Grateful Grad of 2020 @HKUST
It has been a year since I stepped back onto the campus grounds of HKUST. In November 2019, just 2 months after the semester began last year, I scrambled hurriedly with my suitcase half-packed, back to Taiwan. Who knows that upon return it has been a year. The campus hasn’t changed much, but as returning graduates, we had. In retrospection, the undergraduate years spent in HKUST were condensed in time capsules, with each semester highlighted with mini milestones.
I had been in haste – moving from one equilibrium to the next in those undergraduate years, eyes on the schedule, hand ticking down to-do lists, soles hurrying from one terminal to the next. I recall orientation days before year 1 started, when I used to take walks to the beach with J**** and M****, with music and dreams chiming along with the breeze. And then year 1 started, and with the hectic activities that came along, those walks became a luxury, while the seaside panorama became a picture printed outside the library windows, within reach yet distant in reality.
Taking graduation photos with J**** and M****** blessed us with the opportunity to revisit the sites where precious memories were implanted. The library with the mesmerizing sea panorama, the HKUST business school, Hall 3 (where we struggled and adapted in our first year haha), and seaside walks were full of pleasant surprises. Walking around with our graduation gowns in the chilly October weather was no easy task, as it flapped along with the wind and dragged as we “hiked” around the campus, from ground zero towards the IAS institute. Yet, the precious setting of revising campus as graduates who sowed through the rigor of HKUST training kept us grateful and light-hearted. We came along unprecedented surprises — secret trails, 180-degree panoramas, and renovated towers that had never been explored during our undergraduate years.
What do we take with us, after these years in University? The lifelong curiosity to learn, the perseverance of overcoming challenges, and the ability to build meaningful and lasting relationships with others, I believe. In retrospection, I learned most from seniors and peers, who introduced me to frontiers that I’d never imagined and stumbled into while exploring blindly alone. They provided guidance, direction, and counsel, in personal experiences, as cultural bridges, in career fields, and together in academic endeavors. These encounters happened outside the classroom, were kindled over weekly weekend meetings (MIG), and brewed seeds of aspiration that I’d always be grateful for.
Time is the best teacher — those closest to heart would always be around, despite changes in life stage, geography, and turbulences. There were friends who you’ve not seen for a while, yet upon reuniting you connect instantly as if time capsules transplanted you back to the previous encounter. We could only be grateful for these genuine moments. I met S***** in year 2, during our bus ride in a Hall 3 orientation trip to Tai O. Her exotic cultural and religious background, family dedication, grateful and humble attitude were elements that I respect and admire deeply. Upon returning to HKUST for the graduation photos, S***** showed me around — the secret walkways that led to that overlooked the HKUST campus from a panorama viewpoint, the Hall 3 dormitory where we stayed as roommates for a summer semester, and the seaside where we took many beautiful photos. Family, cultural diversities, and a curiosity in different disciplines/people/environments brewed flowing conversations as we sauntered around the campus, a panorama of nature beauty beneath our feet. “I have friends who lost one parent in Bangladesh. The situation is not good, yet I’ll be more than grateful if I could visit my family sometime next year.” “The school has been very generous, with a virtual graduation for both 2019 and 2020 graduates, I am very grateful.” (As science school 2019 graduation did not happen last November) “How is your brother? My brother has entered 7th grade…” “I know that my career in important, and people make sacrifices accordingly. Yet, I’d like to be in an environment that I feel safe and comfortable in.”
All these conversations remind me where our conversations started in that initial encounter — souls that were curious, embraced diversity and adversity, and how kind life has been for us despite turbulences. The different rituals of our day, the diverging disciplines in career, and the refreshing perspective she offers brought be back to where I started as a student — humble, rooted, hungry, and curious to explore. It is true that when connecting with old pals, the conversations close to heart brings us back to the old days, as we trace our growth and envision the future together.
I also learned never to rely too much on first impressions. They might be correct — these instincts we have, but people transform and grow over the blessings of life experiences. In year one, J**** was a guy that I had incorrect impressions with haha — introverted (?) (definitely not, as time taught me), nerdy (?) (nope, basketball guru), xxx(proved me wrong again), xxx (more biases to be named). Throughout our journeys in HKUST, we served as Taiwanese Students’ Association President and Vice Presidents in 2018, won the champion in the Chartwell investment competition as a group, and returned to HKUST for pictures together last weekend. I named a few “titles” and “ranks” in the previous sentence. Yet, as in life, you realize that what is important are the things not measured in numbers. Friendship, family, values, trust, gratefulness, discipline, perseverance, respect. It was the challenges worked out in holding TSA events, the late nights finishing the Anta DCF model together, the competitive pressures of HKUST business school courses, that built camaraderie along the journey. Time is the best teacher in life — interestingly enough, impressions can be misleading in our first encounters.
Thankful for the crew for the weekend of beautiful pictures and warm vibes:)
