A new book written by senior students and alumni at City University of Hong Kong that aimed to help freshmen adapt to their new lives at CityU was launched at a ceremony on 27 October.

 

This is the second volume of A Book for University Students (BUS), published with the help of the Education Development Office (EDO). It consists of a series of articles collected from the BUS writing competition held earlier this year.

 

The new publication reflects CityU’s commitment to strengthening its student-centered teaching approach and nurturing a caring culture among students, teachers and alumni.

 

“BUS is full of treasure,” said Professor Lilian Vrijmoed, Dean of Student Learning. “I hope that students can learn from it, and can start planning and working towards their goals. I am sure they will reap their harvest after they sow the seeds.” Professor Vrijmoed said she also hoped students would enjoy university life, support other students, and be brave enough to deal with the challenges ahead.  

 

There were around 120 entries in the writing competition, held between February and April this year. One of the panel judges Professor Chiang Kin-seng, Department of Electronic Engineering, said the entries would touch the hearts of readers who study, teach and work at CityU. The contents of the entries were very diverse, he added.

                                                                                                                                   

Professor Chiang said he hoped students could use the book to help them identify what they want from university, life and for their future careers.

 

“BUS was a joint effort by CityU teachers and students,” said Raymond Chan, a student representative from the Editorial Committee. “We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the University President, Professor H K Chang. He wrote the Chinese calligraphy for the front page of the book and supported our beliefs and values about helping freshmen adapt to a university environment and promoting a positive learning culture on campus.”

 

Other guests included Dr J T Yu, Chief Information Officer; Mr Joseph Chan, Director of Student Development Services; Professor Steve Ching, University Librarian; Dr Eva Wong, Head of EDO; Dr Anna Kwan, Senior Education Development Officer of EDO; and teachers who wrote the book’s preface.

 

The book consists of 100 articles with the following eight themes: adaptation; setting goals; managing resources; studying in university; experiencing life outside campus; living on campus; making friends; and expressing oneself. Compared with the first volume, the second covers more content and has more pages. Many students—undergraduate, postgraduate, associate degree, and those from foundation courses—showed their enthusiasm by contributing to the project.   

 

First prize in the writing competition went to the article “I found it” written by Henry So, a Year 2 student on the BA (Hons) English for Professional Communication programme.

 

“CityU has impressed me a lot because the students are very energetic and they fill every corner of campus. In my article, however, I use a totally different angle and wrote about a “static” CityU,” he said. His article contrasted moments of quiet with the hectic hustle and bustle of the day, he said.

 

The first runner up was Ng Yee-shan, a Year 3 student taking the BBA (Hons) Service Operations Management programme. Second runner-up went to Cindy Hong, a Year 1 student on the BBA (Hons) in Accountancy and Law.

 

Dr Wong said feedback on the first volume of BUS, published four years ago, had been very positive and she looked forward to receiving continued support and more articles.

 

She said that if a third volume were ever launched, a digital format could be produced due to the popularity of e-learning.

 

BUS is now available for freshmen at the Run Run Shaw Library, SDS, Computing Services Centre, and EDO until 30 November.