Making strides: Hong Kong student fights low self-esteem to improve herself and help others
- Ko Wing-lam overcomes tough family situation, insecurity to become a finalist in Best Improvement category for Student of the Year Awards
- Another finalist, Rachel Yu, learns to let go of perfectionism streak and make improvements step by step
Ko Wing-lam has been battling low self-esteem since she was young.
The 20-year-old Form Six student had a poor relationship with her mother, who placed tough demands on her and berated her “all the time” whenever she did something wrong. Her father rarely intervened when the scoldings occurred.
Student of the Year 2020/21 - Positive Thinking
Her mother also seemed constantly stressed by the family’s difficult financial situation, which was compounded by the huge debts run up by Ko’s uncle.
Riddled by self-doubt because of the constant scoldings, Ko said she used to feel insecure and viewed herself as a “failure”, as she did not seem to show improvement.
Despite being able to enter her mother’s preferred secondary school, Ko failed most of her subjects because she was not interested in studying and was told to repeat Form One twice. Instead, she spent a lot of time taking part in extracurricular activities.