Fok Pei Hang hopes to work for a major financial institution with a multicultural workforce, and she believes that winning this award has helped her take a big step in the right direction. It enabled her to join the ”Global Immersion Programme – Australia (Sydney) Study Tour” in January 2020, a programme organised by her School to provide students with opportunities for international business environment exposure, and get vital exposure to a different culture.
The trip also proved meaningful in terms of Fok's personal growth. Instead of focusing on such popular topics as animal welfare, her team chose instead to explore the lives of a small group of people neglected by others in an affluent city.
“For the two-week programme, we focused our research on homeless people living rough in places like subway stations,” Fok says. “We were surprised that the homeless problem is quite serious in a prosperous and picturesque city like Sydney. This was an eye-opening experience that improved our knowledge and understanding of the social issues facing some advanced economies.”
Fok was delighted to receive the award, which recognises her efforts to achieve academic excellence. Looking back over the multiple challenges of the past year, including learning at home and a substantial amount of independent study, Fok believes she overcame each one successfully, and the resulting sense of achievement has boosted her self-confidence.
''The video lectures and tutorials conducted online really tested my self-discipline because there are distractions at home,” she says. “Nevertheless, I adapted and made the most of them. Fortunately, our group projects were not disrupted, even though the campus was closed. My team was still able to spend a lot of time working at the university library. We also found ways to motivate each other to study and do revision in preparation for the exams.”
