Emerald PASFIELD

Student of University of Wollongong, Australia
Exchange to Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude and be thankful for the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards – supported by CK Infrastructure. My experience on exchange has been life changing, and a dream comes true. For many years, I have wished to see myself learning, travelling and hopefully working somewhere in China due to my interest in its rapid economic development. Last year, I completed an internship in Shanghai as an acquisitions analyst and absolutely loved it. On the way back home, I had a two-day trip in Hong Kong and fell absolutely in love with the vivacious city.

After the brief stay in Hong Kong, I was attracted to it, and was desperate to get back to the city again. As soon as I could manage, I emailed to my university's exchange office and asked about the possibility to study there with a plan to find myself a graduate position and go there.

I was determined, I attended every exchange fair, I applied for all the scholarships, I had everything organised and soon my determination led me to the vibrant city of Hong Kong with the support of the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Awards.

People always ask me, "What is it about Hong Kong that you love so much?", for me it is just a perfect little island, it is an island of complete contrasts, city and nature, old and new, rich and poor, loved and unloved, fast and slow, western culture and eastern culture... this list goes on. I am also a finance major, so being in Hong Kong, a global financial hub and major port, has always been inspiring. It has been hard not to adopt the busy Hong Kong lifestyle. There was always something to do in Hong Kong, whether to explore Hong Kong itself or its conveniently close neighbouring countries. During my semester, I had the privilege of taking many weekend trips visiting Taiwan, Cambodia, Mainland China, Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines.

It has been an incredibly enriching experience, studying here in Hong Kong has been very beneficial as I found the courses a little more practical than those in Australia. The spirit at the Hong Kong Baptist University has been yet another great experience. I was lucky enough to be included in the school hall volleyball team and became the undefeated champion of the interhall sports competition. My time in Hong Kong has blessed me with many new good friends from all over the world. I highly recommend the experience to everyone.

I now hope to continue my exchange here so that I can keep on enjoying dim sum shoulder to shoulder with locals, weekend hikes and Hong Kong style BBQ on rooftop with all my new local and international friends. I hope this experience would possibly be the start of a big and exciting life chapter, wish me luck! Thank you.

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