The HKUST Business School continues its commitment to creating a world-class and multi-cultural learning environment, where students can experience many different cultures and values. Today its 3160 undergraduate students represent a highly international community from more than 40 countries.
Choice for Top Scorers
Our school opens its doors to high-achieving talent from anywhere in the world, and in the 2014/15 academic year we welcomed 141 first-year undergraduates from outside Hong Kong. Anastasia Chrysilla, a top IB Diploma scorer from Indonesia, finds Hong Kong has much to offer with its unique position which blends Eastern and Western cultures and is the gateway to China. She wants to learn and practice Mandarin, the language that she believes will offer a better post-graduation prospect.
“I plan to work in Hong Kong or the Mainland in future and the experience at HKUST will be valuable for pursuing a career in the region,” she said. “HKUST is also situated on a site of sweeping natural beauty and provides a quiet and nice study environment, yet it is conveniently located to explore the city.”
Anastasia finds Hong Kong students are friendly and helpful. Many have given her practical tips to live in a new environment. She sometimes hangs out with new friends that she met in the orientation camp and the Business Cohort Community (BCC) – a student-led group aimed to strengthen peer-to-peer relationships among business undergraduates.
A former Cohort Leader Cherrie Hui, and now a final-year local student, has enjoyed chatting away with students from different countries as they have very different stories to share. Cherrie said the BCC renders the same support to both local and international students, and offers a perfect platform for year-one students to make swift and smooth adaptations to university life.
Students come to HKUST for many reasons and Allen Chen, a GSAT top scorer from Taiwan, is attracted by the reputation of the Global Business (GBUS) Degree program.
“I chose HKUST because of its renowned business education, especially its GBUS program which provides us with more opportunities to interact with people from all over the world and to have a better foothold for our future occupation,” said Allen.
From Near and Far
The School has also seen a growing interest from students of new countries. Joining the school for the first time in recent years includes students from, for example, Slovakia, Kazakhstan and El Salvador.
Ruben Gavrilov, who was born in Slovakia and grew up in Moscow, was looking for some experience away from Europe. “As I study Finance, Hong Kong is a perfect place,” he said. “Living in this city is definitely a completely different experience from my hometown in every way - the climate, cuisine and people.”
Ready to Work Anywhere
The chance to study with students from abroad or to study abroad can help develop a curiosity or an appreciation of other nations and cultural norms – one of many traits that can help students build a global career.
By immersing herself into a diverse learning environment, Cherrie has many good friends from around the world. She also turned the tables by being an “international” student on an exchange program in 2013 in Barcelona, where she found out more about the city’s rich culture and cuisine.
Cherrie will graduate this year and is open to career opportunities anywhere. “I have developed a global mindset and learned to respect others who are different from us,” she said. “I am confident to work in any country, with people of different backgrounds and perspectives.”
She encourages both local and overseas freshmen to maintain an open-minded and fun-loving attitude during their studies. “Play hard, work hard and value the diverse learning, real-world experience on campus that will connect us closer to a globalized world today and down the road.”