Renowned guests shared their success and life experience with some 200 Form 4 and 5 students in the “Shaping Your Future: A Lifetime of Difference” programme organised by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) today (21 April). In addition to talks delivered by guests from different fields, sharing sessions were arranged to help students identify their objectives and goals in order to make appropriate choices for their undergraduate programmes and universities.

Professor Way Kuo, CityU President, Dr Ricky Szeto Wing-fu, Executive Director, Hung Fook Tong Holdings Limited, and Ms Dilys Chau Suet-fung, Partner of Ernst & Young and CityU alumna, shared their academic, research and work experiences during the talks. In addition, Ms Susanna Lau Mei-sze, General Manager, Marketing & Business Development, Travel Expert; the author Mr Ong Yi-hing; former windsurfing representative Mr Chan King-yin; and the musician and CityU alumnus Mr Chet Lam Yat-fung, discussed how to face challenges and realise their dreams.

Professor Kuo stressed in his talk the importance of learning, encouraging students to study what they wanted to do rather than what everyone else was doing. “One’s success does not depend on which university you go to, or which popular professional programme you take. Instead, you should follow your heart and consider how you can contribute to society,” said Professor Kuo, adding every profession will have its foremost experts.

In addition, in response to changes in society, he said CityU’s new Discovery-enriched Curriculum (DEC) would allow young people to undertake research while at university. The DEC gives students opportunities to develop their individual potential by fostering discovery and innovation.

Sharing his personal experience, Dr Szeto encouraged students to work toward goals that they set for themselves. Being diligent and conscientious helped achieve goals, and success depended on perseverance and enthusiasm, he said, reminding students not to neglect trivial matters as that could reflect on the way they handled matters. He also shared an old adage with the students: “To govern a country and bring peace to all, one should first be able to govern one's family; to govern one's family successfully, one should first learn to govern oneself.”

A graduate of CityU’s Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Accountancy, Ms Chau encouraged students to stay interested in new things and embrace challenges in order to enhance their strengths in their pursuit of goals. She added that to be successful, you had to grasp every opportunity or challenge even if this was not the most popular course of action. But taking herself as an example, Ms Chau said that if you were willing to take up the challenge, you would benefit in the end.

In addition to the talks, the participating students also visited CityU’s research and teaching facilities, while representatives from CityU’s colleges and schools introduced their respective departments and undergraduate programmes as well as prospects for further studies and graduate career development.

This is the third year that CityU has hosted the “Shaping Your Future: A Lifetime of Difference” programme. In each of the last two years, the programme has attracted 150 senior form students. This year 200 students from more than 100 secondary schools were invited from over 600 applicants. After the full-day programme, many participants said that they had gained a lot from the activities, adding that the programme had helped them understand CityU better and had inspired them to make early plans for their future.

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