CHAN Hoi Yan

Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Science)

Awardee of the President’s Commendation in Community Service in 2022/23

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — Pablo Picasso

In 2020, I entered EdUHK and witnessed many social issues emerging from the peak of the epidemic. With parents and children spending more time together at home, lots of families were living in tension. To address this, I used storytelling skills learnt in my childhood, and co-organised a Paired-Reading Service Project with the EdUHK Student Affairs Office. The Project aimed to improve parent-child relationships by sharing resources and reading stories with grassroots children and their families. Since the Project launch, our team had prepared and held over 50 sessions of the service, benefiting more than 500 people.

Once disappointed by the unsatisfactory academic results in my high school years, I eventually found my values in the society through extensive participation in community services. I am grateful to the EdUHK for providing me with a wide range of experiential learning opportunities. All these outside classroom learning experiences have actively engaged me in a myriad of social and civic services, unleashing my potentials to meet the societal needs. I firmly believe that as long as we have the heart, the dedication, and the caring attitude, everyone can contribute to the community with one’s strength.

The Education University of Hong Kong considers it vital to encourage students’ active engagement in co-curricular activities so as to build value systems and personalities, broaden horizons and absorb knowledge from alternative and non-traditional sources.  The President’s Commendation Scheme (PCS) was introduced in 2010/11 as a University-level recognition of students’ non-academic achievements. For more information, please visit here.