Alumni Linkage — OU People

Alumni Communication & Support Alumni Linkage Past Issues September 2019 Issue Alumni Linkage — OU People

Lee Wan-yi is definitely a well-rounded talent. With a master's degree in language education, the versatile alumna has broken more than 20 archery records in Hong Kong and is currently holding a number of local records. Having acquired Bachelor of English Language Studies with Honours from the OUHK, she aspires to build a career in language teaching and speech therapy while pursuing archery.

As a child, Wan-yi had always been fond of shooting, be it rubber bands or darts. Being intrigued by the art of archery since a young age, she only started playing the sport at the age of 19. Merely four months picking up the bow and the arrow, the quick-learner broke Hong Kong's 18-meter record in Outdoor Recurve Junior Women Individual (age 19-20). She continued to break the 40-meter record in the junior session for her age group a year later. In 2015, she went on to win the championship in compound bow for women in the Hong Kong Target Archery Championship (Star Shoot), during which she also broke Hong Kong's record in the FITA round.

Loading arrows, getting ready and aiming at targets

A two-time participant in the Universiade, also known as the World University Games, in 2015 and 2017, Wan-yi recalled, 'The Universiade is like a mini Olympics since more than half of its participants will ultimately take part in the Olympics. I was thrilled to have the rare chance to watch at a close distance world-class athletes competing against one another. They included Korea's Ku Bon-chan, Ki Bo-bae and Kim Woo-jin, as well as Slovenia's Toja Ellison.'

A two-time participant in the Universiade, also known as the World University Games, in 2015 and 2017, Wan-yi recalled, 'The Universiade is like a mini Olympics since more than half of its participants will ultimately take part in the Olympics. I was thrilled to have the rare chance to watch at a close distance world-class athletes competing against one another. They included Korea's Ku Bon-chan, Ki Bo-bae and Kim Woo-jin, as well as Slovenia's Toja Ellison.'

Wan-yi never ceased to win accolades in sports during her studies here. Apart from being honored as the first Best Athlete of the Year in the University, she was awarded the Government's Talent Development Scholarship. Her outstanding academic scores warranted that she was on the Dean's list. After graduation, she obtained a Master of Arts in International Language Education from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Now working in a tertiary institution, she is an administrative officer responsible for programme coordination and teaching. Her future aspiration is to go for further studies in speech therapy.

Starting anew with every shot

Perhaps not surprisingly, the archer's motto has close relationships with archery. 'If you fail, try again; success is only a matter of time. Even if the last shot was not promising, you can start anew when you shoot the next arrow. Every arrow is a new beginning. Archery is about patience; do not itch for short-term results. Ephemeral success may lead to losses in the long run.' Serving as a part-time adjudicator for archery, Wan-yi is currently the instructor of an archery class at the OUHK. She has a few words for her fellow students, 'Choose a discipline, try your best to fall in love with it, and persevere. If you quit prematurely, the fun and goal of learning will be compromised altogether.'