Horace is a Year 4 student majoring in Accounting and Finance, also an active awardee of the First-in-the-Family Education Fund  (FIFE Fund). He fully utilized the funding to finance his participation in various outside classroom learning activities, including a cultural exchange tour to Silk Road, a service-learning trip to Yunan, an internship programme in Shanghai and the HKU Business School exchange programme to Montreal.
 
The spirit of the FIFE Fund is “paying forward” (受恩施恩、薪火相傳). Horace is always willing to pay forward by sharing his FIFE learning experience with new awardees. In the FIFE Briefing and Gathering Session held in January 2019, he demonstrated his eagerness to pass on his experience and patience in answering awardees’ questions in holding group discussions.
 
When asked about the most unforgettable experience among all the tours and service trips, he recalled those days teaching in the village school. 

"As the active awardee of FIFE Fund, Horace said this fund has enriched his four years of study at HKU."

“I still remember that I had to travel a long way to teach. It’s a very remote village. Without proper transportation and infrastructures, my team and I had to bring a whole stack of classroom materials to the village school every day and hike to the top, “Horace described.  Though the situation was tough, he enjoyed the moments when he saw students being engaged in his teaching. On World Children’s Day, Horace and his team organised a talent show for his students. Not only did he find it meaningful to share his knowledge with his students, but he also found that bringing joy to others was also a meaningful job.

For Horace, the FIFE Fund comes along with both tangible and intangible rewards. While the tangible reward is a monetary one, Horace cares more about the intangible reward acquired including the skill sets and experience that will help him in the long run.

“During the service trip, I wrote teaching plans and liaised with different parties. In other overseas tours, I learned how to deal with the crisis and cultural differences. All these will help me to become more competitive in the job market,” said Horace.

As the active awardee of FIFE Fund, Horace said this fund has enriched his four years of study at HKU. He used to be more reserved and withdrawn but after joining various out-of-classroom activities, he has become a cheerful and bubbly person. Personality-wise, these experiences have transformed him into a different person, rendering him more adaptable to his professional life in the business career.