Samantha Trippy, HKUST Exchange, Fall 2014
I’ve posted about academics, but I think we all know that the experiential learning is just as important in an exchange as the formal academics. I am lucky to have been studying in Hong Kong at a truly historically significant time, as the Special Administrative Region of China has been looking at how it envisions its future. The Hong Kong Umbrella Revolution of student-led protests grew to an immense size at its peak, and called upon the Chinese government to ensure that the HK people could democratically elect their officials in a way they see fit.
Being here at the same time as this history-in-the-making has been an amazing opportunity to learn about how HK’s history has shaped its present, and the different perspectives of HKers as they look towards their undetermined future. Learning about this place’s culture and history directly from the locals, themselves, has been an invaluable experience. With this hand-on approach to learning about a place, you come to understand things which you could never pick up from a history book or a HK travel guide. And, one day, you’ll be weaving through the streets like you’ve lived there all your life, debating the best Dim Sum off the Kwun Tong MTR line, and it will hit you. You’ve traveled halfway across the world and immersed yourself in a different culture. And, by doing so, you’ve adopted the “learning by doing” mantra and gained an informal education more meaningful than you ever could have expected.
