WOW! I can’t believe that I have completed my first year of undergraduate studies in HKUST. I’ve got to admit that I’ve gone through way much more than I’ve expected before arrival on last August 2008.^.^ All the activities, the friends, the hall life…and of course the studies as well…everything was pretty much exciting, and I’ve gone through a wonderful year.
Being a first year BBA student, I’ve always wanted to maximize my time available in all events that I’m interested in, apart from studying 
. A little recap on the memorable events that I’ve participated in…….
In Fall Semester 2008, I am glad to have been involved in a community ser![1206566086625250088Anonymous_pen_pencil_3.svg.hi[1]](http://hkustinternational.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/1206566086625250088anonymous_pen_pencil_3-svg-hi1.png "1206566086625250088Anonymous_pen_pencil_3.svg.hi[1]")
vice project organized by the Rotaract Club of HKUST in collaboration with an NGO, Sowers Action. During the first two weeks of the project, we planned for a fund raising campaign called “Pens for Children” with all volunteers. Our target was to encourage people to donate a pen for the children for every HKD10 contributed. The campaign was a great success as we managed to raise over HKD20,000 (=2,000 pens!) from the UST community in just 3 days. During winter break, I joined the working group arranged by Sowers Action in a trip to visit the primary schools in the mountainous areas of Sichuan. It wasn’t a comfortable journey definitely (as it involves a LOT of travelling), but it was certainly a trip that inspires and is meaningful. Throughout the 7 days of the trip, I visited 5 major regions in Sichuan Province, 10 primary schools, and I’ve met more than 500 children i
n the schools! I am impressed to see the children studying hard and paying full attention to the teachers in classes. I also remembered the moments when the children were so excited when we gave out candies to them, and we took photos and shared it with them. At a point of time, I actually felt myself as though I’m “Santa”, bringing joy to these kids. Hohoho……I have also experienced the living environment of the villages which are isolated from the rapidly evolving technology and infrastructure. Well, that actually made me felt how lucky I am being brought up in a relatively comfortable and infrastructure-complete environment. At least, I do not need to walk for an hour or so to go to school everyday! Those kids are really wonderful!
Oh, and I actually went sight-seeing after the service trip around Sichuan Province. I went to “HaiLuo Gou” (Conch Gully), which is the biggest glacier park in China located in the Gongga Mountains in Western Sichuan. The place was tremendously beautiful and I had my first time snowing experience here! This is also a great place to dip into the hot springs and hike into the forests for the nice scenery of the glacier.
The beautiful HaiLuo Gou Glacier~
As for Spring Semester 2009, I was actively involved in the HKUST-Hang Seng Bank Green Ambassador Program. We had several site visits to learn about environment sustainability, global warming as well as energy conservation. As I’m one who’s pretty much interested in environment sustainability, I’m glad to be selected as a trainee of this program as I get to know more people who are share the same enthusiasm as me! Throughout the semester, we have also done several green related projects in campus in groups. I have been involved in the recycling projects and me and my team are glad to have launched several projects to encourage the community to save paper in computer barns, and reduce plastics and Styrofoam usage in food outlets in the campus. In April, we exhibited our projects in the Environment Week, and I’m glad that my team has also won as 1st Runner Up in the Green Challenge Competition organized by Hang Seng Bank! It was a fun learning experience and I’m glad that I have made impact and created awareness in the community on sustainability.
The Green Ambassadors~
and my fellow friends at a field trip to Hong Kong Wetland Park. We actually cleared the some wild crops in this site =)
Apart from these, I’ve also gone through some other fun events organized by the school and the university. Enjoy this summer everyone! And I believe there’s definitely more to come in my next year of studies. Looking forward to it!! Chao~~
Sherlyn Khor, Malaysia (BBA, Year 2)
