When I applied for Laidlaw, the first impression was that it was merely about doing a summer research project, plus a few ad hoc tasks and a month abroad in another summer, nothing too heavy or impactful. But as it slowly turned from an agenda to reality, I realised my values, capacities and character underwent quite a bit of development.
If there is an imaginary thread holding my Laidlaw experience together, it would most likely be change-maker values in the 3C Framework. At the very beginning, ambition was what brought me into the programme, for I wanted to do a project on my own, and curiosity was what pushed my research project forward, because interest in the topic, as well as hope to find the answer to my research questions, kept me moving along the timeline and motivated me to follow through the data collection and analysis. Upon completion of the research project and bringing my poster to the conference, I saw paradigms of bravery. Fellow scholars were brave to speak out when witnessing unfairness, for both big and small things, things as big as large-scale political issues such as ICE and Palestine, and as small as a casual inappropriate remark in public. Even when someone supposedly respectable or in authority was involved, no one was afraid to speak up, which impressed me a lot, given the general political apathy and self-censorship in my daily exposure.
To be frank, the research project and the Durham conference presentation that followed also stretched my capacities. In that same summer, besides my project, I had to do an extra course during the summer semester, so there was a need for time management to handle the workload while sparing some time for a break. In addition, we encountered equipment issues in the experimental setup, which called for some design methodology and problem-solving. Process and performance capacities were more in the preparation stage, whereas people capacities were more featured in the showcase of results. I was picked to present my project to an international audience. For effective communication, I had to consider a few things: 1. Social and cultural background differences - Can they understand the justifications or contexts of my research and experimental set-up? Some research decisions are specifically based on conditions local to Hong Kong, such as having parents observe lessons at the back of the classroom. Is it necessary to explain them beforehand? 2. Potential knowledge disparity - Most others are medical students discussing medical topics, usually with biochemistry involved. Likely, I was the only Speech Therapy student in the room, presenting a project which scope veered towards education instead of medical sciences. How technical should I go in my content? Thankfully, it went well and should be engaging enough for the audience as an unfamiliar topic, with some questions from the floor here and there to clarify things further. This became a unique and novel experience of knowledge and cultural exchange which I found invaluable.
Character growth has been sprinkled across the year, kicked off with heightened self-awareness propelled by reflection exercises in the Oxford Character project. There was integrity and judgement in producing research results, humanity and humility to interact with people from different countries and backgrounds, accountability and drive to survive academic and personal challenges, and much collaboration expected in my LiA-in-progress. The Laidlaw Scholars Programme has helped me immensely in building a sense of identity as a citizen of the world, with a broadened vision to lead ethically. Bearing universal values in mind, I aim to bring forth changes through informed decisions made with reason and compassion, while keeping an open mind to learn from different perspectives through tight-knit communities, networking and mentorship.