A meeting of international minds

The Accounting Student

There are two ways to meet people from around the world - travel or invite them to come to you. And Anthea Kan Yuk-yan, who is currently in the third year of an HKUST degree in accounting and information systems, has seen that both methods work equally well.

As part of her extra-curricular involvement, Kan led in organising Hong Kong's 'model United Nations' conference in January last year. It brought together some 400 students from across the globe to discuss issues of pressing international importance and propose possible solutions.

'It was a large-scale conference and being one of the executive committee was a great experience,' says Kan, who helped coordinate the many volunteers needed to keep everything running smoothly. 'Overall, it showed me the importance of good interpersonal and communication skills, and was a chance to make friends with people from many different countries.'

A slightly similar experience was Kan's stint as a member of the HKUST team at an international case competition in Singapore in April this year. The team had to analyse an information technology-related problem and present their findings to a panel of judges.

The contest itself tested their powers of research and innovation. Besides this, there was also the challenge and excitement of pitting oneself against some of the region's top IT and business students and, subsequently, being able to 'network' with them.

'Altogether, we were in Singapore for a week, also attending seminars and joining in various visits and activities,' Kan says. 'But perhaps the best thing was mixing with people from different cultures and having the chance to learn from them.'

Congregation Schedule

School of Business and Management

Date: November 17 (Thursday)
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Hong Kong Jockey Club Atrium, HKUST Campus, Clearwater Bay