Graduate and student stories
When William To Wai-lap graduated from the OUHK in 2008, the economy was hard hit by the global financial crisis. He worked briefly as a bank teller, and afterwards took up a training post in a social service organization. Now, he has settled down as a financial planner, harvesting good profits after five years of effort. At the same time, he runs a promising wedding and event planning business with his wife, where he doubles as a master of ceremonies.
William went to study in the United States following the HKCEE, but due to financial constraints, he was forced to return to Hong Kong upon completion of the associate degree. His plan to continue his university education back home, unfortunately, was thwarted by the fact that he never sat for the HKALE. Having little choice, he had to set his dream aside and enter the job market, until he learnt of the OUHK’s launch of the full-time Social Sciences degree. It being a new programme, first-year admission was the only option, yet William was more than pleased to be back to school and gladly enrolled. He regarded this relatively late start as compared with his secondary school friends optimistically, ‘I felt determined to gain back the lost time and was keen to learn as much as possible.’ In the small campus of the University, he enjoyed close interactions with his classmates, who would stay behind in the library to discuss assignments. He was also grateful to his teachers, who were very approachable and welcoming to students’ questions. Eventually his efforts paid off: he graduated with first-class honours on scholarships four years straight.
Apart from studying, William turned a wonderful page of his life by engaging in extra-curricular activities. When full-time programmes were yet a novelty to the University, he co-founded the first session of the Student Society of Social Sciences, gleaning a valuable lesson through organizing its first orientation camp with zero resources and limited experience. Later on, he proposed himself as a master of ceremonies in University events, and has since become the most featured host in major events such as anniversary banquets, campus ground breaking and campus opening. The numerous experiences of holding the reins before celebrities and high officials, including the Chief Executive, have given him a strong command of the stage. After his graduation, this gradually developed into a second career. His presence was frequently sought in charity events, large-scale competitions and corporate annual dinners, among them the ‘Elderly Century Wedding’ organized by Volunteer Space which he hosted six times. From 2010, at the start-up of his wedding business, he has been the master of ceremonies of over a hundred wedding banquets. By now he is in total control of his stage, keeping his wits and composure as he drives the rhythm of and set the tone for each event.
And William lost no time to pursue further studies. In 2010, he caught up with his secondary school friends by obtaining a master’s degree in the same year as them. Studying at the OUHK has taught him the importance of identifying clear goals and finding ways to realize them. He encourages his juniors to go all out in studying as well as extra-curricular activities, as what is learnt will always belong to oneself.
Back in 2011, Ken Kwok Ka-chun’s father put his dream of setting up an organic farm into action. Seeing that his father was having a hard struggle, Ken, who has been in the marketing field after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, lent a helping hand in marketing. His efforts did not immediately pay off, though; the farm business was caught up in a bottleneck. To make a breakthrough, Ken decided to earn professional knowledge from a Master of Business Administration. He enrolled in the OUHK in 2013, finding its flexible distance learning mode a perfect fit for his schedule and impressed by its faculty qualifications.
In spite of working two jobs, Ken was rarely absent for the tutorials, as he found the contemporary business cases discussed highly relevant. He has volunteered to present the business conditions of the farm in class, which the tutor responded with constructive feedback. Listening to the practical experiences of classmates from diverse backgrounds also enriched his understanding of various industries. Once he invited his class to the farm for a barbecue. ‘From then on we have had more frequent interactions,’ says he, ‘We often discussed assignments and key areas of revision. It’s a pleasure to be able to maintain friendships as such even though distance learners don’t always meet.’ When he runs into operational problems, he will also consult classmates of relevant industries.
And Ken resolutely puts what he learnt into practice. The course on marketing management, for example, taught him the importance of understanding one’s business competitors in order to lead them. To stand out from the pack, he began to probe into competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and employ a strategy of differentiation, bringing in new crops and farm activities. Strategic management theory, which emphasizes business diversification, inspired him to develop an integrated farm that offers an array of services consisting of not only the sale of produce and farm rental but also workshops and guided tours, as well as to broaden the customer base by strengthening online marketing.
He appreciates the ample learning resources offered by the OUHK, especially the support of the online learning system. Recently graduated, he has acquired the skills to find order in chaos, develop rules and hence build an operating structure for the farm. His business has been gradually picking up since: ‘I really appreciate this programme. The strategies that I’m using now are something I had never thought of. That’s how we were stuck.’ Meanwhile, he is running the farm full time and has nailed down the strategy of diversification, planning to tailor programmes for schools, organizations and corporations. He is determined to bring the farm to the apex of the industry: ‘I hope one day when people in Hong Kong talk about organic farms, they’ll think of us straight away.’
The father’s dream has become the son’s dream: ‘I love creating things from scratch and making them flourish. The farm is an example that I take pride in.’
Training as a Scout since the age of seven, Janet Kung Tsz-shan exudes an energetic charisma in her unmistakably athletic look. She was recently named Scout of the Year 2015, proof of her all-round superiority in Scouting activities, academic performance, social services and so on.
When she takes off her Scout uniform, Janet is a year 2 student of the full-time nursing programme. She had opted for the OUHK’s nursing programme because of its reputation in the industry, having heard from a doctor-friend that its students are highly regarded in general. Finding dry text hard to digest, she has come up with her own learning strategies: resorting to audio-visual materials, creating graphic handouts and reading lengthy drug names aloud until they are firmly retained in the memory. While the nursing programme combines theory and practice, Janet is particularly fond of the clinical practicums: ‘Hands on experience in a hospital setting is very helpful in preparing us to cope with the real world of nursing.’
Janet admits to being a little nervous to set her hands on such tasks as foley catheter insertion and cleaning wounds in her first practicum, which took place at a public specialist out-patient clinic. Fortunately, thanks to solid pre-practicum training, it went largely hassle-free. ‘Our teachers are generous in sharing their front-line experiences,’ says Janet, ‘Moreover, they tend to set a higher bar for us during clinical simulations than would be required in the actual wards.’ The teachers are no less concerned about students’ personal attributes, emphasizing the virtues of integrity and punctuality: ‘Being late for class for one minute is taken as absent.’ Thus, in times of practicum, Janet would always arrive at the hospital ahead of time to get herself fully prepared, including checking her uniform and looks, to maintain a professional image.
Decade-long Scouting training has allowed Janet to adjust easily to the strict discipline requirements for a nurse. More than that, it inspired her to become an adventure coach and exposed her to the little-known sport of ice climbing. She joined the Hong Kong national ice climbing team as the only female member, earning an impressive 22nd place in world ranking in the speed event along with her teammates. Additionally, she is adept at many other sports, including swimming, diving, volleyball and rugby, and holds multiple professional qualifications. Last year, she placed third in the women’s beginner division of the Inter-university Sport Climbing Championship.
Scouting and sport training alike have contributed to Janet’s good concentration, agility, independent problem-solving ability and sophisticated communication skills. Moreover, her love of challenges makes her an ideal candidate for the complex and unpredictable nursing work. Now, she is looking forward to practicums in various specialisms, to try and learn as much as she can.
Lewis Lau Tsz-kin’s interest in photography sprouted back in secondary school, after he bought his first single-lens reflex camera to snap the best shots of his favourite K-pop group. Learning about the OUHK’s professional photography programme before sitting for the HKDSE, he gladly included it in his list of programme choices. He was admitted, and is now in the third year of studying for the Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in Cinematic Design and Photographic Digital Art.
Lewis is primarily drawn by the ‘fun’ aspect of photography. Since studying at the University, he has been involved in the OUHK Photography Society as well as the Joint University Photographic Society, honing photography skills through observations and exchanges of ideas. In year 1, he attempted his first dance shoot of fellow students under the lead of the Photography Society’s executive committee. In year 2, he started taking dancing lessons himself.
His first-hand experience in dancing, coupled with attentive observation during dance rehearsals, enabled him to develop a keen grasp of the magical moments of movement. His works began to catch the attention of other universities’ dance societies. Photography service requests arrived one after another; at a peak season he was invited to shoot for ten dance societies in a row. He knows best that he can only take his skills to the next level by ‘shooting nonstop’, so he volunteers to shoot artistic photos for friends and works part-time in a wedding photography company.
Lewis has a penchant for portrait photography. Stylistically, he forgoes overly refined high-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging for the softer, more natural Japanese tone, producing photographs that carry a bluish orange tint. Last year, he captured the solidarity of the OUHK team during the Joint-University Mass Dance and took home his first photography prize: the championship of the ‘Most Memorable Moment @OUHK’ competition.
The active student surely has many memorable moments of his own at the University: ‘Our relatively small campus brings student societies together during event preparations. It feels like a family.’ An unforgettable experience came from the eve of the last Registration Day, when everyone stayed up to get the orientation materials ready: ‘The Dance Society lagged behind, but in the end friends from other societies chipped in. That was really touching.’ To Lewis, campus life at the OUHK does not pale in comparison with that of other universities at all: ‘Other than the lack of hall life, everything is perfect.’
The two years of study have inspired his artistic sense and expanded his knowledge in photography. He says confidently, ‘I’ve made the right choice!’ For someone who dislikes a desk-bound office job, flexible, creative work is the natural first choice. And in pursuing a career as professional photographer, Lewis already has plans to form a production team, before he goes after the ultimate dream of owning a studio.
