Greetings! This is Crystal (FS2017-18, The Education University of Hong Kong), a final year student majoring in English language education. When I first entered this tremendous community of Fung Scholars, I was told that this foundation aspired to foster a global community where Fung Scholars from all walks of life could network with one another, maintain friendships and exchange ideas, and ultimately, inspiring future pillars of the society. While it seemed like a far-fetched platitude to me two years ago, I, fortunately, am granted the chance to transform this vision into reality this year!

 

In fact, I am currently working as a part time research assistant at the University of Hong Kong. With our research objectives regarding the alignment between hall education and university education in different countries, we have to conduct interviews with university students not only in Hong Kong, but also around the globe. This year, we are lucky to have the chance to conduct our research at University of Cambridge in the UK. When it comes to recruitment of student interviewees, I, without hesitation, seized the chance to network with Fung Scholars in Cambridge right away. Thanks to the help of the Foundation, I attempted to communicate with a few Cambridge Fung Scholars through email. Among them, one of the Fung Scholars, CAO Yang Charles (FS2016-17, Nanjing University) was eager to give his helping hand, and thus a constant networking has started since then.

 

(L to R) Crystal and Charles

 

Charles was very helpful and enthusiastic. Not only did he help with recruitment of interviewees, but he also invited our research team to the high table dinner of his college (Queen’s College Cambridge), which is usually not open for non-college residents. Beyond dispute, I definitely had an unforgettable and eye-opening experience there.

 

High table dinner

 

Here I would like to express my gratitude to the Foundation again for granting me a chance to network with people around the globe. Special thanks to Tammy for helping out with the liaison. The Fung Scholar network is surely a heartwarming family full of friendships, and a place with stairs that lead Fung Scholars to reach out, dream big, and realize their aspiration. I am thankful to be a Fung Scholar.