CityU prepares competitive professionals with international vision for society

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is holding its 2007 Congregation from 6 November to 15 November. This year, two graduates, Sandy Kwan Yee Mei and Louise Zhang Lu, successfully embarked upon their professional careers after benefiting from the integrated whole-person education provided by CityU.

Sandy graduated with First Class Honours in BSocSc (Hons) Policy Studies and Administration. She is now working as a management trainee at the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA). “I attended the summer internship scheme organised by AA in my second year. During the internship, I was able to apply what I learned in class and experience the real work environment”, she said.

Sandy emphasised that the internship experiences with AA increased her understanding of the operations of the international airport. From then on, she made it a career goal to join AA. Finally, by virtue of her excellent performance during her internship with AA and her outstanding academic results, Sandy fulfilled her wish. She was selected from more than 2,000 applicants as one of the four management trainees hired by AA.

“Thanks to the guidance and opportunities offered by CityU, I grew up as a university graduate with professional knowledge, specialty skills and global vision from a secondary school student with no real career aspirations,” said Sandy.

Aside from attending the internship scheme with AA, she also had the opportunity to attend international forums and exchange programmes in France, Australia and mainland China. She particularly valued the semester studying at The University of Warwick, UK, as an exchange student. Through CityU’s student exchange programmes, her dream of studying abroad came to fruition and she was exposed to life and cultures very different from Hong Kong. “The University offered us a lot of opportunities. You can develop your own talent, as long as you learn to grasp it”, she said.

Just like Sandy, Louise with First Class Honours in BBA (Hons) Finance, knew she had to seize the opportunity of developing her full potential. She recalls how she was in the dark without any career goals three years ago, when she came to Hong Kong from Shanghai. Nurtured by CityU's comprehensive programmes, she graduated with more confidence. Owing to her deep interest in the finance sector and her outstanding academic performance, Louise was selected from more than 1,000 applicants to become one of the three local trainees hired by a renowned international investment bank.

Louise said the whole-person education at CityU allowed her to mature over the course of just three years. The exchange schemes broadened her vision and greatly enriched her educational and life experience. She had also been a residence tutor and a Student Ambassador while studying at CityU. “As a residence tutor, I had the chance to deal with all age groups from different departments and to improve my communication skills. By organising the inter-hall activities, I obtained valuable experience in cooperating with others. As for being a Student Ambassador, I got to receive guests from different sectors and introduce them to CityU. This helped to improve my communication skills and assert my self-confidence,” said Louise.

The two outstanding graduates said they had stepped onto the road to success with gratitude and would value every opportunity and work hard to contribute positively to CityU and society.

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CityU excels in professional education and applied research.

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For media enquiries, please contact Jo Kam, Communications Office, City University of Hong Kong at 3442 6806 or 6033 5947.