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Participating in SEYSA Chapter Ten is definitely a rewarding and enjoyable experience.

My mentor, Dr. Paul Luk, is very knowledgeable and is willing to share his experience with me. During our meet-up, he told me a lot of stories, ranging from his study at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Oxford, to his work experience as a researcher at Hong Kong Monetary Authority and as a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. Since my aspiration is to work in law and business related fields, his experience is definitely enlightening.

Dr. Luk’s words are also very inspiring. He encourages me to try out different activities, even though they may not seem directly relevant to my career pursuit. In fact, through joining different activities, I can acquire new knowledge and skills, including analytical and critical thinking skills that are widely applicable in daily life. Joining diverse events also add color to my university life.

It is a great pleasure chatting with Dr. Luk. Apart from talking about career plans and university life, Dr. Luk also raised philosophical issues which I find interesting and captivating. For instance, he discussed the book Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond with me, and explored the theory on why Eurasians are more civilized.

Dr. Luk is a friendly and approachable mentor who is always ready to offer insightful advice. I believe that we can keep in touch in the future, and our relationship will last even after the closing of the mentorship programme.

At the terrace of The Ladies Recreation Centre overseeing a sunny view, I met with Dr. Emily Wong and her other mentees for afternoon tea. It might sound like an overstatement, but that afternoon with Emily shook something in me that has since then changed my perspective and goals as a young aspiring doctor.

Emily’s early years in the medical field resonates with my current, early journey in medical school. Having studied in The Chinese University of Hong Kong, I felt at ease as we talked about my school curriculum, her inspirational interactions in medical school, and how she figured out what she wanted to pursue – Ophthalmology and treating children – through a myriad of experiences.

Emily inspires me tremendously. Aside from her kindness, approachable demeanor and enthusiasm for her work and for life, I was almost immediately drawn to her willingness to expose herself to multiple opportunities for her academic and character development upon entering medical school.

A valuable lesson I learned interacting with Emily was to not simply have courage, but to also act on courage for service and learning. Compared to the wealth of Emily’s medical school extracurricular exposure as a year 2 medical student, as of now, I have taken part in barely anything. This dawned on me while Emily passionately recounted her experiences with Orbis, at Geneva’s World Health Assembly in the WHO Headquarters, and with student-led initiatives. Hearing her stories have pushed me to look beyond my comfort zone and to really think about what I’d like to pursue before and beyond graduating from medical school.

I think my biggest excuse for not engaging in as much as Emily once did is that I am prone to feeling anxious about not putting in enough effort and time into learning what is taught at university. With the workload transition between year 1 and 2, I’ve also realised I might need more time to organise and learn content in order to feel secure and intrinsically satisfied. I now perceive this rather perfectionistic characteristic of myself to be an impediment in pulling me away from the books. While I do participate in an array of short-term projects, have been in the basic research lab, and shadow at the hospital from time to time, meeting Emily has really driven me to search for causes, passions and a direction I’m truly interested in pursuing. For Emily, after developing an interest in ophthalmology, she actively sought for opportunities regularly, and did not use school workload as an excuse for not participating in her interests. This is something about Emily that I truly wish to embody – her interests were not consistently pushed aside due to fear; they were actively chased and embraced.

Since the last meeting with Emily, I have reached out to people who inspire me to join their activities. Some include shadowing a clinical oncologist and making plans for basic research and an attachment at a hospital in Korea for this summer. I’m really excited about immersing myself and finding what I want out of life.
The mentorship experience has been a golden highlight of my year with SEYSA. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being around the mentees and my mentor who have all fostered a community in which our personal growths have been celebrated. I am very grateful and blessed to have had this opportunity and look forward to putting what I’ve learned with my heart.

Joining the Chapter Ten Mentor programme is one of my best decisions made with SEYSA. The programme proves a structured platform for me to learn from the more experienced and expand my social circle.

My mentor, Dickson, is a senior management member from a multinational firm. Not only did he share with us his career and personal life, but he also tailor made our meet up time to our needs. I remember sharing with him that I was unsure how to conduct my first interviews at work. In the subsequent meetings, he talked about how we can evaluate candidates. Of course, I applied the skills in my work and they have been useful. I am sure the sessions were as fruitful to my groupmates, some of whom are still in school, as to me, for they can put themselves into the shoes of the people sitting across the table during interview preparation.

I also appreciate how SEYSA organised a series of activities for Chapter Ten participants. Through the events, I was able to connect with fellow Youders and learn from great minds. Chapter Ten is truly a mentorship programme that gives us plenty of opportunities to explore and grow.

For those who have graduated, I particularly recommend you to join Chapter Ten such that your perspective will not be limited by your work, which is sometimes unfortunately the case. Mentorship should not just for those in school. We can always benefit from those who have walked our path and those who are walking.

It has been a privilege to participate in SEYSA’s Chapter Ten Mentorship Programme as a mentee. Having now worked in the Hong Kong legal industry for over three years, I found the programme’s workshops and events immensely helpful in shaping my goals with respect to my career and social contribution. I was honoured to have Mr. Nelson Yip, MH as my mentor. Mr. Yip is a role model – not only in terms of his dedication towards public service or his successes in various business ventures, but also in terms of his attitude towards life. Having spoken to Mr. Yip on several occasions, as well as having listened to his speech during a workshop, it was apparent to me that Mr. Yip’s achievements stem from his positive attitude and passion. Through my participation in the programme, I came to appreciate the importance of these values in order to live a fulfilling life, which has provided me with the confidence to make new developments in my career recently. I also found the various workshops that the programme organized very insightful, in particular, Dr. Jeffrey Hui’s speech on personal branding. I would like to thank the SEYSA Chapter Ten team and the mentors for creating such an educational and entertaining programme.

For most of the people, mentorship program is career-related and provides mentees a lot of “practical” knowledge. However, my mentor, Mr. Wilson, gave me a totally different experience in a way that I learnt much more than just “practical stuff”.

Mr. Wilson has already impressed me a lot during our first meeting. He has immersed in different fields of work before, ranging from advertising, art to coffee. He loved what he has been doing in the past and he is devoted to step out of the comfort zone and acquire new knowledge. While listening to his fruitful experience, I started to think again what “happiness” means – Is being stable equivalent to being happy? Or is being stable actually euphemistic to resisting any changes? This dinner led me to a deep reflection on my choice of life and was undoubtedly meaningful.

Hiking on Dragon’s Back was our second meeting. “I love hiking very much, as we can find back ourselves when facing the nature”, said Mr. Wilson. He is probably right. In contrast to our first meeting, all of us were more willing to share our stories, joy and sorrow included. Mr. Wilson also gave us various suggestions regarding our concerns, for instance, he made me feel much confident to explore new things.

Apart from the above experiences, he as a coffee devotee certainly teaches us a lot about coffee beans. After all, through this mentorship program, I have widened my horizons and even built up certain values. I will certain engrave these in my mind and hope that these experiences could even lead me to a new chapter in my life!

It has been 5 months since I first met Wilson. I still remember being nervous as I stood with Thomas in K11, scared that the first meet-up will be awkward, but my worries were proved unnecessary. Wilson had such a bright and easy-going personality, and from the moment he sat down, we did not stop talking. I knew from then that this will be a memorable experience.

I joined the program without knowing what I was looking for or expecting. Wilson was not my first choice of mentor, to be frank, but he has taught me more than I expected. Upon knowing him, I was impressed by the number of turns he had been through in his life. He is constantly challenging himself, stepping out of his comfort zone, and till this day, devoting himself in continuous self-improvement.

He constantly asked us, “what are you expecting from this program?” And none of us would have the answer back then. Now, as this program is coming to an end, I am feeling really fruitful and grateful. Maybe I did not get an insight into the health care world of Hong Kong as I thought I would if I was the mentee of another team, but there are plenty of chances in the future for me to do so as I step into the field. Yet what Wilson has taught us was invaluable. He never said it out loud, but his story and actions are such inspirations and motivations that I only hope to achieve as much as he had in his life. He has taught me to be brave and courageous in life, to not be afraid to devote yourself to things you are passionate about, and to take opportunities when they present themselves, even if that means you have to sacrifice something else.

Even though we have only met Wilson three times throughout the program, it has been a really meaningful experience. It has been a great pleasure for me to join this program, and form bonds with both Wilson and the other two mentees. We might not have known each other for long, but we will forever have the same pieces of memories to treasure!

It is my great pleasure and honour to receive the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Secondary School Award in my last secondary school year. Before engaging in the SEYSA big family, I was indeed an introverted boy, who always spent time on studying, in a hope to enter a good university as well as fulfill my parents’ desires. However, after the public examination, I then found that my living style is dull and boring, and I would like to have something more. Luckily, I am selected to be one of the mentees in SEYSA Mentorship Program. The program provides me with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet my awesome mentor Wilson, and two new friends Kitty and Thomas. Although the program is said to be end, I would still like to keep contact with my mentorship group.