones. But it’s the reason why I have so much gratitude for this university. It has to do with Covid-19. My family and I got stranded in the Philippines for nine months. And during that time, I joined many online communities such as “foreigners stuck out of China” and “foreigners stranded in the Philippines”. And many schools when the teachers couldn’t return to China to teach, they were fired. But Shenzhen University worked tirelessly to bring me back to teach so I can continue my China dream, my Shenzhen dream, my Shenzhen University dream! So, thank you Shenzhen University. I love you.
令我最难忘的事情应该也是我人生最困难的一段经历，也正是因为这个原因，我对这所大学充满了感激之情。这与新冠疫情有关。当年因为疫情，我和我的家人被困在菲律宾九个月。在那段时间里，我加入了许多在线社区，如“滞留在中国的外国人”和“滞留在菲律宾的外国人”。通过这些社区，我了解到，很多老师因为不能返回中国教书，被学校解聘了。但深圳大学一直不离不弃，费尽周折，最终使我能够重返中国，回到讲台，继续我的中国梦，我的深圳梦，我的深圳大学梦！谢谢深圳大学，我爱你。
