'In terms of my academic results, they were outstanding compared with the other business school students. Also, I'm an all-round individual who takes part in lots of extracurricular activities. My summer internship was also quite meaningful,' Mr Pow said.

He is a year three student with a double major in global business and finance. He is minoring in humanities and graduates in June.

'I am particularly interested in finance. I'm trying to find a job that will let me use what I've learned and that will let me interact more with people,' Mr Pow said.

'I'm an outgoing person and I don't want to have a boring job working all by myself. I'd like to pursue a career at an investment bank.'

Global business attracted Mr Pow for several reasons. It was a new programme that offered many opportunities for personal growth, such as an overseas exchange programme and the chance to take part in international competitions.

He was also impressed with HKUST's growing reputation as one of the best places in the region to study business.

'I was able to spend a semester at Wharton [at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States], which is especially strong in finance and management.

'It provided an excellent learning environment and also gave me the chance to see how business schools over there operate,' Mr Pow said.

Wharton's multicultural campus proved an eye-opening experience.

'There were students from many different cultural backgrounds so it added value to the exchange programme experience. It was my first trip to the US, so there were lots of challenges and I made a lot of friends from different cultural backgrounds. It was a very unique experience.'

Mr Pow was also upbeat about Wharton's interactive learning environment. 'The teaching methods there are quite different [from those in Hong Kong]. There was more emphasis on case analysis and group projects with fewer quizzes and exams. That was really interesting.'

Mr Pow said his time in the US had helped develop his linguistic skills as well. When he arrived, he could hardly understand what people were saying. By the time he left, he was having no problem understanding the various accents he was exposed to.

'In terms of speaking, there wasn't a significant improvement, but my listening skills improved a lot. I learned how to deal with different kinds of accent - not just with different regional American accents, but also with [other foreign] accents.'

Last summer, he took a one-month course to learn presentation skills and how to analyse cases in preparation for an international case competition, which he will take part in at Canada's prestigious McGill University early next year.

'We will be under a lot of time pressure. We will be given between 24 and 36 hours to analyse figures and come up with recommendations. This [kind of competition] will be very useful for my future career.'

Mr Pow is thrilled at being this year's scholarship winner.

'I think it is a great honour and also a great assurance for my future employers that I am a person with perseverance and ambition and an ability to learn,' he said. 'I am also pleased to have my hard work recognised by others - especially considering that Beta Gamma Sigma is a very renowned international organisation.'